TEAM REPORT
Military, Federal and Innovation Strategies
The Military, Federal and Innovations Strategies Team at The Chamber, led by Vice President Joe Greene, has a combined 25 years of experience. By helping the area sustain and grow relationships with the military presence that’s so vital to our economy and quality of life, this wealth of expertise is priceless.
Please explain what you and your team do.
Our team focuses on the following:
- Sustain and grow all the military missions in the River Region
- Create an environment that more closely links Maxwell-Gunter AFB, the Air Force Reserve and Alabama National Guard to the River Region community
- Coordinate and oversee projects and events related to the military footprint in the River Region
- Coordinate and promote innovative projects in Montgomery, with a focus on our TechMGM initiatives, growing Montgomery’s tech sector, and looking ahead to provide workforce training, technology, and infrastructure for the military and business needs of the future
- Manage the Chamber’s federal outreach, to include communication with the Alabama Congressional delegation, Eggs and Issues Events and an annual Washington Fly-In for city, county and Chamber leadership.
Why is the military presence so important to our community, both from a business perspective and a quality of life perspective?
Montgomery boasts a large military presence that includes the many missions of Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, the Alabama National Guard (Air and Army National Guard units as well as the AL National Guard headquarters), the Air Force Reserve, DoD contractors, and government civilians that support military organizations. We are also home to tens of thousands of veterans and military retirees. Because these populations make up such a large percentage of the Montgomery area’s overall population and workforce, the Chamber sees them as critical to our success as a community. From a business perspective, our military presence presents unique opportunities for our area to distinguish itself from other cities. These individuals are interwoven into our workforce and are critical to our economy. From a quality of life perspective, they make Montgomery a more cosmopolitan city, because they bring perspectives from all over the nation and the globe. The active duty military, the reserve and guard components, government civilians and contractors are active participants within our community and volunteer in our churches, school system, work with our youth sports activities and participate in City events
How does the business community benefit from what you and your team do?
The local business community is intrinsically tied to the military footprint in this area. If you have employees in Montgomery, it is likely that at least one of your employees either serves in the National Guard or the Air Force Reserves, is the child of or is married to military personnel or a government civilian, or is a veteran. If you are a service-based industry, likely one out of every five people that are your patrons will fall into these categories. You really can’t look at Montgomery’s military community as being a separate entity – The military community in many ways is the Montgomery community, and it is important for business owners to understand that.
What are some of your and your team’s most significant recent achievements?
The establishment of the Montgomery Internet Exchange (MGMix) in conjunction with the RSA Datacenter as a first step in changing Montgomery’s tech landscape, which is part of our TechMGM initiative, and that’s a big accomplishment. Pursing the F-35 aircraft for the 187th Fighter Wing is important work. And we’re proud to have helped form partnerships between military, government, academia and business entities to spark innovation and revitalize the downtown area.
What one thing would you like MBJ readers to know about what you and your team do?
This is indeed a team effort. Our team coordinates extensively with city, county, state and military officials as well as our academic and business leadership, and we do it well. Not every community can say that. Our community works very well together, and we see this as a critical component of our continued success.
ADD IT UP
These stats illustrate the important role Maxwell-Gunter AFB and local military units play in our community.
$2.6 billion: the annual economic impact of our area’s entire military complex
68,473 people (nearly 20 percent of our population): the number of active duty military and students in/at Air University, AF Reserve, National Guard, DoD civilians, military contractors, military retirees and all their family members in the greater Montgomery Metro Area.
