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A Message from the President

This will be Jim's intro.
             
James P. Hayes, Jr.

According to National Policy Research Council’s Entrepreneurial Activity Index, Birmingham and Mobile are among the best mid size cities for development.

Birmingham ranks third overall, while Mobile is a close fifth.

To determine the overall rank, researchers identify the best places to not only start, but grow a new company.

The full listing includes 276 small, midsize and large metropolitan areas, 50 states and 784 countries.

According to Site Selection magazine’s annual ranking, Alabama has one of the top business climates in the country. The state ranked 7th overall.

Alabama ranked fourth in the survey by corporate site seekers, which accounts for half of the overall rank. The other 50 percent is determined from the development of new industries or the expansion of existing industries in the state.

Huntsville has been named the city with the highest per capita concentration of high-growth companies in the United States, according to Inc. magazine. 2005 marks the second year in a row that Huntsville has been recognized on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies.

Four Huntsville companies were listed on the Inc. 500 ranking of fasting growing private companies:

This year Forbes magazine also awarded Huntsville as the 6th city in its Top 10 Best Places for Business and Careers. The magazine noted that Huntsville is the city with the highest concentration of degreed engineers in the country.

Tallassee’s GKN Aerospace Inc. manufacturing facility is undergoing a 120,000-square-foot expansion. 250 jobs will be created when the development is complete.

The expansion should be ready by the end of 2006, with the facility’s production beginning in 2007.

Gregg Ferrell, director of business development at GKN, noted the area’s workers as a main force behind the facility’s success.

“The work force that we have to draw upon is fantastic…the work ethic of the people in Tallassee and Elmore County is really second to none and we’re real pleased. We like being here, and we don’t plan on leaving.”

The company’s growth was necessary, in part, after acquiring additional work from General Electric Engines and the GEnx engine program.

Alabama Boasts Top Work Force Training Program

Expansion Management magazine recently named states with the best overall work force training programs. Southeastern states dominated the ranking, with Alabama ranking 2nd in the U.S. The ranking is determined by the financial value, ease and usage of the state training programs.

The magazine noted AIDT as a major factor in Alabama’s economic development. AIDT offers customized training programs and 34 mobile work force training units.

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