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A Publication of the Baldwin County
Welcome to the Alliance eNewsletter If you have trouble viewing this document click here to view this on our website |
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| In this Issue: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Alliance Travels to
Washington as part of Regional Recruitment Team for Airbus Project |
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BCEDA President & CEO Lance LaCour, a member of a Mobile
area regional recruitment team to court the Airbus/EADS KC330 project,
traveled to Washington
pictured above: KC330 Tanker |
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The Alliance
had a banner year in 2004 facilitating the creation of over 1,300 jobs,
$87,000,000 in capital investment, 45 projects and facilitation of
$7,000,000 in grants and training assistance commitments. The 2005
Alliance Operations and Activities Plan goals call for: 1,300 jobs,
$70,000,000 in capital investment and 20 new projects, and $4,000,000 in
grants and training assistance. Some highlights of the 2005 plan include:
Current Scorecard for Alliance 2005:
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On February 17, 2005 the Alliance Board, investors,
mayors and county commissioners attended a retreat at GulfTel Headquarters
in Foley. Over 25 people were in attendance including County Commission
Chairman David Ed Bishop. Fred Mickelson of Funding Solutions led the
visioning session to develop a successful economic development program
through the year 2010, conducted a SWOT analysis, and drafted a new five
year economic development plan for Baldwin County. |
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In February of 2005, the Alliance Board entered into an agreement with
Funding Solutions, an Austin, Texas based consulting firm to perform a
leadership assessment. As a result, over 70 community leaders were
interviewed. The findings of these interviews were shared with the
Alliance Board on March 24th. There was clear consensus that the Alliance
is a trusted, professional sales and marketing arm and full service
economic development corporation for Baldwin County.
Since its inception, the Alliance has had widespread community impact with many new announcements and expansions. The bottom line of the report noted that Baldwin County has matured and has different needs now than in the past. Consequently, the Alliance must adjust its economic development programming in order to meet those changing needs. With a vibrant economy, there are many existing businesses that can utilize the expertise of the Alliance. Overall, the report was a clear indication of our desire to remain competitive. A comprehensive plan is being developed. Funding Solutions recommended an annual budget in support of the new plan of $600,000 annually for 5 years (2006-2010). Our past level of annual support was a budget of $420,000. Funding Solutions gave four compelling reasons they will be successful: 1) a great track record of economic development programs all over Alabama, 2) the economy in Baldwin County has grown with many good companies and quality jobs, 3) at least five sectors of the economy have dramatically benefited from the Alliance and yet have not participated financially, 4) the Alliance has brought the county together, good things happen when communities work together. Commissioner Frank Burt, Hiram Templeton-Alabama Power, Sheila Hodges-Meyer Real Estate, Mayor Tim Russell-City of Foley, and Robert Craft-Craft Farms have agreed to co-chair the fund drive. With the above in mind, the Alliance Board voted to hire Funding Solutions to raise the $3 million for a 5 year program and to assist in the development of an action oriented plan to further secure Baldwin County’s economic future. Our board is excited about the future of BCEDA, all made possible by the continuing support of public/private sectors. The Campaign (Alliance 2010) will run from May 1 to October 15, 2005. A copy of the assessment report is available on our website at www.baldwineda.com.
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Growth is
pretty spectacular here in Baldwin County – and not just in the Industrial
Sectors:
The City of Gulf Shores stepped up to planning for this growth with a fresh, “smart growth” study, by hiring the firm of Jordon, Jones and Goulding (JJG). JJG has recommended plans for a new downtown walking and shopping district, road realignments, and rezoning to take property back from condo resort zoning to single family and duplex beach houses. The result ought to be a dramatic reduction in the car traffic predicted for the future as well as an even more desirable vacation and residential location. In the Baldwin/Mobile County region, the Envision Coastal Alabama Smart
Growth activity will provide forums for communities in both counties to
learn from each other while focusing on issues of transportation, mixed
use developments, and the watershed. |
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"The 123,000 sq. ft. Goodrich Building in
Fairhope is currently under contract to an aerospace company,” noted Lance
LaCour, President & CEO of the Alliance. “We have been working with this
company for over two years to locate the company in the building. It has
been a true team recruiting effort with the Fairhope Economic Development
Board, City of Fairhope, Baldwin County Commission, State of Alabama, and
Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce all involved in the recruitment and
acquisition process.” The Company hopes to make an announcement in the
next 60 days.
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 Congratulations once again
to Robertsdale company Quality Filters, Inc. (QFI)! George Spottswood,
president of Quality Filters, received the “Alabama Business Innovator of
the Year” award from the Alabama Technology Network. This award was in
recognition of his leadership in manufacturing quality and productivity
and his willingness to share that passion with other companies across the
country. The ATN Awards Committee selected QFI after considering over 50
nominations of Alabama business leaders.“Our VISION program allows all of our team members to become actively involved in improving our productivity and quality every day,” said Spottswood. Their VISION program includes elements of Six Sigma quality, Lean Enterprise, and other continuous improvement strategies. ATN is a part of the Alabama two-year college system with locations on
most two and four year college campuses. The Auburn University ATN group
is home for a number of industry experts in productivity and quality. They
have been working with a number of companies in Baldwin County. Contact
Bob Higgins at the Alliance if you would like more information. |
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| The Alliance
and all five Chambers co-hosted SBA loan clinics for businesses in our
area recently. David Leonard of the SBA office in Birmingham announced
that companies that need additional operating capital now have two new
SBA-backed sources which are credit score-based and require no collateral.
Business Loan Express can provide up to $25,000 to new or existing
businesses. Capital One can loan up to $50,000 to companies at least 24
months old. 53 companies attended the clinics and most applied for loans
from one or both of these sources. Contact Bob Higgins at the Alliance for
more information on these and other business funding sources.
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The South Baldwin
Chamber of Commerce and the City of Foley partnered with the Alliance to
host a job fair to help 170 soon-to-be displaced Delphi Mechatronics
workers find new jobs. Thirty-two businesses with job openings filled the
Foley City Center to capacity. Hiring contacts at fourteen more businesses
were listed on a handout. In all, 290 people interested in finding new
jobs from Delphi and the community attended the job fair. |
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| Nationally, 60%
– 90% of new businesses fail in the first three years according to the
National Business Incubator Association. Businesses in incubators succeed
80% of the time. The Alliance and the chambers have run a “virtual”
business incubator within Baldwin County since May 2002. The objective is
to help new companies get the planning, financial, and management help
they need to get started and successfully grow the business. 1. Business planning help through several SBA sources in the community: SCORE, the Small Business Development Center at the University of South Alabama, and the Women's Business Center 2. Reduced fees on legal and accounting services 3. Help in finding office space 4. Money If you are interested in starting a business, visit www.baldwinincubator.com or call Bob Higgins at the Alliance!
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Meyer Real Estate Building New Headquarters |
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 Since 1967, Meyer Real
Estate has been a leader in the dramatic transition of the gulf coast from
a tiny village of beach cottages to a major destination resort. Meyer Real
Estate is a privately held, full service real estate brokerage company
located in southern Alabama. Sheila Hodges is Owner and CEO. The design of
Meyer Real Estate’s new state-of-the-art corporate headquarters in Gulf
Shores will enhance delivery of STAR Treatment, Meyer’s exclusive
guarantee that customers will always receive Service, Trust, Accessibility
and Results. The 36,000 square-foot facility will be large enough to meet
the growing needs of their real estate sales, vacation rentals and
property management customers. Meyer’s commitment to remain sensitive to
the natural surroundings is evident in the design of the inviting
courtyard and picnic area. You will also be welcomed into the dramatic
two-story glass atrium lobby that wraps around mature oaks already
established on the property. Meyer’s intent is for the vacationer’s
arrival experience to be a relaxing start to their treasured stay on our
naturally beautiful coast. The building is currently under construction
and should be complete by the end of this year.Other Meyer Real Estate facilities include two branch offices in Orange Beach and Fort Morgan, which are strategically positioned to accommodate the rapid area development and customer’s convenience. A large Service Building, located north of the island, houses the company functions of Housekeeping, Maintenance and Community Association Management.
Pictured: Meyer Real Estate Headquarters Design.
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| Auburn University Engineering Assistance Available | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The Alliance has been
working with Auburn University to help develop joint projects between
Auburn and Baldwin County businesses. The Samuel Ginn College of
Engineering can provide very high quality technical assistance in rapid
prototyping, failure analysis, facilities layout/design, thermal science,
HVAC, preventative and predictive maintenance, information technology,
food processing, and just about any other engineering discipline. Similar
programs exist with the other colleges at Auburn.
Baldwin County companies can take advantage of their offer by contacting Dr. P.K. Raju at Auburn. He will help you develop a working relationship with an Auburn professor with expertise in your area. The professor may then suggest that several students take on a project at your business as a “senior design” project over the two semesters of their senior year. If you need the answers quicker than the semester system allows, you can also “hire” a professor (and students) for a specific project. If the opportunity is more complex, you could also have an Auburn masters or doctoral candidate use a project in your business as a thesis topic. For more information, contact Bob Higgins at the Alliance or Dr. P.K. Raju at Auburn (334-844-3360). Online: www.eng.auburn.edu/aetap |
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| Metal Roofing, Inc. to Grow Larger than Expected! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Metal Roofing,
Inc. (MRI), a new company assisted by the Alliance and the Foley
Industrial Development Board, recently built a new 20,000 sq. ft. metal
roof manufacturing facility in Foley and employs 15. MRI recently
announced that it plans to expand to 50 employees over the next five
years. Congratulations to Sollie Bundy and Metal Roofing, Inc. on his
expansion plans. |
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| Kaiser Building Getting $500,000 Face Lift and Price Reduction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman and
CEO Ralph Emerson, of Plasmine Technologies, announced that Plasmine is
spending $500,000 on renovations on the 137,000 sq. ft. Kaiser Building
located on 40 acres in Bay Minette. Emerson also noted the price of the
building (with 10 acres) is being reduced from $1,900,000 to $1,200,000.
Emerson is retiring from Plasmine in May and will be taking on marketing
the building and site full-time. He noted that the renovations include
replacing the current wood block floor with a concrete floor and roof
improvements. He said the additional 30 acres will be for sale for
$16,000/acre and they will consider subdivision of the rest of the site
into smaller tracts. The Kaiser Building was previously a wiredrawing
facility built in 1963 and has two double rail spurs, 3,200 amp electrical
power facilities, 5,000 sq. ft. of office area, and 4 loading docks.
Pictured above: Kaiser Building |
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| Delphi Building Available | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The building, which housed the Delphi Mechatronics Division, is now available – but you better act quickly if you want it! This is a 70,049 total sq. ft. building on a 19+-acre lot just west of Foley. As a Delphi plant, it was a state-of-the-art printed circuit board manufacturing operation. The computer control center in this building controlled manufacturing in several other plants as well. Peak employment was over 300. The facility is listed at $2.2 million.
Pictured above: Delphi Building |
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| 2005 Alliance Board of Directors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Alliance 2005 Board of Directors took office on January 27th, 2005. New Directors on the board are: Larry Merrihew, Chairman Regions Bank Richard Crawford Chicago Pizza The remaining board members are: Hiram Templeton, Vice Chairman Alabama Power Company Donna Watts, Secretary South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce Earl Stephens, Treasurer Baldwin Pole and Piling Charlie Basset Bassett Engineering and Construction Jim Currie AmSouth Bank Donna Givens Baldwin EMC David Horton Riviera Utilities Jimmy Junkins Meyer Real Estate Huey “Hoss” Mack Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department Dennis Mickelsen Delphi Mechatronics Systems Chris Miller City of Bay Minette Peggy Nelson Regions Bank Bruce Sims Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce Jody Taylor Baldwin EMC Randy Wood GulfTel Communications Commissioner Frank Burt, Honorary Member |
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 Pictured above are the Alliance 2005 Board Members Back row Randy Wood, Earl Stephens, Hiram Templeton, David Horton, Richard Crawford, Charlie Bassett, BCEDA President & CEO Lance LaCour Seated Donna Watts, Board Chairman Larry Merrihew, Donna Givens Not Pictured Jim Currie, Jimmy Junkins, Huey “Hoss” Mack, Dennis Mickelsen, Chris Miller, Peggy Nelson, Bruce Sims, Jody Taylor |
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Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance
(The Alliance)
www.baldwineda.com
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to meet with Senators Shelby and Sessions to
express our support and interest in the project. LaCour noted that, “The
project would create over 1,100 direct jobs and $600 million in capital
investment at Brookley. Several thousand supplier jobs would be created,
with Baldwin County having a shot at many of those jobs.” While on the
trip LaCour also visited with another military manufacturing prospect that
would, if landed, create hundreds of quality jobs in Baldwin County. 
