BALDWIN COUNTY, ALABAMA eDEVELOPMENTS

A Publication of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance

June 2007

The Directors, Officers and Staff of the Alliance
appreciate your support and are proud to provide
you with highlights of our 2007 efforts.

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The 2006 Calendar year was a good one for the Alliance.

We provided direct assistance to manufacturers, distributors and entrepreneurs who created almost 1,000 jobs; many of them high pay professional positions.  Capital investment from these projects was over $61 million.

The Alliance also provided information and assistance to numerous developers of projects—retail, medical, tourism, etc.—which are outside of the categories we track, and worked with city and county government on issues critical to our community’s success.  Affordable housing, public transportation, and workforce development are primary examples.

Partnering to leverage success is one of our real strengths.  The five chambers of commerce in Baldwin County and our outstanding tourism related agencies have worked closely with us to insure that efforts are not duplicated but instead are coordinated to bring synergy to projects.  We have reached out to Pensacola, Mobile and the Mississippi Gulf Coast in search of joint initiatives, which benefit all.   

Staff at the Alliance are involved and hold prominent leadership positions in state and multi-state economic development related organizations to insure we are on the cutting edge of community and economic development practice and theory.  The economic development profession changes rapidly and we not only follow that change, we help guide it! 

The Alliance efforts and results were recognized by both peers and evaluating organizations.  In 2007 Site Selection Magazine evaluations showed that we ranked 4 out of over 670 micropolitan counties for the location of new manufacturing, distribution and corporate offices. 

Policom recently ranked Baldwin County as the 8^th strongest micropolitan economy in the United States.  This takes overall economic strength into consideration, not just manufacturing, distribution and corporate offices. 

Despite a slowing housing market, a declining national manufacturing base, and a very tight labor market, the Alliance staff expects 2007 to be another outstanding year for our county.   

Over a 5-year period our goal is to help locate 5,000 high pay, high benefit jobs in the manufacturing, distribution and professional sectors.  In the past 16 months, the Alliance has worked with city and county government and private sector leaders to create over 1300 jobs and over $97,000,000 in capital investment.  We are accomplishing this through a number of innovative strategies. 

These strategies include the hosting of key developers, consultants, prospects and allies to familiarize them with our area; attending trade shows and corporate real estate and consultant events which focus on our targeted recruitment areas such as aviation/aerospace; partnering with neighboring counties in regional efforts to stretch our marketing dollars and expand our reach; maintaining a state of the art website containing over 1,200 “data points” plus GIS data needed by site selectors; working closely with chamber partners on helping existing business and industry grow, and continuing our strong entrepreneurial efforts to grow locally owned business and industry. 

As you read the rest of this newsletter, you will find that we have many other initiatives that work together to help us achieve the above goals and which help improve our overall quality of life.   

Thank you so much for your investment in the Alliance.  We appreciate your support.  Please let us know when the Alliance can be of service to you. 
 

Rx Advantage held their Grand Opening at 7101 Highway 90, Suite 300 in Daphne on Tuesday, December 5th.

Rx Advantage provides pharmacy services to the long term care market segments, including Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Facilities, Community Mental Health and Department of Corrections and Juvenile Justice.  The Company currently provides pharmacy services to 70 facilities located in 7 states representing 180,000 prescriptions filled annually.  To improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and improve compliance, Rx Advantage dispenses drugs in a bar-coded unit-dose or multi-dose Advantage Pack which includes patient name and administration time.

"We believe Rx Advantage is the kind of company that will thrive and be a welcome addition to Daphne and Baldwin County," noted Bob Higgins. 

Goodrich Corporation broke ground December 13, 2006 on a 60,000 square foot expansion of its Foley site – home to its Alabama Service Center Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) facilities. The expansion will bring the Goodrich footprint in Foley to more than 400,000-square-feet.    

“This increase in space will allow us to accommodate the growth of our MRO services to our customers in the Americas. Using tools and practices of Lean Manufacturing, we’ll improve our flow of products from receipt to shipments,” said Alabama Service Center MRO General Manager Stuart Kay. “We’re also upgrading our paint facilities to include state-of-the-art paint stripping capability, which will reduce cycle time and turn times.”

Goodrich has enjoyed its partnership with the Foley community, Baldwin County and the state of Alabama for more than 20 years. “This is a wonderful place to do business and a great place for employees to live and work,” said Jeff Raley, OEM General Manager.  “We’re proud to be a part of this great community, county and state, and look forward to continued growth of this facility.”

The rankings are compiled by tallying qualifying projects that meet three criteria:  capital investment of at least $1 million, creation of 50 or more new jobs, or new construction of at least 20,000 square feet.  The project must be private rather that public and can be new or expansion of an existing business.

Some of the larger projects Baldwin County submitted were RX Advantage (corporate headquarters and institutional pharmacy), The Parts Store (distribution), Goodrich expansion (aerospace manufacturing) Mobile Lumber (manufacturing of building components), and expansions at existing manufacturers Vulcan Inc. and Procell. The 18 projects Site Selection recognized created approximately 950 jobs and capital investment of approximately $61 million.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS TOPIC
 

On Monday, June 11, 2007, approximately 100 business, education, and community leaders from six southwest Alabama counties came together in a Region 9 workforce development summit in Bay Minette. This follows a series of county-wide meetings in each of counties in Region 9: Baldwin, Conecuh, Clark, Escambia, Monroe, and Washington

The objective was to identify common workforce issues and begin work on forming a Region 9 Workforce Development Advisory Council. The focus is to determine ways that we can bridge the gap between business and education providers, to discuss our challenges in workforce development, and to begin working on those challenges. 

Workforce Recruiting 

In order to assure an ongoing supply of qualified workers to fill the current and future job openings, the Alliance has solicited proposals from local and national advertising and recruiting firms to help us recruit families to move to our area. Many of our larger companies are individually recruiting now all over the world; it is hoped that this combined effort will provide a more effective use of everyone's recruiting dollar. A group of businesses and chamber executives from both Mobile and Baldwin Counties will review the agency proposals. The plan is to have an agency selected and have this in operation later this year.

AZEK Building Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CPG International, has completed the acquisition of Procell Decking Systems of Foley, Alabama.  Procell Decking joins AZEK Trimboards and AZEK Mouldings in the AZEK Building Products business. 

It is projected that if the team of Northrop Grumman and EADS land the US Air Force's KC-30 Tanker Replacement Program contract, a 50-mile radius area of Brookley field in Mobile could gain up to 3,000 supplier related jobs. In early December, the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance and the State of Alabama’s Northrop Grumman/ EADS team researched and visited twenty 50-acre industrial sites in Baldwin County within a 50-mile radius of Brookley Field. The team consisted of representatives from Alabama Electric Cooperative, The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Alabama Power Company, and the Alabama Development Office.

During the site inventory visit, different site selection criteria such as access, infrastructure, and site cost were evaluated for each site.

Northrop Grumman and EADS have submitted their KC-30 Tanker bid for the $40 billion dollar contract to the Department of Defense. Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance is strengthening our marketing and communication efforts to Northrop and EADS suppliers. With proximity to Brookley field, an abundant supply of sites, and an aggressive marketing approach, Baldwin County is in great position if the Northrop/EADS team is selected by the Air Force.

In May, we hosted four representatives from Northrop Grumman and one representative from EADS to the Fairhope Festival of Flight weekend.  During their three day visit they met with potential suppliers, toured area industrial parks, met with federal, state and local elected officials and enjoyed our quality of life.

Pictured front row left to right:  Hiram Templeton, Larry Merrihew, Richard Crawford, Rob McElroy, Donna Givens, Robert Ingram, Peggy Nelson;
back row left to right:  Randy Wood, Donna Watts, Larry Taylor, Joe Bullock, David Rauch, Mayor Clark Cathey, David Horton;
not pictured:  Don Robinson, Anthony Kaiser, Mark Berson, Greg Kennedy, Joe Allen, Commissioner Charles "Skip" Gruber
 

This hospital has come a long way since it opened in 1958 with 35 patient beds and 12 newborn bassinets.  Over the years, South Baldwin Hospital has changed a lot.  Now, it is a regional medical center with the most advanced technology available and 200 physicians serving a wide and rapidly growing area.  And, it’s now become even better!

A $6.5 million project was completed in December of 2006.  The new wing added a total of 19,000 square feet of space to the hospital.   

All of the new 28 rooms are equipped for maximum patient comfort with user-friendly television and space for family members and visitors.  There is a central nursing station for maximum efficiency in patient care.  The new wing increased the number of available patient beds from 82 to 110.  South Baldwin Regional Medical Center is now licensed for 112 beds.  Two beds were also added to the Intensive Care Unit. 

SBRMC CEO Rich McAuliffe said the medical center is pleased to be able to expand for better service.  “Our need for more and improved patient rooms has grown with the population.” 

“With the GI, Outpatient and Emergency Department expansions, procurement of new equipment and technology and our many new physicians, we can now care for our patients throughout the hospital in the most modern and efficient manner possible.  But what makes our medical center truly unique is the special dedication and compassion of all our employees and the support of our neighbors throughout Baldwin County.”

The new recently completed outpatient/GI expansion offers patients a modernized reception area, more room for outpatient services, and a more convenient discharge area.  The project was undertaken with patients and families in mind, in particular as it relates to privacy.

The new facility is located on the north side of the hospital, facing AL Hwy 59 and also created more space for the Emergency Department and a private reception area for Radiology.

Governor Bob Riley honors AIRINC

Fairhope-based AIRINC/Fokker Services is among the 2007 recipients of Governor's Trade Excellence Awards.

AIRINC performs maintenance, repair and overhaul work, known in the industry as MRO, for airlines.

The award is part of the Export Alabama initiative, a partnership of the Alabama Development Office (ADO), Gov. Bob Riley's office and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Traderoots program, said Hilda Lockhart, director of the ADO's international trade division.

This is the second year for the awards. A statewide committee of representatives from the ADO, the International Trade Center and the International Department of Commerce choose eight winners that they feel have been instrumental in promoting Alabama exports, Lockhart said.

AIRINC was founded in 1990. It was acquired by Fokker Services, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Stork Aerospace, in July 2006.

The company has a 26,000-square-foot facility on U.S. 98 that specializes in repair and maintenance of aircraft components.

"We're very proactive as far as going overseas," said Greg Guzman, AIRINC's vice president of marketing and sales. AIRINC representatives have attended trade shows in Europe and Asia, he said, and has secured multi-year contracts with companies such as Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa Technik of Germany.

Annual revenue is around $13.5 million, and the Fairhope facility employs about 65 people.

Other Trade Excellence honorees are: Page & Jones, Inc. of Mobile, Alabama River Pulp Co. Inc. of Perdue Hill, Digium Inc. and Prozone Water Products Inc. of Huntsville; Thomasville Lumber Co. Inc. of Thomasville and ECS Inc. and Vulcan Engineering Co. of Birmingham.

We thank Kaija Wilkinson, for information provided on this article.

Thank you Rock Creek for hosting our highly successful Investor Reception in March! 

Our guest speaker was Liz DelGrosso, Business Development Representative with Northrop Grumman Corp. who gave an excellent presentation on the process and progress of their bid for the KC-135 Tanker Replacement Program.

Our next Investor Reception will be held in the fall.  You will receive information on the date and location in the next few weeks.

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