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Shelby, speaking at the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County’s Annual Washington Update Breakfast, discussed the importance of aerospace, missile defense and other programs led by Redstone Arsenal in light of emerging threats of North Korea and Iran.

The event, presented by The Boeing Company, was sold out about 1,300 people in attendance.

“What we do in D.C., particularly in the areas of aerospace/defense and intelligence, affects this region,” Shelby said.

Shelby said that in working with senators from other states, the way to win support for the types of projects being worked at Redstone is to focus on how the project will “impact the nation” as opposed to how many jobs it will create in the state.
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“The ranking confirms that the Huntsville /Madison County community continues to benefit from Redstone Arsenal and related government contractors,” said Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board Chair Irma Tuder. “As the demand for a technical workforce continues to increase, the ranking will help us attract the needed talent to our area.”

The ranking also mentions the Army Materiel Command coming to Redstone Arsenal as part of BRAC 2005 recommendations that will bring 4,700 direct jobs to Huntsville with a contracting tail of nearly 5,000. Continue »

Click to enlarge. To see the full article, click here.

Jeff Olson, Marianne Windham and Lee Lester

“Not only is this a lot of fun for all of us, but the TRC is vitally important to our business community and our continued economic growth here,” Waugh said.

Waugh gave special recognition to Lee Lester, a driver on the Regions Bank team, for his outstanding efforts. By raising more than $35,000 through the renewal period which ends April 20, Lester gained the coveted pole position when the race officially begins next Thursday, April 23. To date, drivers have raised $202,000 and are racing towards a goal of $1.2 million.

Weekly pit stops will be held to recognize drivers and will culminate with the crowing of the race champion on June 25 when the campaign race ends. For more information about sponsorship opportunities through the TRC, contact Loren Traylor at Ltraylor@hsvchamber.org or call 535-2028.

Maj. Gen. James Myles. AMCOM (Click photo to enlarge.)

Anne Burkett, Director of Planning and Economic Development, Madison County Commission (Click photo to enlarge.)

“This plan provides a comprehensive impact analysis related to the growth at Redstone Arsenal and its effect on local governments,” said Mike Gillespie, TVRGCP chair and chairman of the Madison County Commission. “Outcomes can be utilized by local and regional entities to guide decision making and to develop regional coordination structures to facilitate communication, potential funding, and implementation of the Tennessee Valley Regional Growth Coordination Plan.”

The 2005 decisions of the BRAC Commission will result in significant economic growth in the 13 counties of the Tennessee Valley (TV) region over the next five years. However, the new missions at Redstone Arsenal and new contractor jobs will also require housing, create a need to educate more K-12 students, increase the need for a skilled workforce and create more demand on local government and transportation services. Estimates were prepared by Taimerica Management Company, as part of the consultant team, in 2008 using the most current data available. Continue »

Dr. Dave Williams, president of UAHuntsville, presents an official UAHuntsville shirt to Dr. Michael Griffin, former head of NASA, at a recently held news conference announcing Griffin as professor and eminent scholar in mechanical and aviation engineering. (Click photo to enlarge.)

The announcement was made Tuesday by UAHuntsville President Dr. David Williams.

In 2005, Griffin was appointed as the 11th NASA Administrator, serving in that role until earlier this year. He was previously Head of the Space Department at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of the Johns Hopkins University, and he played a leading role in numerous other space missions through employment at the APL, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Computer Science Corporation.

Prior to joining APL, he served in many executive positions with aerospace-related companies and he has held several academic appointments. Griffin has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, the Johns Hopkins University, and George Washington University. Continue »

Patrick Callahan, SimSTAFF director of recruitment; Craig Fouts, SimSTAFF founder and director of operations; Melanie Newton, SimSTAFF regional account executive; and Irma Tuder, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County cut the ribbon for the company’s new office in Huntsville. (Click photo to enlarge.)

“This is very special for our community for a number of reasons – for one, this company is well known in the modeling and simulation field and their presence here certainly highlights many of the wonderful things occurring in our business community right now. Secondly, SimSTAFF is focused in an area that is rapidly becoming known as a premier modeling and simulation community,” Irma Tuder, Chair of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board of Directors, said.

Craig Fouts, SimSTAFF founder and director of operations, said he was excited about bringing the company into Huntsville and that he hopes his services will be of value to Huntsville’s growing modeling and simulation industry.

“Our entrance into Huntsville is very exciting. We look forward to providing companies here with the workforce that they need to get the job done so that this country can continue to lead the world in technology,” Fouts said.

More than 100 people attended a free community briefing on the impact of the stimulus bill on small businesses.

More than 100 people attended this event. Speakers included staff from the Small Business Administration, the Southern Development Council, Sirote & Permutt and Beason & Nalley.
The presentation is currently on the Chamber’s small business site with video to go live shortly.
To view the presentation, click here.

Ken Barnett

As president, Barnett will lead a team of more than 370 professionals projected to deliver more than $100 million in sales for 2009. Barnett will report to parent company ASRC Federal Holding Company CEO and President Carl Werner.

“Ken is a natural fit as ASI’s next president. As an accomplished leader, he has served in multiple senior leadership roles at both ASI and other defense companies. Ken has the talent and professional background to lead ASI’s team to new levels of achievement as they continue to grow their aerospace and defense business,” Werner said.

With more than 20 years of experience in the aerospace and defense marketplace, Barnett joined ASI in 2005 as chief financial officer and most recently served as ASI’s chief operating officer.

Barnett succeeds Cynthia Achorn who recently accepted the position of chief strategy officer with ASRC Federal. As ASRC Federal’s newly appointed chief strategy officer, Achorn will be responsible for developing strategic plans that help drive the overall goals of the company and communicating these strategies to all employees and partners. She will work to bring immediate results that enable the company to continue on its path of strategic growth. Additionally, Achorn will serve as the Huntsville liaison for ASRC Federal, overseeing the development and growth of the company’s presence in the Huntsville marketplace.

“Cynthia’s strong leadership experience in organizational strategy, together with her knowledge of the defense and aerospace markets, makes her a great addition to our senior leadership team. We are looking forward to working with Cynthia to help take ASRC Federal and our eight subsidiaries to the next level,” Werner said.

Employees of Imagine Media cut the ribbon its new office in Madison (Click photo to enlarge.)

“SCS is excited about the creation of our Imagine Media division. We feel it’s large enough to have the right people and equipment to do your job well. But small enough to give your graphics and other projects the personal attention needed to be sure they’re done right. That’s why Imagine Media will be offering a full complement of graphic production and design services,” said Bryan Boyd, SCS president.
Imagine Media is home to format printers from 42” to 104” wide. In addition to the ribbon cutting, the company introduced its hp DesignJet 10000 which at 104” is the largest printer in town with the highest resolution.

“But more important than our equipment is our staff,” said Dean Dexter, Imagine Media chief creative officer. “Our designers pride themselves on creating solutions, solving problems and providing our customers true long-term value while saving them time and money right now.”