CGEDA attended the 2011 Forest Products and Machinery Expo. August 11th & 12th in Atlanta, Ga. Read more in our

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(L-R) Gary Faulkner, ADO; Lee Lawson, PowerSouth; Jim Searcy, CGEDA; Wiley Lott, AL. Power Co.

The 31st biennial Forest Products Machinery and Equipment Exposition was held August 11-12th, 2011 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Forest Products Expo, open to all individuals involved in the forest products industry, is sponsored and conducted by the Southern Forest

Products Association (SFPA).

The expo is typically one of the most extensive displays of forest products machinery and equipment, technology, and services, representing the full range of forest products: lumber, plywood, pallet, treating, as well as secondary processing and silviculture operations including forest and land management, site prep, and waste management.

Jim Searcy, Executive Director of Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance (CGEDA), attended this years' expo and distributed materials that focused exclusively on the CGEDA region.

Searcy said "The Coastal Gateway Region is the Heart of the Southeast's "wood basket" and boasts the highest concentration of yellow pines in the northern hemisphere. The Forest Products expo directly applies to many of our existing businesses here in the region."

The expo was also attended by representatives of the Alabama Development Office, Alabama Power's Economic Development Department, PowerSouth Economic Development Representatives, and a representative of Auburn University's Forest Products Development Center. "The level of representation from Alabama's economic development community is indicative of the importance of the forestry industry, not just in the CGEDA region but statewide," Searcy observed.

Below are CGEDA forest and forestry industry statistics.

Forestry

 -  The 38 counties in the CGEDA service area have approximately 2.8 million acres of timberland. Nearly 86% of all land in these five counties are forested. The timberland area in this region has increased by 3.5% since 1990. (Source: U.S.D.A. Forest Service)

-  The timberlands in AEC's Alabama service area are 97.6% privately owned. This ownership structure is highly favorable with respect to the access to wood resources for industrial use. (Source: U.S.D.A. Forest Service and Auburn Forest Products Development Center)

-  The CGEDA service area currently has 4.0 billion cubic feet (135 million tons) of standing commercial timber. (Source: U.S.D.A. Forest Service) Theoretically, this is enough wood to make eighty-six 2x4s that would reach from Alabama to the moon. (Source: Auburn Forest Products Development Center)

 - The timber inventory in CGEDA's service area has more softwood volume than hardwood volume. Softwoods, primarily Southern pines, comprise approximately 57.5% of the inventory while various hardwood species make up 42.5%. (Source: U.S.D.A. Forest Service)

 - Timberland owners in CGEDA's service area harvest nearly twice as much wood annually as they did thirty years ago. Despite this fact, the current inventory volume of this renewable resource is approximately 75% larger than it was at that time. (Source: U.S.D.A. Forest Service)

 - Landowners with CGEDA's service area sold 7.1 million tons of timber in 2010 valued at nearly $116 million on the stump. Another $142 million was earned by loggers and truckers who harvested and delivered this timber to forest products manufacturing facilities. (Source: Alabama Forestry Commission & Auburn Forest Products Development Center)

Forest Industry

 - The CGEDA service area is home to more than 52 forest products manufacturing operations. Each Alabama county in this area is home to multiple manufacturing operations in this industry. (Source: Alabama Forestry Commission)

 - The forest industry within CGEDA's service area is estimated to produce approximately $3.2 billion worth of products annually, with value-added from manufacturing estimated at $1.5 billion annually. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Economic Census, and Auburn Forest Products Development Center)

 - The forest industry is the largest employer in this area, and directly employs approximately 7,600 Alabamians with an annual payroll of over $304 million. In addition, an estimated 16,700 more Alabamians within this area are indirectly dependent on the forest industry for their employment. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Economic Census, and Auburn Forest Products Development Center)

Founded in 1915, the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) serves Southern Pine lumber manufacturers, treaters, and laminators with programs and services to enhance their business. Today, SFPA represents nearly half of all Southern Pine production. Activities are guided by programs developed by and for its members.

Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance (CGEDA) held an existing business training program at BankTrust in Monroeville on Tuesday, July 26^th from 9 am until 11 am.

Mr. Bob Higgins, a renowned existing industry professional and Senior Vice President of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance (BCEDA) facilitated the training. Twenty-two volunteers participated, including local economic developers from the 5 county Coastal Gateway region. The central focus of the training was to develop a comprehensive interview and data driven Existing Business Program by means of the Synchronist format.

Synchronist is a software tool and interview system that communities across the country use to gather intelligence about their existing companies. The system was developed by Blane, Canada Ltd., a national leader in economic development marketing and business retention strategies.

The Synchronist format is recommended by the Alabama Development Office (ADO), and the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA) as well as numerous local, regional, and statewide economic development organizations. The program will address two objectives: 1. Gathering useful information at a volume that can provide meaningful analysis for the entire region and 2. Strengthening relationships with companies throughout the region with an emphasis on identifying potential opportunities to retain and grow jobs.

Existing business visits will be coordinated through local economic development offices and CGEDA. Volunteers will meet with companies along with the local economic developer and a CGEDA representative when possible. Company information gathered during interviews will be held in the strictest confidence.

Jim Searcy, Executive Director of the CGEDA, said "Economic Development is not a one man job. The team we have put together will enable us to better serve our existing industries."

A follow up meeting for the existing business team will tentatively take place in two months in order to determine the progress of the program as well as to assist with data analysis and action planning.

According to Ed McCallum, partner in McCallum Sweeney Consulting, the site selection process has significantly changed in the past several years. McCallum addressed economic developers at the Economic Development Association of Alabama's (EDAA) 2011 Summer Conference on August 10^th in Orange Beach, AL.

First, workforce development has become increasingly more important to companies. Workforce development is not just imperative from the training and advancement of skills for the existing workforce but begins with K-12. McCallum stated that on a community level, leaders should evaluate the educational infrastructure and its ability to deliver the skills that are required for the workforce.

In the past, consultants depended heavily on the state for information. Currently, consultants can find a great deal of data on candidates due to technology. Site consultants are using information available about communities online to make initial cuts, and the communities left in the running must be prepared if they want to remain a finalist for a project.

 Incentives are typically not discussed in the early phases of a project. Therefore, the first step for a community is to work on developing available sites. Also, there must be a pre-determined price. McCallum referenced the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama's (EDPA) AdvantageSite program as what he means by "available." The AdvantageSite Program confirms that documentation critical to the site selection process is ready for prospective industry. The voluntary program allows communities to demonstrate that due diligence has been done on the designated site. According to the EDPA, this does not imply that other properties in the state do not meet the same criteria - designated sites have simply undergone a vetting process to show that important information is readily available.

 McCallum said incentives won't fix a bad site. "There is no amount of incentives that will make a bad location a good location. But incentives will make a good location better."

"What used to take 6 months to do can now be done in a couple of weeks. The ramifications of that to you are that you need to have your product developed or at least ready to be developed; you need to have the information and be able to sell immediately," said McCallum.

McCallum also stressed the importance of regionalism. "Consultants select you as a region, not as a community. Sometimes that region will cross state borders. This is important because when we do a search we are looking for specific criteria. When we contact you, there is no city identified, it is a region. If a community is smart they will work with their partners (the counties and communities around them) because we really need to know what is in that region. If you can't sell a region you are going to have a hard time," said McCallum.

Governor Robert Bentley announced July 6th the appointment of Greg Canfield as the new Director of the Alabama Development Office (ADO). Former ADO Director Seth Hammett is returning to his position with PowerSouth Energy.  

Greg Canfield began his career in business with the Fortune 500 Company, Purolator Corporation. He later became the Southeast Regional Sales Manager and then Regional Administration Manager with responsibility for the corporate regional budgetary process. Canfield entered the insurance and financial services field in 1991 and opened a small business in 1993 marketing insurance services to businesses and individuals. After selling his business in 2008, Canfield joined J.H. Berry Insurance in Birmingham, AL.

Canfield was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in November 2006 to represent Jefferson and Shelby Counties. As a Representative he has taken an active role in local and state economic development activities.  As President of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce in 1997, Greg Canfield launched the Business Development Committee that went on to recruit investment in commercial properties and businesses in the community. In 2000, serving as President of the Vestavia Hills City Council, he was instrumental in the development of the City's first long-range economic and land use plan that became the basis for future business development activity in that City. 

"Greg is a salesman at heart and will be a tremendous asset to the Alabama Development Office. He knows both large and small business, having worked for Fortune 500 companies and started a small business from the ground up," said Governor Robert Bentley. "As a long-time leader in one of the economic centers of Alabama, Greg has been deeply involved in significant job recruitment efforts at both the state and local level. I am pleased that he is willing to serve in this important role, and I look forward to continuing to work with our entire ADO team as we put Alabama back to work."

Governor Bentley also added, "I want to thank Seth for his outstanding service. I asked him to join my administration to make sure we had a smooth transition on the economic development projects that were ongoing and to initiate a strategic planning process that will help guide our work in this area in the future. He has accomplished both goals and I look forward to working with him in the future as he returns to the private sector."

"I am very excited Governor Bentley is giving me the opportunity to build on Alabama's legacy as one of the most desirable states in which to locate business and industry," said Greg Canfield. "Now, more than ever, we must elevate Alabama as the preeminent State for business and job creation. This is Alabama. Let's do business."

Former ADO Director Seth Hammett said, "It has been an honor and a privilege to serve Governor Bentley in the Alabama Development Office. His mission to create jobs is one that the staff at ADO takes seriously. I have a lot of respect for Greg Canfield and will help him in any way I can as he leads this important state agency."

For more information, contact the Governor's Press Office at 334-242-7150.

The 2nd annual Worlds of Opportunity Career Expo is scheduled for September 28th and 29th, 2011. A hands-on career expo for 8th grade students in Southwest Alabama, the 2010 event hosted 8,700 students from 66 schools in eight counties. The 2011 event is projected to host more than 10,000 students! The event will be held at the Greater Gulf State Fairgrounds and will feature the following 12 regional industries broken into "Worlds": Safety, Healthcare, Architecture/Engineering, Communications, Energy, Construction, Maritime, Aerospace, Public Safety, Automotive Technology, Manufacturing, and Hospitality.

Attendance to the expo is available to students from an eight county workforce development region which includes Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington counties.

For information on how to participate in or sponsor the 2011 Worlds of Opportunity event, please contact Jennifer at jedwards@sawdc.org or (251) 445-2090.

Economic Development Association of Alabama Board Members

Ken Novak, head of economic development for Alabama Power Co., will lead the Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA) for the next year, taking the place of Tate Godfrey, head of the North Alabama Industrial Development Alliance, who has served as president for the past year.

Other officers include: Valerie Gray, executive director of the Chambers County Development Authority, first vice president; Jeremy Nails, president of the Morgan County Economic Development Association, second vice president; and Hollie Pegg, senior project manager with the Alabama Development Office, secretary and treasurer.

Wayne Vardaman of the Selma and Dallas County Economic Development Authority, Claudia Zimmermann of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, and Greg Knighton of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama will serve full board terms, while Luke Slayton of the Lawrence County Industrial Development Authority will serve a one-year term.

Alabama's 2012 tourism campaign will be "The Year of Alabama Food." 

Lee Sentell, Director of the Alabama Tourism Department said that food defines the state a great deal with tourists.
 

Along with food, efforts to bring tourists to the state's beaches will be a key component as always, as well as the state's well-known raceways and other events.
 

Tourism was a $9 billion industry in Alabama in 2010. Tourism placed $550 million in state and local tax funds last year.

Innovative Project Finance Mechanisms

Doug Draper, vice president of RBC Capital Markets' municipal finance group, gave a presentation that illustrated some possibilities for public-private partnerships and creative funding avenues for economic development projects.

The Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Alliance Facebook Page is another good opportunity to help us keep in touch with you. Here you can view photos, happenings of the Alliance throughout the year and regional events as they relate to economic development.

There sixty-five members on our page so far.  We encourage you to join in and help spread the news about the Facebook Page.  If you would like us to post specific information or include pictures from your region please contact info@cgeda.net.

To visit or join the page: click here.

CGEDA is also on Twitter! We encourage you to follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on news in the region! To follow us on Twitter: click here.