Milken Institute Ranks Huntsville Among Nation’s Elite at Creating, Sustaining Job Growth

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The Milken Institute, an independent economic think-tank, ranked Huntsville 16th in the nation on its 2007 Best Performing Cities Index – based on the cities’ ability to create and sustain job growth. Huntsville was ranked 28th in the nation last year by the Institute.

Huntsville was the only city in Alabama ranked in the top 25. Between 2000 and 2006, Huntsville/Madison County announced 284 economic development projects, creating more than 28,000 new jobs, according to Brian Hilson, the president/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County.

“This clearly indicates that Huntsville/Madison County is an excellent community to relocate, start or expand a business. While our aerospace and defense industries are critical to our continued job growth, it is our diversity of our economic growth in areas such as biotechnology and the automotive manufacturing industry, for example, that continues to make Huntsville such an attractive place to live and work,” Hilson said.

According to the report, the index includes both long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of employment and salary growth. There are also four measurements of technology output growth, which are included because of technology’s critical role in regional economic growth.