Chamber's Strategic priorities Fuel Economic Growth
The top 2016 strategic priorities for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce probably sound familiar and well they should. They have been around and maybe tweaked a little here and there.
This year’s top strategic priorities are similar because “we think they offer the biggest opportunities for major economic growth and major change in Montgomery,” Chamber President Randall L. George said.
The top strategic priorities are:
> Developing a cyber strategy and building on the Montgomery Internet Exchange.
> Expanding air service and improving the airport experience.
> Aligning the workforce pipeline.
> Preserving the missions at Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunter Annex.
> Retooling the Chamber’s small and minority business programs and the Business Resource Center.
> Increasing the impact of Montgomery’s travel industry.
> Developing the next five-year segment of the Chamber’s Imagine A Greater Montgomery strategic initiative.
> Building strong coalitions with elected leadership and focusing on public/private partnerships.
“I don’t want to rate them (priorities) in the context of their importance – all of them are important,” George said. “Whenever you have the greatest opportunity, that is the time to strike. We see those opportunities and that timing coming together as we go forward.”
Cyber has become a hot topic with the Montgomery Internet Exchange, RSA Datacenter, College of Cyber Air Power at Maxwell Air Force Base’s Air University and four key facilities at the Gunter Annex: 26th Network Operations Squadron, Capabilities Integration Environment, Defense Information Systems Agency and Program Executive Office for Business Enterprise Systems.
“The formation of the Montgomery Internet Exchange is the transformational piece that positions Montgomery not only from a military perspective, but from a commercial perspective to move to a significantly higher level of cyber activity,” said George.
Growing air service at Montgomery Regional Airport is critical for recruiting corporate headquarters because clients, salespeople and executives travel by air. “Corporate headquarters are important because they keep their philanthropic dollars at home,” George said. Air service also plays a critical role in the local travel industry, which generates more than $1.3 million daily. “In order to attract major meetings, sporting events and conventions, you have to be able to move people in and out of the community,” he said.
“For us to get to the next level, an improvement to air service is essential. It requires an aggressive airport and airport leadership that understands the competitive nature of attracting and supporting not just airlines, but customers. The community itself must understand that their airport is an incredibly important asset to the growth of the region.”
Workforce development “is one of the greatest issues that Montgomery and all of Alabama face,” George said. The Chamber is working with a host of partners from AIDT to Trenholm State Community College, Alabama Community College System, Alabama Technology Network, from the school district’s Montgomery Preparatory Academy for Career Technologies to the Region 7 Workforce Council to align the workforce pipeline that will “create a system of technical training.”
Preserving the missions at Maxwell and Gunter Annex is always a concern and it’s so much more than a combined $2 billion-plus economic impact. The best and brightest come to Maxwell, which is the intellectual and leadership center of the Air Force. Montgomery is forever linked to the Wright Brothers operating their first flying school at what is now Maxwell Air Force Base.
To retool the Chamber’s small and minority business programs as well as the Business Resource Center, best practices around the country are being studied. “It’s our intent to identify these best practices and put them in place for the benefit of the citizens of Montgomery and the River Region,” George said. “The Chamber is a business organization that believes in entrepreneurism and inherent in our role is to be sure that we have a thriving entrepreneurial community. Small business is the lifeblood of any community and Montgomery has a diverse array of businesses that mirror the image of its population.”
The Chamber is in the 10th year of its Imagine A Greater Montgomery strategic initiative and is developing the next phase. "The Chamber, in partnership with the City and County, has spent this year identifying the high impact priorities we must address moving forward," George said.
The City of Montgomery, Montgomery County and the business community have been on the same page for some time and that sets Montgomery apart from other cities, according to George. He said there are political disagreements in other cities, “but Montgomery is united.”
