Dave Hargrove Outgoing Chamber of Commerce leader looks back at successes, challenges of 2006

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Huntsville Times

Dave Hargrove is wrapping up his 2006 term as chairman of the Huntsville/ Madison County Chamber of Commerce. Hargrove is regional manager for BellSouth in Huntsville. Brad Jones, CEO of Crestwood Medical Center, will move into the chairman position in January. Last week, Hargrove looked back on the year in the Huntsville business community with Times Business Editor Wayne Smith.

Q. Huntsville has continued to have economic growth in 2006. What stands out as you look back on the year?

A. "It's a great community to be a volunteer chairman. Prior to this, we've had two years of record job growth and this year things have just exploded. I'm pretty sure it will be three years of record growth. The chamber helps to facilitate that, but it doesn't deserve direct credit. The people who are deciding to expand, relocate businesses or grow have to feel confident to do that, that they're in the environment to take those kind of risks. And this is a great environment - the consumer and the business confidence level is very high here. I think the chamber is instrumental in helping promote that, but the business leaders deserve the lion's share of the credit.

"It was a great year to be in this role because you can just ride the success. A lot is happening in this community. A lot of places are worried about how to replace jobs that have devastated communities. Here, we're worried about filling jobs. It's a tremendous blessing to be in this town.''

Q. What have you learned about the Huntsville business community in the role as chairman of the chamber?

A. "In that chamber environment, you hear about the challenges business leaders face. You get to see those people on a daily basis and that's probably the best part of this job. I understand a lot more about the role a company like Toyota plays. I understand more about the challenges of growing in this community in the defense, space, health care and biotech industries. And understanding how we should diversify our economy. We have a study under way now to target industry areas we should focus on, so we don't take a shotgun approach to economic development.''

Q. What did the chamber accomplish this year that you're particularly proud of?

A. "We stepped out and made a proactive stance on the need to financially support our three public education systems. Public education is such a complicated, controversial and emotional thing. I can't imagine a more complicated issue. We knew we had to get rational very fast, take the emotion and myth out of it and understand what our three systems need. As long as I've been involved as a chamber volunteer, we've talked about the perception of our public schools, how important that is to economic development. We always felt like that was somebody else's issue, that our issue was creating jobs.

"It just became apparent when my term started in January that we needed to aggressively pursue that issue. We needed to understand what their needs are and then how we need to address them.

"We overstate BRAC a lot. The growth was happening before then, but BRAC accelerated these growth issues. The challenge is to communicate to the public why that matters to them regardless of what their family makeup or job situation is, it affects everyone in some way. You can solve a lot of problems if you have three top-notch school systems.

"We have good school systems, but they aren't always perceived that way outside the community. If we had three of the best school systems in the country, we would be wildly successful - there's no limit to what we could do.

"The chamber's goal in our strategic plan is to be one of the top technology cities in the South. If you don't have three of the best school systems in the South, I don't know how you can achieve that goal. And you not only have to know it yourself, but you have to make sure the rest of the world knows that, and we're not there yet.

"We got this coalition together, with the Committee of 100, the Leadership program, the three superintendents, the board presidents and finance directors of the three systems. We've been meeting with them all year to see what their needs are and how we can help each other. I don't know if that's ever happened, at least not to the degree it's happened in 2006.

"We still don't have the sales tax that we endorsed, but I'm optimistic that we will by the early part of next year. It is against the chamber's nature to endorse a sales tax, but we wanted to take a stance. We felt like it was the most rational approach considering the circumstances.''

Q. Is the area on schedule when it comes to preparing for BRAC growth?

A. "I think we're all a little intimidated by the uncertainty of it all. We know the jobs are going to come here - BRAC is law and those positions are scheduled to move here within a five-year period. But we don't know who is going to follow the jobs, and we're not certain about the level of churn there's going to be with existing companies losing key talent to these new jobs.

"How much talent are we going to be able to relocate here with those positions and where will the other talent come from? Are we doing everything to groom the talent we're going to need to replace those nearing retirement age? There's no question that this is probably the most challenging work-force issue in our history. What we don't know is very intimidating. We're working with the Department of Defense to find out more about the intent of the people whose jobs are affected by these moves.

"Even if we got all of them, a significant number of people in those positions are nearing retirement age. It's an issue of filling talent we need now and making sure we are grooming the types of students we need to fill those jobs. Everything eventually comes back to the talent our schools are producing in this community.''

Q. With the BRAC jobs coming, do you have an indication on how many people will follow their jobs here?

A. "I've heard everything from 20 (percent) to 50 percent. It comes down to very personal decisions - their family, where they are in their careers, where their kids and grandchildren want to be. Anytime you're considering relocating you have to make a lot of emotional decisions. There have to be a lot of compelling reasons for those folks to come here. You have to create the best quality of life you can, make sure job opportunities are there. But at the end of the day, it's a very personal decision and that's very hard to predict. We've been successful in BRAC moves before, but the demographics were different, probably not as weighted as much to retirement plans as they are now.''

Q. Other than education, do you have any other concerns about the Huntsville business community?

A. "One of the big challenges we have is behaving regionally, where we all share the same goals. Other communities that we compete with are doing a better job than we are. Our work force is pulled from roughly a 50- to 70-mile radius of Huntsville. Transportation projects tend to be regional in nature. We have to think more geographically. When companies come in like Verizon, they're pulling in people from southern Tennessee and all over North Alabama. They don't care where they live or shop, they just want that talent. Other communities recognize that a lot of their residents commute here.

"But some of the major issues we face extends out within that work-force radius. We can focus on our three school systems, but we're hopeful that Limestone County and southern Tennessee are going to be focused on their systems and developing qualified workers.

"The Shoals area asked to get involved in the BRAC recruiting efforts. It is to the Shoals' benefit that our economy in Huntsville is strong. I think Redstone Arsenal does a good job of behaving regionally. They see themselves drawing talent from that 70-mile radius, they have to think regionally and do a good job of that.''

Q. What have you seen this year that makes you feel optimistic about this community's economic future?

A. "If you want to see what the level of optimism here, just drive through Cummings Research Park. It kind of tells the whole story. You go out there and you're going to see Bridge Street being developed; you're going to see Sparta, Northrop Grumman, SAIC - a lot of different companies with major capital improvements or new building projects going on.

"Old Madison Pike is all you need as a quick visual to see great things that are happening in the community. If you want to pick another area, drive past our two hospitals. We have two of the best health care facilities anywhere, and they are making major investments to expand their facilities.

"You can see that growth happening everywhere here. We can look around and see progress a lot better than in some less fortunate communities.''



Dave Hargrove Outgoing Chamber of Commerce leader looks back at successes, challenges of 2006 Sunday, December 10, 2006 Huntsville Times Dave Hargrove is wrapping up his 2006 term as chairman of the Huntsville/ Madison County Chamber of Commerce. Hargrove is regional manager for BellSouth in Huntsville. Brad Jones, CEO of Crestwood Medical Center, will move into the chairman position in January. Last week, Hargrove looked back on the year in the Huntsville business community with Times Business Editor Wayne Smith. Q. Huntsville has continued to have economic growth in 2006. What stands out as you look back on the year? A. "It's a great community to be a volunteer chairman. Prior to this, we've had two years of record job growth and this year things have just exploded. I'm pretty sure it will be three years of record growth. The chamber helps to facilitate that, but it doesn't deserve direct credit. The people who are deciding to expand, relocate businesses or grow have to feel confident to do that, that they're in the environment to take those kind of risks. And this is a great environment - the consumer and the business confidence level is very high here. I think the chamber is instrumental in helping promote that, but the business leaders deserve the lion's share of the credit. "It was a great year to be in this role because you can just ride the success. A lot is happening in this community. A lot of places are worried about how to replace jobs that have devastated communities. Here, we're worried about filling jobs. It's a tremendous blessing to be in this town.'' Q. What have you learned about the Huntsville business community in the role as chairman of the chamber? A. "In that chamber environment, you hear about the challenges business leaders face. You get to see those people on a daily basis and that's probably the best part of this job. I understand a lot more about the role a company like Toyota plays. I understand more about the challenges of growing in this community in the defense, space, health care and biotech industries. And understanding how we should diversify our economy. We have a study under way now to target industry areas we should focus on, so we don't take a shotgun approach to economic development.'' Q. What did the chamber accomplish this year that you're particularly proud of? A. "We stepped out and made a proactive stance on the need to financially support our three public education systems. Public education is such a complicated, controversial and emotional thing. I can't imagine a more complicated issue. We knew we had to get rational very fast, take the emotion and myth out of it and understand what our three systems need. As long as I've been involved as a chamber volunteer, we've talked about the perception of our public schools, how important that is to economic development. We always felt like that was somebody else's issue, that our issue was creating jobs. "It just became apparent when my term started in January that we needed to aggressively pursue that issue. We needed to understand what their needs are and then how we need to address them. "We overstate BRAC a lot. The growth was happening before then, but BRAC accelerated these growth issues. The challenge is to communicate to the public why that matters to them regardless of what their family makeup or job situation is, it affects everyone in some way. You can solve a lot of problems if you have three top-notch school systems. "We have good school systems, but they aren't always perceived that way outside the community. If we had three of the best school systems in the country, we would be wildly successful - there's no limit to what we could do. "The chamber's goal in our strategic plan is to be one of the top technology cities in the South. If you don't have three of the best school systems in the South, I don't know how you can achieve that goal. And you not only have to know it yourself, but you have to make sure the rest of the world knows that, and we're not there yet. "We got this coalition together, with the Committee of 100, the Leadership program, the three superintendents, the board presidents and finance directors of the three systems. We've been meeting with them all year to see what their needs are and how we can help each other. I don't know if that's ever happened, at least not to the degree it's happened in 2006. "We still don't have the sales tax that we endorsed, but I'm optimistic that we will by the early part of next year. It is against the chamber's nature to endorse a sales tax, but we wanted to take a stance. We felt like it was the most rational approach considering the circumstances.'' Q. Is the area on schedule when it comes to preparing for BRAC growth? A. "I think we're all a little intimidated by the uncertainty of it all. We know the jobs are going to come here - BRAC is law and those positions are scheduled to move here within a five-year period. But we don't know who is going to follow the jobs, and we're not certain about the level of churn there's going to be with existing companies losing key talent to these new jobs. "How much talent are we going to be able to relocate here with those positions and where will the other talent come from? Are we doing everything to groom the talent we're going to need to replace those nearing retirement age? There's no question that this is probably the most challenging work-force issue in our history. What we don't know is very intimidating. We're working with the Department of Defense to find out more about the intent of the people whose jobs are affected by these moves. "Even if we got all of them, a significant number of people in those positions are nearing retirement age. It's an issue of filling talent we need now and making sure we are grooming the types of students we need to fill those jobs. Everything eventually comes back to the talent our schools are producing in this community.'' Q. With the BRAC jobs coming, do you have an indication on how many people will follow their jobs here? A. "I've heard everything from 20 (percent) to 50 percent. It comes down to very personal decisions - their family, where they are in their careers, where their kids and grandchildren want to be. Anytime you're considering relocating you have to make a lot of emotional decisions. There have to be a lot of compelling reasons for those folks to come here. You have to create the best quality of life you can, make sure job opportunities are there. But at the end of the day, it's a very personal decision and that's very hard to predict. We've been successful in BRAC moves before, but the demographics were different, probably not as weighted as much to retirement plans as they are now.'' Q. Other than education, do you have any other concerns about the Huntsville business community? A. "One of the big challenges we have is behaving regionally, where we all share the same goals. Other communities that we compete with are doing a better job than we are. Our work force is pulled from roughly a 50- to 70-mile radius of Huntsville. Transportation projects tend to be regional in nature. We have to think more geographically. When companies come in like Verizon, they're pulling in people from southern Tennessee and all over North Alabama. They don't care where they live or shop, they just want that talent. Other communities recognize that a lot of their residents commute here. "But some of the major issues we face extends out within that work-force radius. We can focus on our three school systems, but we're hopeful that Limestone County and southern Tennessee are going to be focused on their systems and developing qualified workers. "The Shoals area asked to get involved in the BRAC recruiting efforts. It is to the Shoals' benefit that our economy in Huntsville is strong. I think Redstone Arsenal does a good job of behaving regionally. They see themselves drawing talent from that 70-mile radius, they have to think regionally and do a good job of that.'' Q. What have you seen this year that makes you feel optimistic about this community's economic future? A. "If you want to see what the level of optimism here, just drive through Cummings Research Park. It kind of tells the whole story. You go out there and you're going to see Bridge Street being developed; you're going to see Sparta, Northrop Grumman, SAIC - a lot of different companies with major capital improvements or new building projects going on. "Old Madison Pike is all you need as a quick visual to see great things that are happening in the community. If you want to pick another area, drive past our two hospitals. We have two of the best health care facilities anywhere, and they are making major investments to expand their facilities. "You can see that growth happening everywhere here. We can look around and see progress a lot better than in some less fortunate communities.'' © 2006 The Huntsville Times © 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.