Bob Higgins, Vice President of Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, has been selected Alabama Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Businessperson of the Year.  Bob will travel to the annual FBLA National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on June 26 to accept and be recognized for his contributions to Alabama FBLA members. 

Higgins is chairman of the Career Technical Education Advisory Councils to the Alabama Department of Education and to the Baldwin County Board of Education.  He also is Chairman of the Business & Marketing Education Advisory Committee to the Alabama State Department of Education, Chairman of the Alabama FBLA/DECA Foundation, Co-Chair of the Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council, and a member of the Faulkner State Community college Business Advisory Council.

"I am a firm believer in the value of having business and business people in front of students and faculty as much as possible," he said.  "I am also a firm believer that our young people ARE our future, and as businesses we need to continue to invest in them."

Higgins played a lead role in significantly upgrading the business membership on the Alabama Business Marketing Education Advisory Council with new members like the Business council of Alabama, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama.  He worked with the Council to develop strong, effective local advisory councils.

Last fall, he put together a focus group of key marketing executives from companies throughout Southeast Alabama to help define the next generation of marketing education.  The group identified topics that could be deleted and several that needed to be added to prepare students for a successful marketing career.  The results of this work will appear throughout the state in a brand new course of study starting in the fall of 2009.

The conference includes national competitive events, national officer candidate campaigning and workshops for the students to demonstrate their Leadership in Action.  Bob will serve as a judge for the event:  Emerging Business Issues.