Business leaders looking to future

Area partnerships to lure industry urged

Area business leaders gathered at the Embassy Suites on Monday to discuss local economic development efforts and the top executive of the chamber of commerce said the community should feel "very encouraged and extremely optimistic about where we're going."

Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Brian Hilson offered the assessment amid a day of meetings to update the business community about plans and strategy for future business recruitment.

Hilson said Huntsville and Madison County consistently grade among the top communities in the U.S. for quality of life and a business-friendly environment. He said the challenge is to maintain those community standards and begin to find ways to partner with area communities for a more regional approach to business recruitment.

U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, also favors pooling regional resources for industrial recruitment. He said there are projects that could be upcoming that would be attractive to the area and would likely need a commitment from Huntsville-Madison County and its neighboring communities to make the most effective bid.

Cramer wants to work with Limestone and Morgan counties and the city governments to forge partnerships to lure projects.

Hilson said some 21 percent, or about 30,000, of the Huntsville-Madison County work force lives outside Madison County, so cooperation on future projects, regardless of the specific location of the new business makes sense economically.

Cramer said with Huntsville's success in recruitment and expansion, there could be a tendency to get complacent about economic development, but he said that would be a mistake. He said the community does have to make decisions, based on its values, about how large a package of incentives to offer in the recruitment process, but he favors continuing to work to diversify the Huntsville economy.