Salary index gives city a nice raise

Huntsville jumps from 2nd to 1st; new sales pitch

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

By GINA HANNAH

Times Business Writer ginah@htimes.com

If you checked America Online's Web site on Tuesday, you may have noticed a familiar scene.

At AOL.com's home page, in the box highlighting top news stories, was a photo of Big Spring International Park in Huntsville's downtown, the AmSouth building in the background. The photo illustrated a story on Huntsville's latest acclaim: No. 1 on Salary.com's annual Salary Value Index.

Huntsville is named the top U.S. metro for building personal net worth, based on local salaries, cost of living and unemployment, relative to the national average.

Birmingham ranked No. 2, with Knoxville third. Rounding out the top five were York and Reading, Pa.

The survey ranked 188 cities. The bottom five cities were New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, Stamford, Conn., and Washington, D.C.

"This is precisely the kind of story we need at this time," said Bill Killingsworth, director of the Office for Economic Development at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Huntsville has an incredible sales job in front of it in terms of attracting people here."

Killingsworth noted base realignment jobs are moving to Huntsville at the same time officials fear a brain drain from thousands of baby boomers nearing retirement. To fill the gap, Huntsville could recruit talent from such high-cost cities as Atlanta or Austin, Texas, he said.

"If we're going to truly capture the benefits of all that BRAC is offering, that's going to require a very sophisticated marketing campaign," he said. "Engineers and managers tend to have very high salaries and, to be able to point out to them, that they can get more here is a very important part of the marketing campaign."

Salary.com said it compared more than 2,500 jobs in its calculations. The study included cost of housing and other living costs and job growth numbers in its calculations.

This isn't the first time Huntsville made the list; last year it ranked No. 2, behind New London, Conn.

The survey gives Huntsville high marks for its high salary levels (the highest in the South, it said) and demand for skilled labor.

Dave Hargrove, chairman of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is evaluating its work force development program, and news such as the Salary.com ranking can help market the area to new talent.

"I think it certainly shows that the rest of the country is finding out what we've known for a while: We have an educated work force, good, high-paying jobs and affordability," Hargrove said. "There are a lot of places in the country where you can make a lot of money, but what really matters is where you choose to live, and how affordable that is."



Salary index gives city a nice raise Huntsville jumps from 2nd to 1st; new sales pitch Wednesday, June 28, 2006 By GINA HANNAH Times Business Writer ginah@htimes.com If you checked America Online's Web site on Tuesday, you may have noticed a familiar scene. At AOL.com's home page, in the box highlighting top news stories, was a photo of Big Spring International Park in Huntsville's downtown, the AmSouth building in the background. The photo illustrated a story on Huntsville's latest acclaim: No. 1 on Salary.com's annual Salary Value Index. Huntsville is named the top U.S. metro for building personal net worth, based on local salaries, cost of living and unemployment, relative to the national average. Birmingham ranked No. 2, with Knoxville third. Rounding out the top five were York and Reading, Pa. The survey ranked 188 cities. The bottom five cities were New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, Stamford, Conn., and Washington, D.C. "This is precisely the kind of story we need at this time," said Bill Killingsworth, director of the Office for Economic Development at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Huntsville has an incredible sales job in front of it in terms of attracting people here." Killingsworth noted base realignment jobs are moving to Huntsville at the same time officials fear a brain drain from thousands of baby boomers nearing retirement. To fill the gap, Huntsville could recruit talent from such high-cost cities as Atlanta or Austin, Texas, he said. "If we're going to truly capture the benefits of all that BRAC is offering, that's going to require a very sophisticated marketing campaign," he said. "Engineers and managers tend to have very high salaries and, to be able to point out to them, that they can get more here is a very important part of the marketing campaign." Salary.com said it compared more than 2,500 jobs in its calculations. The study included cost of housing and other living costs and job growth numbers in its calculations. This isn't the first time Huntsville made the list; last year it ranked No. 2, behind New London, Conn. The survey gives Huntsville high marks for its high salary levels (the highest in the South, it said) and demand for skilled labor. Dave Hargrove, chairman of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is evaluating its work force development program, and news such as the Salary.com ranking can help market the area to new talent. "I think it certainly shows that the rest of the country is finding out what we've known for a while: We have an educated work force, good, high-paying jobs and affordability," Hargrove said. "There are a lot of places in the country where you can make a lot of money, but what really matters is where you choose to live, and how affordable that is." © 2006 The Huntsville Times © 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.