The title sneaks into conversations and even into print every once in a while as a shorthand way of referring to the growth of commands, programs and influence at Redstone Arsenal and, by extension, area defense contractors and businesses.

"That phrase is a bit over the top," said Dr. Jess Brown, a political science professor at Athens State University and longtime observer of the region.

He points out that, after all, we are mostly Army here - HOOAH! - while the Pentagon is headquarters for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and all the services. The famous five-sided facility is also where the U.S. military's ultimate geopolitical strategy is formed in consultation with civilian leadership in the nation's capital.

"I actually don't have a problem with 'Pentagon of the South,' " said former Col. John Olshefski, now Huntsville's District 3 City Councilman. He spent 27 years in the Army - including "a year of penance in the Pentagon" - and served as Redstone Arsenal Garrison Commander before retiring in 2008.

He said that, other than the Pentagon itself and really big installations such as Fort Bragg - also often called the Pentagon of the South - there aren't many places with more generals on post than Redstone Arsenal.

Expansion Solutions magazine recognized the city's Conners Island Business Park as an "ideal location" for a data center. The park was cited in the magazine's Data Center category for its fifth annual "Top Five" Awards of Excellence.

"We're excited about this," said Grant DeMuth, Guntersville's economic development director. "This is an opportunity to get in front of a national market."

Conners Island was also named a TVA Primary Data Center Location by Deloitte Consulting, one of only 12 initial sites across the seven-state TVA region to meet that program's demanding criteria. The city manages the development for the Guntersville Industrial Development Board, which owns the park.

"TVA is marketing this also," DeMuth said. "They're excited about the recognition.
"... it underscores the commitment Guntersville has made to set Conners Island apart in this important growth industry."

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Rick Davis says the economic future is looking brighter in 2012 as the Birmingham-Hoover area slowly emerges from the worst recession in decades.

The new senior vice president of economic development for the Birmingham Business Alliance, which leads business recruitment for the seven-county metro, says job losses have stopped and more businesses are in a hiring mode.

In an interview, he talks about how the BBA is addressing challenges such as Jefferson County's filing of the nation's largest ever municipal bankruptcy.

He also talked about projects under way such as a plan to build a $64 million baseball stadium near Railroad Park, the Children's Hospital expansion, and the $70 million Westin Hotel/entertainment district under construction near the BJCC. He also discusses how these projects will help the BBA sell Alabama's largest metropolitan region to business prospects.

Q. Give me your assessment as head of economic development at the BBA on how our region is faring compared to others in the state and across the country.

I'm not an economist, but here's what I know: Our economy here is good, maybe very good. It's not great, or off the charts, or syrupy phrases like that, but it's good. People are making things in Birmingham and throughout central Alabama, and companies are selling those things both domestically and internationally.

It's easy to track the unemployment rate, but I would suggest digging deeper into some of the statistics we see. One of the more recent stories related to the unemployment rate had a small paragraph about how manufacturing employment in our MSA had gone up. That's key for me, when I see things like manufacturing coming back, even if by only minimal numbers.

But that improvement has yet to be reflected in the mood of the county's residents, who say they're still hanging on and trying to ride out hard times.

"It's still pretty bad," said Crystal McMeekin, whose family owns G&H Building Supply in Centreville, the county seat.

The store, which has sold lumber, hardware and appliances since 1985, saw its revenue drop 5 percent in 2010, then fall another 10 percent this year, the fourth year of the economic slump, McMeekin said. She and her brother Tommy Hartley, who was working the register Thursday, said that longevity is what sets this downturn apart and has made its impact resonate.

Like many business owners they've adjusted the size of their work force and inventory, and watched as customers and other area businesses have gone under. They've also seen their core business shift from supplies for new home construction to materials for remodeling -- a common occurrence for the building trades during hard times -- and they've seen cash-short suppliers insist on quick payment instead of running months-long tabs.

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Targeting industry

While Bibb County has to ride out the slump like every other county in the state, it has tried to position itself to bounce back quickly when the economy turns, said Hubbard and County Administrator Mark Tyner.

The brand new Scott G. Davis Industrial Park -- named after chip mill owner Scott Davis, who died just before Christmas -- sits off Alabama 5 near the Bibb County Industrial Park. So new that the soil around the gate is still freshly turned, the privately owned park exceeds 500 acres and was built with the cooperation of the county, which is improving the highway and installing water and sewer services. The county also is prepared to offer prospective tenants economic incentives.

CODEN, Alabama -- The 105-foot, hulking shape has a long way to go, but Dale Williams said that it's destined to be the first shrimp boat built in south Mobile County since the 1990s.

Williams, 61, a Coden boat-maker whose mother was a member of the Zirlott family of boat builders, has spent the better part of 40 years honing his craft. He has owned Williams Fabrication since 1988 and has enjoyed recent successes producing scallop boats for sale and use along the New England coast.

More than a decade ago, he built the 105-foot Gulf shrimp boat "Miss Hannah" for Dominick Ficarino, who owns one of the largest seafood processing plants in Bayou La Batre, Dominick's Seafood. Now, Ficarino has commissioned a similar boat, with a few modifications, to be completed this summer.

Ficarino's business has been a hot topic in recent months, due to the History Channel reality series "Big Shrimpin'," which follows three of his shrimp captains as they toil in the Gulf of Mexico, one of them at the helm of the "Miss Hannah."

Williams said that Ficarino commissioned the new boat before "Big Shrimpin.'" Amid the show's notoriety, however, he's asking for an additional cabin for a camera crew to sleep in and a 3-foot extension to the deckhouse.

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