Visit the photo gallery of the
recent ribbon cutting events. »

Gov. Bob Riley

Riley met with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison Mayor Paul Finley and Madison County Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie and officials from Redstone Arsenal before the event. Riley said that he has never seen a community work together like Madison County does. He attributed the team approach to the community’s success.

“I have been coming up here for a long time and I can say that you understand how to work together,” Riley said. He added that he would like to model the rest of the state after Huntsville/Madison County.“Huntsville and Madison County is what I would like to see the rest of Alabama become.”

Regarding infrastructure in Madison County, Riley said that the two cities working with the county and Redstone Arsenal would increase the chances of getting infrastructure projects accomplished. Riley said that he was aware of Madison County’s needs.

“I am aware of the seven [infrastructure] projects that this community needs. You have the county and the two cities working together with Redstone Arsenal. If everyone does their part, we won’t have to choose one or two projects because we will be able to do all seven,” he said. Continue »

Gov. Riley (center) presents the “Large Alabama Manufacturer of the Year” award to Teledyne Brown Engineering. Accepting the award is TBE president Rex Geveden (second to right). Also pictured is Business Council of Alabama president/CEO Bill Canary (far left) and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle (second to left). Click photo to enlarge.

Alabama Governor Bob Riley gave the award in recognition of a company’s superior performance in the areas of operational excellence, leadership, profitable growth, continuous improvement, customer focus, employee commitment and investment in training and retraining.

"Huntsville has a reputation for excellence in engineering and analysis. This award is an indication of Huntsville and North Alabama's emergence as a manufacturing power in the southeast," said Rex Geveden, president of Teledyne Brown Engineering. "Teledyne Brown's traditional strengths have been in engineering and analysis. We made a very deliberate move to increase our manufacturing work and see it as a competitive differentiator to do both engineering and manufacturing.”

Business Council of Alabama president and CEO William Canary praised the Huntsville company for its ability to respond to changes in the marketplace.

“In a field of strong competition, Teledyne Brown’s close attention to shifts in a dynamic marketplace, and its ability to respond rapidly while staying focused on quality and customer service were among its many strengths,” said Canary.

Five other Madison County companies were nominated for this year’s award including STI Electronics, Phoenix Industries, ADTRAN, PPG and Tara Manufacturing.

U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith

Griffith said that if America does not maintain a strong presence in space and missile defense, the rest of the world will look at America as being “weak.” He said that the country can’t afford to go cheap on missile defense because of “small financial crisis.”

In addition to defending missile defense, Griffith, who is a retired oncologist, discussed healthcare reform.

“I am very concerned with a federal insurance program competing with the private industry,” he said. Griffith added, “80 to 85 percent of Americans are currently satisfied with their coverage. That issue will come up and I ask each of you to be a part of the discussion.”

He said that this is the first time big business and big pharmaceutical companies are coming together for better healthcare. According to Griffith, death from cardiovascular disease is down as well as death from cancer. “More is right now than is wrong [with healthcare]. We can’t knee-jerk this.”

Griffith also warned that new carbon credit and cap-and-trade laws could have a negative impact on economic development and business recruitment. He said that utility companies are already concerned with the environment and are in the process of learning more about using their power grids more efficiently.

He closed his address by saying D.C. should take the “middle road” in regards to policy. “The middle of the road is where we work best. The left ditch is filled with wreck and debris and right ditch is filled with wreck and debris.”

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance named its “10 Best Cities of 2009” by selecting locales offering solid employment opportunities and the talent to create new, well-paying positions.

Press Release » Read story online »

TRC volunteers are helping to raise awareness in the community of Chamber services and opportunities.

Last week at a special luncheon recognizing campaign achievements, Blake Mathis with Mercy Flight was recognized as the Top Producer and for the sixth consecutive week in a row, and the top team remained Bandit and the Dames of Thunder. However, the Repeat-O-Fenders, with co-team captains Joe Green, SAIC and Regina Underwood, A Realty Group, are riding their bumpers. The Top Rookie on lap six was Michelle Omenski with Exit Realty.

Members of the Chamber only have two weeks left to make their final decisions regarding sponsorships and many of the top tier sponsorships have already sold out. “The companies I have spoken to really appreciate the opportunity to know in advance that they have tables at many of the Chamber’s key events reserved and that they have the opportunity to market to a specific audience,” said Harry Waugh, 2009 TRC Chair.

As a reminder, once the lights are turned off at the track on June 23, sponsorship opportunities are gone. Call Donna McCrary at 535-2027 or Loren Traylor at 535-2028 for more information on how the Chamber can help your business grow.

“This credit rating is a positive signal to the community and the financial sector that Huntsville Utilities has one of the very best water systems in America,” said Bill Pippin, CEO of Huntsville Utilities.

The rating agency profiled a few local businesses with strong growth in the area as well as the low 2008 average unemployment rate of 4.2%, and strong buying income levels as contributing factors to the area’s strength.

S&P also noted the water system serves more than 82,000 customers within the city limits as well as supplying other area retail water providers. The analysis mentioned that “management has put tremendous effort into cost reduction” as well as noting “the water system has some of the lowest operating costs compared with those of its regional peers.”

Over the years, the water department has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), and Gov. Bob Riley for exceptional water quality and service to its customers.

Some local companies may benefit from increased spending for other defense initiatives - particularly cyber security. That's the case for Huntsville-based Sentar, Inc. The company recently provided research on the topic for the Obama Administration's official Cyberspace Policy Review.

"Cyber security is a very high priority for President Obama," said Peter Kiss, CEO and founder of Sentar, Inc.

President Obama directed a 60-day, comprehensive, "clean-slate" review to assess U.S. policies and structures for cybersecurity. Cybersecurity policy includes strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompasses the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure.

Sentar representatives also serve as members of various federal level committees that shape strategy and policy objectives for the Administration, and Sentar is considered a "thought leader" in cybersecurity. The company was recently named one of the two prime contractors for the STARS-IO contract, which has a potential value of $24 million. Under that contract, Sentar will provide security-related analysis, test, evaluation and assessment support and program support for Department of Defense programs across information assurance, information operations and computer network defense activities.

"We are thrilled that United is expanding its service at Huntsville International Airport to include Chicago, which will complement its existing daily service to Washington D.C. – Dulles and Denver,” said Mark McDaniel, Chairman, Board of Directors, Huntsville International Airport. “Chicago is one of our top 20 markets and a major business travel destination for the Tennessee Valley region, so this additional non-stop service will provide our passengers with more choices when traveling to the Windy City. We anticipate that our community will embrace the new service with open arms."

The proposed flight schedule between HSV and ORD will begin Sept. 2, 2009, and will be operated by United Express partner Mesa.

“This is an honor that our agents have really worked hard to achieve,” says Charles Lanza, broker/owner. “RE/MAX stands for ‘real estate maximums,’ and the RE/MAX agents in North Alabama continually deliver the maximum service to every customer. The results are hard proof that their effort is worthwhile.”

There are 93 associates at RE/MAX Huntsville. During 2008, they completed 1,209 transactions, totaling $219,472,073 in volume. On an international level, RE/MAX associates have more exclusive listings and more customers than agents with any other real estate network.

Enrollment by site is as follows: Decatur campus (day and evening): 2409; Huntsville campus (day and evening): 2402; Distance Education: 1244 and Limestone Correctional Facility: 182.

With registration continuing for the college’s second summer term, which starts July 8, enrollment numbers are expected to increase even further. Registration for the second term begins June 9; registration for the college’s 2009 fall semester is also underway. Continue »

To view the report, click here.

For more information on the report, contact Bart Smith at 256.382.9010 or barts@grahamcompany.com.