New chamber chair focuses on BRAC, jobs

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Huntsville Times

Evans Quinlivan, who takes over Tuesday as chairman of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, won't face a steep learning curve. He's held the position unofficially since last spring, when then-Chairman Brad Jones, former CEO of Crestwood Medical Center, took a job in the Atlanta area.

Quinlivan, Madison County CEO of First American Bank, has already presided at numerous groundbreakings and ribbon-cuttings, and he doesn't expect any drop-off in 2008 despite the sluggish national economy. He's obviously bullish on BRAC and the city's business climate, but does see areas of concern as the region prepares for the influx of thousands of jobs and as the banking industry reels from the subprime mortgage crisis.

Business Editor Steve Byers spoke with Quinlivan, 45, last week in his office in The Summit building overlooking Big Spring International Park. Here's a transcript of that conversation, edited for space and clarity:

What are your top priorities and goals for the chamber this year?

We will continue our focus on economic development. We've had tremendous success in past years, but we can't rest on that. We have to keep growing.

Our annual stated goal is 2,500 new jobs both from expanding industry and new companies. One thing we commit to companies that come here, and to members who invest in our chamber, is that we will have a work force available when you need them. Obviously, with BRAC, we've got a lot of jobs to fill.

We had over 60 percent of those people from St. Louis move here as part of the '95 BRAC. The expectation with this group is not quite that high, so we've got work to do in the area of work force, both in development and recruiting. Our colleges and universities are working aggressively to address those issues on the development side. The recruitment side falls squarely in our lap.

Two years ago, we did not have a work force division at the chamber. Today we've got one. We recently hired a work force recruiter, and we're beginning to take our show on the road, recruiting in university towns and on college campuses. We're identifying communities that have similar demographics to what we need but may be a little less fortunate economically than we are.

One area of concern for the Army and local business leaders with BRAC is schools. Specifically, are our public school systems ready for the thousands of children predicted to come here over the next few years? What can the chamber do?

Our role is to help frame the situation for our elected school leaders, help identify the challenges we face as a community. I've read some numbers of late that the expectation is that the people who are in these jobs today are maybe a little bit younger than what we anticipated. Obviously, they're going to have school-age children. The initial estimate was 9,000 (children), and that's probably still a good number.

Right now, are our schools prepared to handle this growth?

My opinion is no, but all three school systems are aggressively addressing the situation. I applaud their efforts, but today the facilities are not there.

Most people assume that voters will not approve a countywide half-cent sales tax increase for schools, so where will the money come from?

The chamber got actively involved in the sales tax issue in '06. Our position is that is not the long-term solution for funding education. The need was immediate, and that was the solution that was available in the near term, so we got behind it. Obviously, the (County) Commission elected not to levy that half-cent sales tax and decided to put it to a vote of the people.

We're pushing for an ad valorem tax increase as the longer-term solution to the problem.

That's going to require a massive sales job.

It is, and it's going to take some time.

Put on your banker's hat now. Have the housing slump and credit crisis bottomed out nationally?

The housing market here is softer than it has been in quite a while. Our problems appear to be more supply-driven. We probably have a few too many houses on the market today, but I think that is temporary. Unlike other areas of the country, we've got an event, BRAC, and jobs coming. Any weaknesses we have in the housing market should turn around in a matter of time.

Nationally, have we hit bottom yet? Hard to say. You'd like to think we're close if we haven't.

There's increasing talk of a recession. Do you see that? And if so, what would be the impact here?

Our folks don't necessarily see a recession. We don't see much growth either, and 1 percent GDP growth may feel like a recession.

One of the challenges locally we might see in the housing market is the effect of the national media on the psyche of the people coming here. The national media's coverage of the housing problems across the country has an effect. I also think that people coming here from other parts of the country may be struggling to sell their house, or selling it for a much lower value than what they thought they might get a few years ago.

So they're coming here with a little less money than what they anticipated having. That has a psychological effect as well.

If the nation did go into a recession, it's bound to have an effect here. But other areas of the country are a lot worse off than we are economically.

Is Huntsville's message playing better with elected leaders in Montgomery than it has in years past? Gov. Bob Riley certainly has been up here a lot for economic development announcements.

Gov. Riley knows what's going on here.

I'm not sure we have historically done a good enough job of telling our story in Montgomery, and we've started doing that. We're making quarterly trips to Montgomery as a chamber visiting with Riley's Cabinet members and various people who need to know what's going on up here.

For instance, we told the state finance director, Jim Main, during one meeting that since 2000 we've had 284 economic development announcements up here. He sat there a minute and calculated and said, 'That's almost one a week.'

Surely you can't keep up that pace?

The total number of new and expanding industry announcements we had last year was 51. Now not all of those are worthy of the governor coming up. The smallest was eight jobs; the largest was 1,000 jobs. Our goal at the chamber is 2,500 new jobs each year. We've exceeded that goal the last four years.

Riley often touts biotechnology as the next big industry for this state. Talk about the impact of Jim Hudson's efforts here and the new HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

This month we're celebrating 50 years in space and the successes of the von Braun team. I think 50 years from today we'll be saying the same things about Jim Hudson.



New chamber chair focuses on BRAC, jobs Sunday, January 20, 2008 Huntsville Times Evans Quinlivan, who takes over Tuesday as chairman of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, won't face a steep learning curve. He's held the position unofficially since last spring, when then-Chairman Brad Jones, former CEO of Crestwood Medical Center, took a job in the Atlanta area. Quinlivan, Madison County CEO of First American Bank, has already presided at numerous groundbreakings and ribbon-cuttings, and he doesn't expect any drop-off in 2008 despite the sluggish national economy. He's obviously bullish on BRAC and the city's business climate, but does see areas of concern as the region prepares for the influx of thousands of jobs and as the banking industry reels from the subprime mortgage crisis. Business Editor Steve Byers spoke with Quinlivan, 45, last week in his office in The Summit building overlooking Big Spring International Park. Here's a transcript of that conversation, edited for space and clarity: What are your top priorities and goals for the chamber this year? We will continue our focus on economic development. We've had tremendous success in past years, but we can't rest on that. We have to keep growing. Our annual stated goal is 2,500 new jobs both from expanding industry and new companies. One thing we commit to companies that come here, and to members who invest in our chamber, is that we will have a work force available when you need them. Obviously, with BRAC, we've got a lot of jobs to fill. We had over 60 percent of those people from St. Louis move here as part of the '95 BRAC. The expectation with this group is not quite that high, so we've got work to do in the area of work force, both in development and recruiting. Our colleges and universities are working aggressively to address those issues on the development side. The recruitment side falls squarely in our lap. Two years ago, we did not have a work force division at the chamber. Today we've got one. We recently hired a work force recruiter, and we're beginning to take our show on the road, recruiting in university towns and on college campuses. We're identifying communities that have similar demographics to what we need but may be a little less fortunate economically than we are. One area of concern for the Army and local business leaders with BRAC is schools. Specifically, are our public school systems ready for the thousands of children predicted to come here over the next few years? What can the chamber do? Our role is to help frame the situation for our elected school leaders, help identify the challenges we face as a community. I've read some numbers of late that the expectation is that the people who are in these jobs today are maybe a little bit younger than what we anticipated. Obviously, they're going to have school-age children. The initial estimate was 9,000 (children), and that's probably still a good number. Right now, are our schools prepared to handle this growth? My opinion is no, but all three school systems are aggressively addressing the situation. I applaud their efforts, but today the facilities are not there. Most people assume that voters will not approve a countywide half-cent sales tax increase for schools, so where will the money come from? The chamber got actively involved in the sales tax issue in '06. Our position is that is not the long-term solution for funding education. The need was immediate, and that was the solution that was available in the near term, so we got behind it. Obviously, the (County) Commission elected not to levy that half-cent sales tax and decided to put it to a vote of the people. We're pushing for an ad valorem tax increase as the longer-term solution to the problem. That's going to require a massive sales job. It is, and it's going to take some time. Put on your banker's hat now. Have the housing slump and credit crisis bottomed out nationally? The housing market here is softer than it has been in quite a while. Our problems appear to be more supply-driven. We probably have a few too many houses on the market today, but I think that is temporary. Unlike other areas of the country, we've got an event, BRAC, and jobs coming. Any weaknesses we have in the housing market should turn around in a matter of time. Nationally, have we hit bottom yet? Hard to say. You'd like to think we're close if we haven't. There's increasing talk of a recession. Do you see that? And if so, what would be the impact here? Our folks don't necessarily see a recession. We don't see much growth either, and 1 percent GDP growth may feel like a recession. One of the challenges locally we might see in the housing market is the effect of the national media on the psyche of the people coming here. The national media's coverage of the housing problems across the country has an effect. I also think that people coming here from other parts of the country may be struggling to sell their house, or selling it for a much lower value than what they thought they might get a few years ago. So they're coming here with a little less money than what they anticipated having. That has a psychological effect as well. If the nation did go into a recession, it's bound to have an effect here. But other areas of the country are a lot worse off than we are economically. Is Huntsville's message playing better with elected leaders in Montgomery than it has in years past? Gov. Bob Riley certainly has been up here a lot for economic development announcements. Gov. Riley knows what's going on here. I'm not sure we have historically done a good enough job of telling our story in Montgomery, and we've started doing that. We're making quarterly trips to Montgomery as a chamber visiting with Riley's Cabinet members and various people who need to know what's going on up here. For instance, we told the state finance director, Jim Main, during one meeting that since 2000 we've had 284 economic development announcements up here. He sat there a minute and calculated and said, 'That's almost one a week.' Surely you can't keep up that pace? The total number of new and expanding industry announcements we had last year was 51. Now not all of those are worthy of the governor coming up. The smallest was eight jobs; the largest was 1,000 jobs. Our goal at the chamber is 2,500 new jobs each year. We've exceeded that goal the last four years. Riley often touts biotechnology as the next big industry for this state. Talk about the impact of Jim Hudson's efforts here and the new HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. This month we're celebrating 50 years in space and the successes of the von Braun team. I think 50 years from today we'll be saying the same things about Jim Hudson. © 2008 The Huntsville Times © 2008 al.com All Rights Reserved.