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| Announcements |
BRAC on Track
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| More than 500 people attended the 2009 BRAC to the Future. Participants heard from various commands that are in the process of transferring some 4,700 jobs to Redstone Arsenal. |
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According to Redstone Arsenal (RSA) Garrison Commander Col. Robert Pastorelli, 51 percent (2,407) of the positions scheduled to move to RSA because of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision that is brining nearly 4,700 direct jobs to Redstone Arsenal have been transferred.
Of the 2,407 jobs transferred to Redstone 85 percent (2,063) of them have been filled, Pastorelli said. Most of the positions filled were with workers from outside of the Tennessee Valley.
In addition to updates on the number of jobs moved to Redstone and status of construction activity, attendees of the third annual BRAC to the Future community conference, presented by System Studies and Simulation and hosted by the Tennessee Valley BRAC Committee, heard from top officials representing the Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Test Center and Army Materiel Command.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Terry Feehan, MDA’s deputy program manager for ballistic missile defense system, said that he and his wife are examples of the type of people BRAC is brining.
“I arrived in June with my wife. We were in a restaurant and realized we were not in New England anymore. You don’t have to be in uniform to be treated kindly here. When I recruit people here I don’t take them the our new building on the arsenal, I take them to all of the new housing developments being built, I take them by the technology park to all of the high-tech employers, and I drive them by the university and they see new buildings. Huntsville is a very exciting place,” Feehan said. Continue »
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Bid Designs Cuts Ribbon and Invests in HREGI
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Bid Designs LLC co-owners Chris Luchtefeld and Brent Paris accept a plaque from Elizabeth Morard, the Chamber's vice chair of image enhancement and the President/CEO of Qualis Corporation.
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Bid Designs co-owners Chris Luchtefeld and Brent Paris recently presented a check to 2009 Chamber Board Chair-elect Don Nalley as an investment in the Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative.
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Bid Designs, a company that provides business development solutions and processes for small and medium-sized companies, held a ribbon cutting for the company’s new office in Huntsville.
In addition to cutting the ribbon on its new facility, Bid Designs became the Chamber’s newest investor in the Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative (HREGI), Huntsville/Madison County’s blue print for economic growth.
Elizabeth Morard, vice chair of image enhancement for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board of Directors, said the company’s focus on small to medium-sized businesses is a good fit for Huntsville.
“One of the hardest lessons that small and mid-sized companies learn is that just because a request for proposal from the government happens to be in the company’s area of expertise does not necessarily mean the company should expend valuable resources and money in pursuing what may be an unwinnable proposal,” Morard said. “Bid Designs has literally turned this art of business development into a science that allows clients to increase their chances of winning contracts and by helping companies make analytical decisions about which opportunities to pursue.”
Chris Luchtefeld, co-owner of Bid Designs, said that Huntsville’s growth is a major reason why the company has grown.
“This solidifies Bid Designs’ space in the community for the long run. Huntsville is an amazing city with an amazing spirit of entrepreneurism for a business like this. Huntsville’s growth is important to our business growing,” Luchtefeld said.
Brent Paris, co-founder of Bid Designs, echoed Luctefeld’s statement by presenting the Chamber a check for investment in HREGI to Chamber Chair-elect Don Nalley.
“We are serious about being a part of the community and contributing to the growth of this community. We spoke with the Chamber about opportunities and we found something more than just a monetary contribution, we found a commitment. Consider this our investment in the growth of the community,” Paris said.
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Leader in Modeling & Simulation Expands
in CRP
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| AEgis Technologies co-founders Bill Waite and Steve Hill cut the ribbon on the company’s new headquarters in Cummings Research Park. (Click photo to enlarge) |
AEgis Technologies, a leader in modeling and simulation, recently celebrated the grand opening of its new 50,000 square-foot corporate headquarters in Cummings Research Park. The event also marked the 20th anniversary of the Huntsville-based company.
AEgis' capabilities include modeling and simulation software development, training, test support, engineering analysis, hardware design and nanotechnology manufacturing for both government and commercial customers within the U.S. and internationally.
The new building houses class 1,000 and class 10,000 clean room facilities dedicated to maturing micro and nano scale technologies, as well as a laser laboratory and expanded micro electronics and photonics laboratory.
The AEgis facility has a simulation demonstration laboratory with tactical level simulation integration capabilities, a full-scale 3D Computer Modeling Lab for its geospatial engineers and three classified labs.
The new facility is in line with the company’s vision of leadership in modeling and simulation and expanding its capabilities into new ventures, said Bill Waite, co-founder and Chief Technical Officer.
“AEgis’ vision is world leadership in modeling and simulation. The new Huntsville facility is suited for new pursuits,” Waite said.
Irma Tuder, chair of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board of Directors, said that the company’s work in modeling and simulation makes the company stand out in such a high-tech community as Huntsville.
“The work performed by the employees here is pioneering and very high-tech. In some communities, that statement may not mean as much. But in this community, where innovation, educational advancement, and research and development for high tech programs are commonplace, AEgis Technologies still stands tall,” said Tuder.
Huntsville City Administrator Rex Reynolds said that companies such as AEgis are the reason for continued recognition for the community.
“We continue to see national recognition and when you see the technology that happens here you know why,” Reynolds said.
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deciBel Research Opens New Headquarters in Huntsville
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| Beth Martin, vice chair for small business for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board of Directors, joins Dr. Baseem Mahafza, president and founder of deciBel Research, and Mayor Tommy Battle (far right) in cutting the ribbon for the company’s new headquarters in Cummings Research Park. (Click photo to enlarge) |
deciBel Research, a company specializing in research, development and advancements of sensor technologies, recently held a ribbon cutting for the company’s new 40,000 square foot headquarters in Cummings Research Park. The company’s continued expansion is in response to the growth on Redstone Arsenal because of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (2005) decisions to move 4,700 direct jobs to Huntsville. deciBel’s primary customers include the Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), Program Executive Office - Missiles and Space (PEO-MS), Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC), and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). deciBel is also providing key technical contributions to the NexRad Doppler Weather Radar program.
The company has grown from one employee with $36,000 in revenue in 2002 to more than 80 employees and about $15 million in revenue in 2009.
Beth Martin, vice chair of small business for the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board of Directors, said that companies such as deciBel contribute positively to Huntsville’s high-tech reputation.
“Being part of our business community you understand that we are considered a high tech community. But through my involvement with the Chamber, I can say that I now see why we are considered one of the high tech epicenters in the world. And it is because of companies such as deciBel. This is a company that literally defines the positive growth occurring in our local economy right now,” Martin said.
Dr. Bassem Mahafza, president and founder of deciBel, recalled his journey to America with a goal to “live the American dream.” According to Mahafza, Huntsville is the only place in the world he could imagine ever being successful.
“Over the years I have taken many steps toward realizing this dream in all facets of my life - personally and professionally. Today, this event marks a major milestone along this path. For I know, that there is nowhere else in the world I could have accomplished or done more for myself, for my family, for my community, or for my country, as much as I am able to do here in Huntsville, Alabama. That, my friends, is truly living the American dream.”
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle applauded the company and its founder.
“You are America. What you have done for Huntsville and the country makes me the proudest mayor in America,” Battle said. “We built Cummings Research Park for this to be a center for excellence in technology and for companies such as this that literally wrote text books for Radar technology.
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Annual Membership Meeting Highlights Distinguished Service Award Winner
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Evans Quinlivan and Madison County Commission Chair Mike Gillespie presented the Distinguished Service Award to Congressman Bud Cramer at the last year's Annual Membership Meeting
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Evans Quinlivan and Jim Bolte, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, presented the Industry of the Year to Tony Jones of The Boeing Company.
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The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County annually presents the Distinguished Service Award to a deserving volunteer in the Huntsville/Madison County community. The award will be presented at the Chamber’s 2010 Annual Membership Meeting Thursday, Jan. 28 and is considered the highest award given to any Chamber volunteer.
The past two winners, respectively, were former U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer (2008 award) and Jim Hudson (2007), founder of the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology. The 2009 winner will be announced at the meeting, as will the Industry of the Year award which recognizes the community’s highly successful large businesses.
Click here for the full list of past Distinguished Service Award winners. »
The first two winners of the Industry of the Year award included Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Alabama and The Boeing Company. Modeled after the annual Small Business Awards Celebration, the Industry of the Year award recognizes the accomplishments, success, employee relations and community involvement of the community’s larger companies and is limited to companies with 350 or more local employees.
The 2010 annual membership meeting will be the Chamber’s 74th and will once again be held at Von Braun Center North Hall beginning at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 28. Continue »
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Best Places to Work Nominations Now Being Accepted
Find out if your company has what it takes
Rankings in the Huntsville/Madison County community may have taken on added importance after the enjoyed an unprecedented year of national rankings from leading publications as a smart place to live, work and play. With recognitions that include Huntsville being the country's No. 1 city and one of the top 10 smartest cities in the world, the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County and the North Alabama Society for Human Resource Management (NASHRM) along with presenting sponsor First Commercial Bank are continuing to pass the accolades along. It is time to once again begin the nomination process for naming the top 15 Best Places to Work in this community. The program has grown every year and last year, almost 200 local businesses were nominated for this award that measures companies based on the following criteria:
- Team Effectiveness
- Retention Probability
- Alignment with Goals
- Trust with Co-workers
- Individual Contribution
- Manager Effectiveness
- Trust in Senior Leaders
- Feeling Valued
- Work Engagement
- People Practices
The top 15 companies whose policies and practices are among the region’s best will be announced at a special awards luncheon on April 28. Winners are based solely on a survey completed by employees and are selected in three categories: less than 75 employees; 75 to 249 employees; and 250 employees and above.
The survey guarantees complete anonymity and enables employees the ability to answer questions without hesitation or ramifications. Quantum Market Research, a specialist in measuring workplace satisfaction administers the survey and tabulates the results. Winners are based exclusively on the outcome of the employee surveys.
Any business or non-profit organization in the Huntsville/Madison County area with 25 or more employees were allowed to participate.
“I hear from so many of our customers how they face challenges in finding the right people for their company and I know how important it is to create a great place to work in order to attract and retain the best and the brightest. This award recognizes companies that go above and beyond to achieve that type of environment for their employees,” said Charlie Kettle, CEO & President First Commercial Bank and chair-elect for the Chamber of Commerce.
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STI Electronics Wins International Award for Counterfeit Prevention
STI Electronics Inc. was awarded a Global Technology Award in the category of Anti-Counterfeiting Services for its Chemical Decap Service. The award was presented to the company during a ceremony that took place at the New Munich Trade Fair Center in Munich, Germany.
Premiering in 2005, the Global Technology Awards program is an annual celebration of product excellence in electronics surface mount assembly. Premier products based on the finest examples of creative advancement in technology are chosen by a distinguished panel of industry experts.
STI Electronics performs a special chemical decap service for customers who want to see if they are receiving counterfeit parts from their supply chain vendors. STI also provides this same service to component manufacturers who want to verify if certain returned components are truly their original manufactured parts. This service provides the ability to chemically decap the integrated circuit from the overmold package and verify at the die level if the die inside the component package is the original manufacturers die. STI’s decap service verifies components, resulting in dramatically reduced scrap and tremendous cost savings.
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Alabama Manufacturer of the Year to Recognize the State’s Best
The Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County is encouraging its Chamber member companies that are manufacturers to apply for the 2010 Alabama Manufacturer of the Year. The Manufacturer of the Year annual awards, presented by the Alabama Technology Network and the Business Council of Alabama, recognize the state’s top manufacturers for their accomplishments and for creating a better quality of life for Alabama’s citizens. Self nominations are encouraged for this award.
Any company wishing to compete in the Manufacturer of the Year must give a formal statement of intent by January 7, 2009. Awards are given for Emerging Manufacturer of the Year (in business for five years or less) and in the following size categories:
- Small Manufacturers 1 - 99 employees
- Medium Manufacturers 100 - 399 employees
- Large Manufacturers 400 or more employees
2009 finalists included STI Electronics, Phoenix Industries, ADTRAN, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Tara Manufacturing and PPG Aerospace. Teledyne Brown Engineering was selected the winner in the large category.
Winners and finalists will be announced at the 2010 Alabama Manufacturer of the Year Awards Ceremony in Montgomery tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 24.
The entire application form is available on the Chamber’s website as well as a guide for applying for an award. For any questions about Manufacturer of the Year, contact Ethan Hadley at ehadley@hsvchamber.org.
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