COMMUNITY COMPLIMENTS

• Birmingham, Huntsville and Auburn-Opelika make Expansion Management’s 2004 "America's 50 Hottest Cities for Manufacturing Expansions and Relocations” list - January 2004
• Muscle Shoals is touted as a small town favorite in Plants Sites & Parks article, "Up-and-Comers: Site Consultants Reveal Their Long-Term Picks" - January 2004


• "Men's Health" magazine gives Birmingham's and Montgomery's water supply its highest ranking, an "A" based on criteria established by the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - March 2004


• For the second time in two years, Dothan leads the small cities portion of KPMG's Competitive Alternatives study, earning the title of most competitive in business cost effectiveness among American cities with populations of less than 500,000 - March 2004


• The City of Opelika's economic development department is touted as one of the top 10 economic development groups in North America by Site Selection magazine - April 2004


• Birmingham is declared one of "America's Most Livable Cities" - April 2004


• Huntsville moves to its highest ranking yet - No. 8 - in Forbes magazine's 2004 "Best Places for Business and Careers," joined by Birmingham (77), Montgomery (103), and Mobile (118) - May 2004


• Forbes magazine's 2004 "Best Small Places for Business and Careers" includes Anniston, Auburn, Decatur, Dothan, Gadsden, Florence and Tuscaloosa - May 2004


• Greenville ties for Southern Business & Development magazine's 2004 "Small Market of the Year" - Spring 2004


• Luverne and Alexander City tie with four others for second place in Southern Business & Development magazine's 2004 "Small Market of the Year" - Spring 2004
  
• Tuscaloosa, Mobile and Auburn-Opelika each rank among Expansion Management's 2004 Top 50 Cities for European Investment - July 2004


• Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard lists Huntsville among 150 top cities where people can "work and live lavishly at a low price" - September 2004


• Both Birmingham and Mobile land in the "Top 50 Most Logistics Friendly Metros," each earning the highest 5-Star logistics city designation from Expansion Management's 2004 "Logistics Quotient" - September 2004


• The Milken Institute's 2004 "Best Performing Cities" list includes Huntsville (27), Montgomery (86), Birmingham (124) and Mobile (137) in the top 200 metros; while Dothan (39), Anniston (59), Tuscaloosa (63), Auburn-Opelika (70), Gadsden (97), Decatur (99) and Florence (118) all earn spots on Milken's list of smaller metro areas - November 2004


• Mobile ranks 28th nationwide, and 11th among Southeastern cities, on Logistics Today's 2004 list of the best places for businesses that rely on logistics - November 2004


• Golf Digest magazine names the city of Gadsden's Twin Bridge Golf Club one of the nation's best new courses - December 2004


• The United States Chamber of Commerce awards the Opelika Chamber of Commerce with 4-Star Accreditation for its effective organizational procedures and outstanding contribution to positive change in the community - December 2004


• Eufaula is one of 25 small towns in America picked for the list of "Happy Hootervilles" in Forbes magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard's book called "Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness" - December 2004


• Policom Corporation economic strength study ranks Baldwin County as the 11th strongest micropolitan economy in the United States and 4th in the Southeast - December 2004

BOOMING BUSINESSES

• Compass Bancshares appears in Forbes magazine’s “Platinum 400," an annual list of the top 400 best big companies in the United States - January 2004


• Fortune rates Birmingham-based American Cast Iron Pipe 45th on its 2004 "100 Best Companies to Work For" list - March 2004


• Coming in at number four, Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) climbs into the Top 5 on Fortune magazine's 2004 list of "Most Admired Superregional Banks" in the United States - March 2004


• Eight Birmingham-based corporations earn spots on the 2004 "Fortune 1000" list, including: Saks, Inc. (306); Regions Financial Corp. (466); SouthTrust Corporation (527); Vulcan Materials (527); AmSouth Bank (533); Torchmark (535); Protective Life (721); and Compass Bancshares (756) - March 2004


• The "Forbes 2000" list of the nation's top-performing public companies for 2004 recognizes ten Alabama businesses: SouthTrust (408); Regions Financial Corp. (420); AmSouth (476); Torchmark (714); Caremark Rx (775); Compass Banchsares (827); Protective Life Insurance (1174); Vulcan Materials (1186); Colonial Bancgroup (1388); and Saks Inc. (1498) - March 2004


• AmSouth Bancorp, Compass Bancshares Inc., and Regions Financial Corp., rank among the nation's top 25 bank holding companies by insurance revenue, according to a report by the American Bankers Insurance Association - May 2004


• The U.S. Small Business Administration names Huntsville-based Aerospace Products Southeast Inc., as federal "Subcontractor of the Year for the Southeastern United States" - May 2004


• Birmingham's four largest bank holding companies- AmSouth Bancorp, Compass Bancshares Inc., Regions Financial Corp., and Southtrust Corp.- all place among the top 60 in U.S. Banker's annual performance rating of the nation's 100 largest publicly traded banks by 3-year average return on equity - May 2004


• Industry magazine Modern Healthcare names Birmingham-based Brasfield & Gorrie LLC the nation's top general contractor for health care facilities, based on revenue - May 2004


• Black Enterprise recognizes 11 Alabama-based companies on the magazine's 32nd annual ranking of the nation's largest black-owned businesses by total revenue or assets - June 2004
• SouthTrust and Compass Bancshares earn places on the 2004 Forbes "400 Best Big Companies" list - June 2004


• Verilink Corporation's (Nasdaq: VRLK) Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) product set gains the company recognition from Telecommunications Magazine as a provider of one of 2004's 10 Hottest Technologies in the telecom industry - June 2004
  
• Research firm BauerFinancial Inc., rates Birmingham's largest banks - AmSouth Bancorp, Compass Bancshares Inc., Regions Financial Corp. and SouthTrust Corp. - five stars...yet again - June 2004


• For the third consecutive year, Healthcare Informatics magazine names Birmingham-based Source Medical Solutions Inc. as one of "Top 100" health-care information technology companies in the United States- June 2004


• Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) moves up the ranks to No. 41 among the "500 Most Innovative Corporate Users of Information Technology," according to the annual InformationWeek 500 survey - September 2004


• Alabama Power Co. receives honors as one of Site Selection magazine's top 10 list of utility companies excelling in economic development - September 2004


• Inc. magazine's annual "Inc. 500" list, which charts the country's fastest-growing private companies, includes five Huntsville-based firms: 3D Research Corp.; Gray Research Inc.; Radiance Technologies Inc.; SEI Group Inc.; and Solid Earth Inc.; as well as Birmingham-based ComFrame Software, Dothan-based Barlovento, and Wetumpka-based Information Transport Solutions - October 2004


• Software Magazine recognizes Athens-based Cabinet NG Inc. on its "Software 500," a listing of the world's foremost software and services providers - October 2004


• The Forbes 2004 "Largest Private Companies" list names four Birmingham-based businesses: EBSCO Industries (139); McWane (179); Brasfield & Gorrie (280); and BE&K (292) - November 2004


• Birmingham-based Hibbetts Sporting Goods ranks 83rd on the Forbes 2004 "200 Best Small Companies" list - November 2004


• Motion Industries, North America's leading distributor of industrial maintenance, repair, and operation replacement parts, ranks number three out of "The 25 Best Service Companies to Sell For" as reported by Selling Power magazine - November/December 2004