Keeping you informed and inspired. August 2022
VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 8
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
ALEX: The Alabama Experience Showcases Workforce Development Impact at Birmingham's World Games
COVER STORY
Sports, arts, and entertainment were not only the highlights of the World Games held last month in Birmingham, Alabama. Meet ALEX, an immersive, first-hand workforce experience that aims to helps to personify Alabama’s workforce development. By Gus Wintzell - Page 2
DEVELOPMENT
Hensel Phelps Achieves Final Completion of Five Buildings at the FBI North Campus on Redstone Arsenal
The vision for the FBI to expand its presence at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama is closer to fruition with Hensel Phelps achieving final completion of the Operations Support Building (OSB), Central Utility Plant (CUP), Health, Wellness and Resiliency Center (HWRC) and Technology 1 Building in 2022. By Guest Post - Page 20
ADDITIONAL STORIES • Sit Down With Success: A Conversation with Tommy Reagh of Trailhead Inc. By Dawn Suiter • Page 3
• Imagining Huntsville's Future: The City of the Stars By Marie Johnson • Page 10
• How Will the Threat of Recession Impact Huntsville Businesses? Experts Chime In By Dawn Suiter • Page 14
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HUNTSVILLE
BUSINESS JOURNAL Vol 5, Issue 8 August 2022 600 Boulevard South Suite 104 Huntsville, AL 35802
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
ALEX: The Alabama Experience Showcases Workforce Development Impact at Birmingham’s World Games Sports, arts, and entertainment were not the only highlights of the World Games held last month in Birmingham, Alabama. Meet ALEX, an immersive, first-hand workforce experience that aims to help to personify Alabama’s workforce development. ALEX: The Alabama Experience is a mobile exhibit, featuring a collection of interactive kiosks and informational pieces, as well as a knowledgeable staff who walks visitors through every aspect of life in Alabama. Powered by Atlas RFID Solutions, it offers visitors an inside look at careers, educational opportunities and unique lifestyle available within the state. ALEX is not a job fair, but it offers individuals the ability to travel through a virtual reality experience to encounter the amenities and advantages of life in Alabama—from work to play, to costs of living. It showcases innovation of the state through industrial, interactive robots playing Korfball, motion capture suites displaying athletic movement, Alabama’s seven, diverse workforce regions and more. Visitors will be exposed to 189 different career paths in the state. Mike Oatridge, President of Strategic Workforce Solutions at EDPA and Founder of ALEX: The Alabama Experience, has developed ALEX in efforts to promote the positive features throughout the state and overall impact of work-life balance in Alabama. “The World Games is a fantastic venue for The Alabama Experience or ALEX to showcase all that Alabama has to offer. We’ll have about 500,000 people coming to watch the games and participants from over 100 different countries,” said Oatridge. “By focusing on information technology, advanced manufacturing and health sciences jobs, we are going to be affecting about 40% of the unfilled jobs in the state and really focusing on the salaries available for people, but then show people what that value is within the state. Our cost of living is phenomenal, and the overall lifestyle
in Alabama convinces you to never leave.” The Alabama Community College System, a presenting sponsor of ALEX, hosted representatives last month in Birmingham from among Alabama’s 24 community and technical colleges that discussed the opportunities they can access through their local community colleges. “We want everyone who visits ALEX to know that our community colleges are the affordable pathway to quality education and training that lead to great careers and a better quality of life,” said Jimmy H. Baker, Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System. “From rapid training credentials for in-demand jobs all the way to associate degrees and college transfer options, we are the most affordable and accessible education and training option there is. With people visiting The World Games from all over the state, and with many of our students and alumni participating in various capacities at the many events at The World Games, The Alabama Experience is a prime opportunity for us to deliver our message and tell our story.” Atlas RFID Solutions serves as the Technical User Experience Coordinator to provide planning, services and hardware required to deliver a kioskbased career interaction showcase. “The Atlas Solutions team is thrilled to be involved with The World Games,” stated Matt Pears, Director of Solutions for Atlas RFID
Solutions. “Specifically, Atlas is leading the application development and responsible for the visitor’s complete interactive experience at ALEX. This particular project includes elements that have interactive, RFID hardware, software development and other professional services required to facilitate
By Gus Wintzell / Photos courtesy of the EDPA
the project’s success. Atlas’ ability to provide these wide-ranging services, and the fact that the project location is in our backyard, makes this partnership between EDPA/ Mike a great fit.” When asked about ALEX’s future in the Huntsville-Madison County area, a spokesperson for the platform stated that it will only be a matter of time when North Alabama residents can begin to utilize this new software: “This technology will eventually make its way throughout every workforce region and beyond. Right now, the launch is at The World Games throughout July 7-17. However, stay tuned for much more to come as it travels place to place by request. Options are endless for ALEX. We encourage all to visit The World Games, for a memorable experience!” w
August 2022
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SIT DOWN WITH SUCCESS
Shifting Gears: A Conversation with Tommy Reagh of Trailhead Inc. Sit Down With Success is a feature of the Huntsville Business Journal on entrepreneurs and their keys to success. To read the full story, please visit the Huntsville Business Journal Website. Huntsville native Tommy Reagh (pronounced “Ray”) wants you to know that he’s a bicycle person, not a businessman. Despite his lack of business training, Reagh is enjoying success as the CEO, founder, and co-owner of Trailhead Inc., a popular bicycle shop founded in Five Points and now located on the Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment campus at 2211 Seminole Drive SW, Studio 1000. He graciously took time out of his busy day to discuss his experience as a local bicycling enthusiast-turned-entrepreneur. Tell me a little about the history of your business. What inspired you to start it? I was a cycling enthusiast like a lot of folks and in the early 90s I started racing mountain bikes, and training for mountain bike racing led to road bike riding and the dominos started to fall. Out of necessity I started to work on my own
bike so I wouldn't have to wait in the middle of the season like we’re in right now…I started getting fairly proficient at working on bikes. It was something that I really enjoyed doing–I just loved everything about cycling. I worked at NASA, and then offsite later for another company, Advanced Optical Systems, as a graphic designer and eventually art director. That’s my vocation. But as things were winding down with Advanced Optical Systems I was kind of seeing the writing on the wall and thought ‘this might be a good time.’ And I had some friends dreaming around the campfire, playing the ‘what if ’ game. That ‘what if ’ game became more of ‘I think I might could do this,’ you know? What is your favorite part of owning your own business? I work with some really cool people and we get to bring our dogs to work. Generally speaking, people are coming in here, they want to buy a bike, they want to buy some parts, or they want to get their bike fixed and they’re happy and excited about it. Well, they’re not excited
that their bike’s broken but they’re happy that it gets fixed. It’s a pleasant experience to deal with some people that are looking for…you know, maybe they’re a bit of an escapist and they really want to do some big adventure stuff and it’s exciting to help them tool up and equipment up to achieve that so we can live vicariously through what it is that they’re trying to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s somebody that just wants to ride through the neighborhood. We like to ride through the neighborhood too…we just want to help people have the best experience— whatever it is, we want to do it right and be true to our customer and truly help them out. What advice would you give someone considering starting their own small business? I would say have your processes and procedures so you and your fellow coworkers can all be on the same page and you can be streamlined. Count your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves. But if you just provide hon-
By Dawn Suiter / Photo by Steve Babin
est to goodness good customer service, treat people like you want to be treated. We made this decision early on that we’re going to treat people good. We’re going to give them the customer service they’re not seeing and experiencing out in the world, and if we can’t succeed in doing that then we’re going to shut down and not do it. It’s just not worth it…I’m going to tell you straight up the truth about everything and be upfront with you and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough, and if it’s not good enough, it is what it is. I don’t know what else to do. w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
Subsidiary of EVENT Publishing
President /Publisher……………………………………………… Todd Stephenson Editor …………………………………………………………………… Gus Wintzell Writers………………………………………………………………… Alan Clemons Mike Easterling Ashlyn Grey Marie Johnson Noah Logan Dawn Suiter Graphic Design ……………………………………………………… Justina Simon Website……………………………………………………………………… Jim Gharib Photographers………………………………………………………… Steve Babin Justina Simon Director of Sales ……………………………………………… Carolyn Stephenson Account Executives…………………………………………………… Noah Logan Marilyn Pinchock Distribution……………………………………………………………… Glenda Mace Huntsville Business Journal is published monthly by EVENT Publishing,
PO Box 14219, Huntsville, AL 35815. For advertising information call 256.533.8078, e-mail todd@eventhuntsville.com, or visit us on the web at www.huntsvillebusinessjournal.com For editorial information contact editor@huntsvillebusinessjournal.com ALL CONTENTS ©2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION OR USE IN WHOLE OR IN PART OF THE CONTENTS WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER IS PROHIBITED. HUNTSVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF EVENT PUBLISHING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNSOLICITED PHOTOGRAPHS OR ARTICLES ARE SUBMITTED AT THE RISK OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER OR AUTHOR. EVENT PUBLISHING ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR THE RETURN OF ANY UNSOLICITED MATERIALS AND MAY USE THEM AT ITS DISCRETION.
August 2022
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SPORTS / RECREATION
Huntsville City Council Approves Lease for Nashville Group to Bring Pro Soccer to Joe Davis Stadium It won’t be Major League Soccer, but don’t call Huntsville’s 2023 entry in the MLS NEXT Pro a minor league team. While that comparison to the pro baseball system is inevitable, and the as-yet-named Huntsville team will be affiliated with MLS’s Nashville Soccer Club, there’s a difference. City Administrator John Hamilton explained the dynamics at Thursday night’s regular council meeting when that body approved a measure unanimously to allow Mayor Tommy Battle to enter into a lease agreement with NSH NEXTCO LLC to lease a repurposed Joe Stadium Stadium for multi-use. “Soccer doesn’t use the term minor league,’’ City Administrator John Hamilon said.”People will say, ‘Yeah, we're getting a minor league team.’ That is analogous, but that’s not the correct terminology. This will be a Division III level club affiliated with Nashville SC.’’ The Joe Davis Stadium renovation is expected to be completed in the middle of May. The league will have already started the 2023 season, but the league has agreed to schedule the team's first games on the road. In all, the squad will host 17 games. Naming rights to the field are an option, but the facility will keep the name Joe Davis Stadium. According to the lease, NSH NEXTCO LLC will operate the stadium year round and will be required to invest in keeping the facility in good
condition and repair, while the city will fund a capital plan for improvements and renovations as needed. “I love the idea they’ll be paying to manage and operate the stadium, that’s great,’’ council member Jennie Robinson said. The original lease is for 10 years with options up to 30 with the following base lease figures: • Year 1 $500,000 • Year 2 $7,500,000 • Years 3-7 $1,000,000 • Years 8-10 $1,250,000 • Years 11-15 option $1,250,000 • Years 16-20 Option $125,000,000 • Years 21-25 option $150,000,000 • Years 26-30 $150,000,000 The agreement allows Huntsville City Schools rights to the stadium during football with the option of negotiating additional dates. The school system will not be charged to use the stadium. The city
By Mike Easterling / Photo courtesy of Nashville Soccer Club & Chapman Sisson Architects
will receive part of the proceeds from any event with an admission charge over $10. The facility will be available for events sponsored by the HuntsvilleMadison County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Huntsville Sports Commission and other partners. There is still space vacant east of the stadium that will not be under management by the Nashville group and is available for development. The parking lot will be dedicated when there’s an event, but will be shared by other John Hunt Park venues when the team isn’t playing. One added amenity at the multipurpose stadium is that the artificial turf can be repainted with corresponding lines and dimensions to accommodate the sport being played. “On Friday night there's a great high school football game, we’re out there watching Huntsville High or Grissom High or whatever it may be.
And then Sunday afternoon you're watching professional soccer on a field that is striped solely for soccer,’’ Hamilton said. Hamilton said the Nashville group leading the pro-migration to Huntsville will staff a team to spearhead management of the stadium’s upkeep as well as coordinate other events for the city. The team name, colors and branding will be announced at a later date. The league, considered a pathway to rise to the top levels of the sport including MLS First Team, launched earlier this year with teams in the U.S. and Canada. The 21 original league entrants include teams in Chicago, Cincinnati, Colorado, North Texas, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Dallas, Miami, Minnesota, New England, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, Rochester, San Jose, Tacoma, St. Louis, Toronto and Vancouver. All but the independent Rochester club are affiliated with MLS teams, which try to join with programs in the same region. Five more teams will join Huntsville as additions for 2023. The Nashville soccer team plays in the largest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. and Canada – GEODIS Park – and opened it in 2021 in front of a sellout crowd of 30,109. To learn more about the city’s contract, and the operation commitments of Nashville NEXTCO LLC, the lease is listed on the agenda for the July 14 meeting at huntsvilleal.gov/government/city-council/. w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
MEDICAL
Local, National Hospitals Deal with Staffing Shortages Amid Rising COVID Numbers A recent challenge for hospitals across Alabama, along with the rest of the nation, has been staffing. Dr. Don Williamson, with the Alabama Hospital Association, explained in a recent interview that less health care professionals are working now than during the omicron and delta spikes. “We might have substantially greater difficulty dealing with 1,500 people in the hospital now, compared to what we were dealing with earlier in the year,” he shared with Montgomery-Selma WSFA. Dr. Williamson said at least 20% of healthcare professionals have left the workforce, while much of that staff has been replaced with traveling nurses, which has also been difficult to maintain. “So what hospitals are trying to do now is, to the extent that they can, they’ve hired some of that staff,” he said. In many cases, Dr. Williamson said hospital beds are being shut down to make do with the staff that is available. On top of staffing shortages, Dr. Williamson said some health care workers that have previously been vaccinated or already had the disease are contracting COVID-19. Looking more locally, hospitals such as Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville have faced staffing challenges as well. Lori Light, CMC’s Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications, shed some light on the topic for the Huntsville Business Journal. “Like many hospitals across the country, Crestwood has had challenges with staffing. With the help of our team’s flexibility, we have maintained a safe environment so that we can continue providing the quality of care that people in this community deserve and expect,” stated Light. “Crestwood is actively recruiting new team members to bring more healthcare to our hospital and community. We are investing in several recruitment and retention initiatives to attract new employees and retain existing employees,” continued Light. These benefits for current and potential CMC employees include student loan support with benefits up to $20,000 in student loan repayments for eligible employees, enhanced education assistance and licensure benefits, sign-on bonuses, referral bonuses for key positions, and matching 401k contributions.
A recent partnership with Athens State University, which can also provide employees and family members discounted tuition, has also been instituted. “According to the latest report by Emergency Care Research Institute, the typical clinical issues caused by device malfunction or medical error aren’t the leading threat to patient safety this year. Instead, staffing shortages and healthcare worker mental health top the list of concerns on a national level,” shared HFMA in a recent report. The report continued by stating that “ECRI researchers say the most significant concerns at present are caused by crises that have simmered, but COVID-19 exponentially worsened.” “Shortages in the healthcare workforce and mental health challenges were broadly known and well-documented for years. Both physicians and nurses were at risk of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and depression prior to 2020, but the pandemic made both issues significantly worse,” stated Dr. Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, President, and CEO of ECRI. According to the authors, “ECRI researchers say inadequate staffing is actively jeopardizing patient safety. Due to staffing shortages, many patients are waiting longer for care, even in life-threatening emergencies, or simply being turned away.” According to the ECRI report released March 14, the following are the top concerns: 1. Staffing shortages 2. COVID-19 effects on healthcare workers’ mental health 3. Bias and racism in addressing patient safety
4. Vaccine coverage gaps and errors 5. Cognitive biases and diagnostic error “Across surveyed RNs, the most influential factors of whether to stay in role included safety, flexibility (such as work–life balance, work schedule), and environment (for example, a trusting/caring team, feeling valued by organization, doing meaningful work),” the authors wrote. “While adequate compensation remains important, it was not as influential as other factors among respondents.” According to the McKinsey survey: • 35% of RNs who were likely to leave their current roles indicated
By Ashlyn Grey / Photo courtesy of The Clearview Cancer Center
plans to stay in the workforce but in a role that doesn’t involve direct patient care • 29% would stay in direct patient care • 20% indicated plans to exit the workforce completely, such as through retirement, to pursue further education or to focus on family With varying scales of this issue, from local to national levels, it can be agreed upon that this is a pressing matter. Not only for the well-being of workers, but for the safety of patients they are dedicating their time, efforts, and training to care for. Hospitals and Healthcare systems that work to rectify these issues show an incredible and generous investment in their healthcare staff who have easily been realized as some of the nation’s greatest assets since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will hopefully continue to be recognized and rewarded as such. w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
TECHNOLOGY
Invariant Corporation Develops Game Changing Sensors for DoD, Law Enforcement In the wake of recent mass shootings, the need for tools to intercept shooters quickly in order to minimize bloodshed is more critical than ever. Huntsville systems and software engineering company Invariant Corporation, founded over 20 years ago and now headquartered at 4040 Chris Drive, Suite 100 in South Huntsville, is stepping up to the plate to fill this need. Invariant’s FireFLY (hostile Fire Fast Locating sensor) is a hostile firedetection system originally created to support the US Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC). First deployed by the U.S. Army 4th Battalion in Afghanistan in 2011, it continues to operate overseas in support of deployed forces. More recently, it has found commercial law
enforcement applications in multiple U.S. cities. Developed jointly with Hyperion Technology Group of Tupelo, Mississippi, FireFLY is a low-cost system that combines a network of both optical and acoustic sensors to provide effective weapon fire detection with highly accurate geolocations of hostile fire events while virtually eliminating false alarms. Following a 2015 serial shooting incident in Colorado, FireFLY’s capabilities in support of law en-
forcement were first tested with the deployment of sensors along the interstate north of Denver in support of an ATF investigation. Following this, it was tested on a large scale in Colorado Springs in 2018 in a joint exercise with the Colorado Springs Police, the DoD, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Its geolocation data led to the first recovery of firearm cartridge casings from a crime scene. Retired ATF agent Tim Kelly, Invariant, and Hyperion joined forces to form an LLC known as Crime Gun Intelligence Technologies (CGIT), which sells the FireFLY
By Dawn Suiter / Photos by Dawn Suiter
systems to law enforcement agencies. FireFLY has been used in the Denver metro area and is currently being used in Talladega, El Paso, and Colorado Springs. Its largest existing customer, the city of Phoenix, is preparing to expand its FireFLY network by 300%. Thanks largely to word of mouth, additional cities are also considering implementing its systems. The commercial law enforcement version of FireFLY is notably different from its military counterpart in that it’s smaller and significantly less noticeable. “It needs to kind of blend in a little bit more…we built it into an electronics box and it looks like just a regular box that’ll go on a telephone pole,” Invariant founder and president David Anderson explained. Although Invariant is not the only
August 2022
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TECHNOLOGY
company with tools that can fulfill this need, it strives to be the best with the development of game-changing sensors that allow law enforcement to effectively detect shots from much greater distances. Most significantly, FireFLY differs from the competition in that each continually self-calibrating unit can be moved to different locations as needed, unlike other permanent grid-based systems. “If you put a bunch of sensors
in and they’re static, they can’t move them. If the crime moves away from that area, they’re covering an area that they don’t need to and they really need to be able to move it where the hotspots are,” Anderson said. Invariant hosts a server that receives data from all of its sensors, then performs fusion and geolocation processes to interpret that data in real-time. According to Anderson, the sys-
tem proved itself in Phoenix. “They had a situation where there was an event in a suburb, and they took a portion of our sensors and moved them into the suburb area around where the shooting event was randomly occurring–with that they were able to monitor the sensors, generate patterns, and were able to catch this individual that was shooting.” FireFLY units are used in tandem with other data gathering tools to collect data such as a shooter’s position, location, and weapon caliber, which is then analyzed in real-time and submitted directly to law enforcement agencies to allow for immediate evaluation and response. In addition to law enforcement, Invariant continues to focus on a variety of software and systems engineering applications specializing in simulation technologies. The dictionary definition of Invariant means “a constant factor: one that does not change,” a meaning that can be extended to the company’s
constant commitment to excellence. It's not standing still, however: growth is also in its future, with the business’s footprint expanding by 26,000 square feet next spring. w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
HOUSING
Imagining Huntsville’s Future: The City of the Stars A claim, put forward by Yahoo Finance in April and further analyzed on AL.com last month, suggested that the average price of a home in Huntsville could reach a million dollars by 2030. Seems a bit steep, doesn’t it? And yet, this future may not be as outlandish as it appears at first glance. Gabrielle Athanasia, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, penned a brief history of Silicon Valley, titled “The Lessons of Silicon Valley: A Well-Renowned Technology Hub.” In it, Athanasia details the story of an otherwise unremarkable town, with an engineering college, hitting a breakthrough in a revolutionary post-war technology, landing lucrative contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense, then seeing a proliferation of startups, research laboratories, and venture capital, all concentrating into a hub, with a corresponding boom in housing prices as the town attracts many of the brightest minds in the world. Sound familiar? But all is not well with Silicon Valley, which is a victim of its own success. The cost of living in the Bay Area, especially housing, is unaffordable to the point of parody. A Palo Alto startup, Brownstone Shared Housing, is market testing module “sleeping pods” that are designed to enable up to 14 adults to share one single-family home. The rent for a pod in a single home, in which one can expect to share a house, with only two bathrooms, with over a dozen other adults? $800 a month, which is half the price of a studio apartment in Palo Alto. The average cost of a single-family home in Palo Alto, California is a heart-stopping $3.5 million. Suddenly, the $1.5 million price tag of the average single-family home in San Jose doesn’t seem quite so terrible. Actually, yes, yes it does—how do we prevent that from happening here? The first step is adjusting expectations for what Huntsville is, and will become in the future. The Huntsville Business Journal spoke with Katye Coats of consulting firm Warren Averett about Huntsville’s future development.
“In our area, based on our history and culture (60 years ago it was more heavily agricultural), we have an expectation as to how much we should have to spend on housing compared to our income, etc,” wrote Coats. “We don’t think of ourselves as a “booming metropolis” or an urban area – but we are. We want the infusion of industry from SpaceEx, Missile Defense, FBI, Facebook, etc., but that comes with these growing pains of increased housing prices, infrastructure (will 565 ever be done?), and the like.” Coats sees a future Huntsville that is more analogous to other Southern metropoles. “Did anyone think twenty years ago that Nashville would be the metropolis it is today? How much has Atlanta grown in that same time frame? Charlotte? Asheville? That’s where we’re headed. What successes did they implement? What failures did they experience? What can we stand to learn from their leaders?” That’s the second step in preventing runaway pricing issues: infrastructure and planned development. Silicon Valley is located in California's Bay Area, where post-war urbanization sprung up and boomed around it; there just wasn’t much room for it to expand with the other urban pushes. Huntsville, in contrast, is largely unpressured by neighboring cities. (Sorry Decatur, but you’re no San Francisco when it comes to sprawl). Investment in highway infrastructure has increased the commutability to and
from nearby suburban areas of Madison County, such as Hazel Green, Harvest, and Madison itself. While prices in these suburbs have also risen, they still remain below the national average, and form a sort of release valve for urban density. At the very least, it seems unlikely that Huntsville will wind up emulating the resort town of Ketchum, Idaho, where last year, the crisis in housing prices pushed the vital working-class people critical for the functioning of the city out into further and further communities, with some reporting commutes of four to six hours daily. It reached the point where the Mayor of Ketchum proposed erecting a tent city in the town’s park for nurses, teachers, and service workers to stay. The Mayor pretty quickly backed down from that suggestion, but it was proposed. Another factor that differentiates Huntsville from its Californian counterpart is the nature of the industries around which each town was built. The transistors and semiconductors that gave Silicon Valley its name have a wide array of commercial, industrial, and consumer applications across the entire population. This enabled the tech startups to commercialize the technologies of Silicon Valley for a wide array of clientele. In contrast, it seems highly unlikely that there will be a booming market for hypersonic missiles marketed to the individual consumer anytime soon. Huntsville’s most lucrative client remains the US Federal Government. The technologies developed and deployed here are of critical importance to the future of American defense doctrine. Space represents the ultimate high ground, the position from which an enemy might rain down death with impunity. It is of vital importance that the United States achieve total airspace supremacy. Failing that, the next
By Marie Johnson
best option is denying total air-space supremacy to the nation’s enemies. The aerospace and cyberwarfare technologies developed in Huntsville are crucial to that mission. Even American defense spending is not unlimited; however, with the sheer significance of the technologies developed and deployed in Huntsville, the spending of the US government here will continue to remain strong, irrespective of private sector fluctuations. This does not make Huntsville “recession-proof ” by any means. What it does mean is that there is a strong and resilient core of high-earning technical workers that will have needs that will need to be met by private businesses, and that core is what the rest of Huntsville’s economy is built around. Then there is the privatization of space exploration to consider. There are physical factors to the aerospace industry that just are not present in Silicon Valley’s tech base. A spaceport in Huntsville is a spaceport in Huntsville and nowhere else, and presents one of no-doubt few locations equipped to handle spacecraft. Who knows how many decades it will be before numerous real challengers will emerge to threaten that sort of structural advantage? The Orbital Assembly Corporation moved its center of operations from California to Huntsville, and if their impressive robotic assembly tech can live up to the promises that the company makes, then they will be a key player in the first privately-owned, operating, and visited space habitats. In short; while transistors and semiconductors can be researched, developed, and shipped off to anywhere, there are certain advantages that Huntsville can offer that are, at the very least, difficult to find elsewhere. This incentivizes keeping the price hike of housing to a dull roar in Madison County; the technicians need to be present to do much of the work, and while those jobs pay well, they don’t pay “$1.5 million average for a basic house” well. Prognostication, of course, is tricky business, but while it appears that housing prices in Madison County will continue to rise, it appears unlikely that they will spiral out of all control. w
August 2022
REAL ESTATE
Real Estate Update: High Inflation Hits Market By Marie Johnson / Photos courtesy of HAAR The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors’ (HAAR) Economic Report for Q1 2022 illustrates the rapid inflation that has hit all aspects of American economic life. The rate of inflation hit 8% in March, a four-fold increase since that month the previous year. With the 8% inflation rate far outstripping the approximately 2% increase in median household income for 2021, it appears likely that economic distress is causing those looking to purchase a home in the $250,000 range and below to hold off on buying. Inflation, after all, affects every aspect of the economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the month of May, the price of gasoline jumped 48.7% from the previous year, electricity by 12%, and food products such as meat, poultry, eggs, and fish saw an increase in price of 14.2% Put simply, those with the means to more comfortably endure the conditions of sharp inflation are the ones best positioned to buy a house at all, and they aren’t looking to buy in the $250k range. The Economic Report shows that homes priced in the $300,000 - $350,000 range experienced a sales increase of 65% over that year, while sales of homes in the $250,000 and below range dropped nearly 50%. The Huntsville Business Journal
has previously reported on the particular pressures of a rising population and a limited inventory helping to drive up prices in Madison County. A new report from the National Association of Realtors provides further evidence of pandemic conditions disrupting housing inventory nationwide. According to the Nation Association of Realtors’ 2022 Members’ Profile report, 57% of realtors cite limited inventory as the leading factor in limiting potential clients from purchasing a home. What remains to be seen is what will happen when the previouslyclogged supply of real estate inventory is introduced to the market. Will the reduction of supply pressure bring prices down? Will the growing demand for high-skilled, technical workers in Madison County result in previously inexpensive areas seeing a price increase due to the ability of these new residents to pay higher prices? Will those two factors cancel each other out, leading to a more gradual rise in housing prices commensurate with Huntsville’s rising prominence? Will rising prices for construction materials and other factors restrict the production of real estate inventory once more? Only time - and the imminent release of the HAAR’s Economic Report for Q2 - will tell. The Huntsville Business Journal will keep its readers informed of future analysis. w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
COVER COVER S
A Look Into Space Command’s Envir
By Dawn Suiter / Photos cour On July 13, Huntsville came another step closer to clinching the nomination for U.S. Space Command Headquarters (USSPACECOM HQ) with the release of a draft environmental assessment by the Department of the Air Force. Space Command is responsible for providing satellite-based services to the U.S. military, as well as protecting those assets from foreign threats. While it is directly associated with U.S. Space Force, the Space Force HQ will be located in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Despite challenges from Colorado lawmakers to Redstone Arsenal’s January 2021 selection as the preferred location, the DoD Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office determined that its selection was justified. “We found that the process Air Force officials used to select Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred permanent location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters (USSPACECOM HQ) complied with law and policy, and was reasonable in identifying Huntsville as the preferred permanent location,” a release from the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General stated. “We determined that, overall, the basing action process directed by the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) complied with Federal law and DoD policy, and the Air Force complied with the SECDEF’s requirements for the basing action.” The next step in the selection process consisted of a full environmental assessment of each of the remaining candidates. In addition to Huntsville, the USAF also conducted environmental
assessments of five other locations it considers “reasonable alternatives”-Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado; Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico; Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska; Port San Antonio in Texas; and Space Coast Spaceport in Florida. Space Command is currently based at Peterson. The report notes that while Peterson SFB currently serves as the provisional location, personnel and operations are also hosted in multiple other locations, including four leased commercial facilities in Colorado Springs, Colorado and government facilities at DoD installations across the nation. The use of interim facilities means that USSPACECOM functions are spread thin, preventing operations from being fully consolidated and cohesive. In addition, the current facilities consist of less functional workspaces not purpose-built to support a Unified Combatant Command and are therefore not conducive to efficient operations. Factors studied in its environmental assessment included land use
and zoning; noise, air quality and climate; earth, water, biological, and cultural resources; socioeconomics and environmental justice; transportation; and hazardous and toxic materials and waste. Based on these factors, each of the sites evaluated in the study was found to have “no significant impacts on the human or natural environment.” Following the release of the draft document there is a 30-day public comment period, with the final environmental assessment taking comments into account before making the ultimate decision regarding the command’s headquarters. According to a USAF representative, the final selection will be announced this fall. Once the site of the consolidated USSPACECOM headquarters facility is determined, approximately 1,450 personnel will be assigned there. Staffing levels may vary depending on mission and operational requirements. In addition, the U.S. Space Command HQ may also support contractors and mission partners on site, bring-
ing the total to 1,800 personnel. With this need in mind, the main building will consist of approximately 464,000 square feet of office, administrative, and functional interior space across multiple stories. Along with the building will be approximately 402,000 square feet of parking spaces in surface lots and/or parking structures. While its final architectural design is dependent on the local landscape and other relevant factors, the main building’s footprint is expected to be approximately 2.3 acres. The report states that due to the critical nature of the proposed facility, it would require Level 2 Force Protection, which involves secure perimeters, restricted access, and continual management by Air Force, DoD, or other federal security personnel. This effectively narrows the field of contenders from six to four, as two of the potential sites (Port San Antonio and Space Coast Spaceport) would need the addition of greater security measures, including additional personnel. The Secretary of Defense set three minimum eligibility requirements for potential host cities: First, they had to be within one of the 150 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the nation based on 2019 U.S. Census data. Second, they were required to
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STORY STORY
ronmental Assessment of Huntsville
rtesy of U.S. Space Command
be within no more than 25 miles of a military base, using straight line distance; and third, they had to have a Livability Index score of at least 50 out of 100 points, as determined by the American Association of Retired Persons Public Policy Institute. Each proposed location was quantitatively evaluated using 21 additional criteria organized into four main categories: mission requirements, infrastructure capacity, community support, and costs to the DoD. Factors under consideration included the available qualified work-
force, proximity to mutually supporting space entities such as NASA and its contractors, cost of living, energy resilience, school quality, and area construction cost. During the final stages of the selection phase, the importance of quickly reaching Full Operational Capability was considered as a fifth decision factor by the Secretary of the Air Force. USSPACECOM focused its five high-level criteria on “being able to execute [its] mission on the worst day, when needed most.” After taking all of the required factors into account, Huntsville moved firmly into first place on January 12, 2021, with the five remaining candidates categorized as “reasonable alternatives.” The report states that “Huntsville compared favorably across more of these factors than any other community, providing a large, qualified workforce, quality schools, superior infrastructure capacity, and low initial and recurring costs. Additionally, the Huntsville community, with Redstone Arsenal coordination, offered a facility to support the headquarters,
at no cost, while the permanent facility is being constructed.” The offer of an interim facility at no cost is a significant contributor to Redstone Arsenal’s attractiveness to USSPACECOM. The Space Command Q&A page states that the Air Force had a clear scoring methodology for any incentives provided in the application questionnaires that would be reflected in the scoring, adding that the goal is to “minimize the initial investment cost of the USSPACECOM Headquarters, while also being economical for communities.” The selected site at Redstone Arsenal is centrally located and covers approximately 60 acres. Redstone is the second largest of the proposed sites behind Space Coast Spaceport, which covers approximately 103 acres of mostly undeveloped, densely vegetated land with a large wetland at the center of the site and five other wetlands areas within the property. Kirtland AFB is the next largest with 59 acres, whereas Offutt AFB has an 11 acre site and Peterson SFB has a 12.9 acre site. Weather is one of the criteria examined in the study. Despite the region’s history of occasional tornado outbreaks, Redstone Arsenal is significantly less prone to severe weather than any of the other prima-
ry sites, which list high winds, snow and tornado risk to be significant or high. Port San Antonio, meanwhile, is at extremely high risk for extreme heat and high risk for drought and wildfires, whereas Space Coast Spaceport is between medium and extremely high risk for hurricanes, sea level change, and flooding. According to the USSPACECOM page, geological stability and inclement weather “drive costs for construction methods etc. needed to mitigate climate and weather related factors.” Because USSPACECOM seeks to minimize initial costs, “locations in less severe weather locales may be more competitive…when evaluated against certain cost criteria.” Once the decision is finalized, construction on the permanent facility is slated to begin in April 2025. w
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ECONOMY
How Will the Threat of Recession Impact Huntsville Businesses? Experts Chime In Shoppers these days are feeling the crunch every time they pull out their wallets—prices of consumer goods and services are rising ever higher from the grocery store to the housing market. At the same time, businesses both large and small are dealing with the fallout from consumers who are becoming more selective in their spending behavior. This phenomenon isn’t unique to the US—it’s happening around the globe. The World Bank’s latest global economic forecast, released on May 31, forecasts that global economic growth will likely slow down before the end of the year. “For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” stated World Bank president David Malpass.
“We were fortunate in the previous cycles to have gone a pretty long time without a recession. But actually, you know, recessions happening has been the norm throughout most of economic history.” Many experts, such as Harvard economist Jason Furman, argue that there is no guarantee that a recession will occur. Even if it does, most economists agree that the likelihood of a repeat of an all-out collapse such as that of 2008 is slim. In a Fortune magazine interview, Stephen Miran, cofounder of Amberwave Partners and a former senior advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, stated that recessions are an unavoidable fact of economic life. “We were fortunate in the previous cycles to have gone a pretty long time without a recession. But actually, you know, recessions happening has been the norm throughout most of economic history.” Instead, Miran believes it’s more likely that the U.S. economy will fall into what he refers to as a “garden variety recession” in which the economy “overheats,” causing inflation to rise. Miran pointed out a notable difference between then and now: “The big
By Dawn Suiter
“While I will never say we are recession proof, I do feel like our community is positioned as well as any community in the nation to weather an economic slowdown.”
thing in 2008, remember, what happened was really borderline fraud in the economy because you had all these people that were borrowing money [to buy homes] that really couldn’t afford it.” In a recent economic discussion sponsored by the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Oakworth Capital Bank Managing Director and Chief Economist John Norris noted some other major differences: “business to business activity remains reasonably strong. The economy is creating a lot of new consumers. We have a very tight labor market, so it’d be very interesting to go into a major recession with the banking industry as strong as it is. Norris argues that any coming recession will not be anything like that of 2008, citing the Federal Reserve Bank’s weekly H.8 report, which tracks the assets and liabilities of commercial banks in the United States. At the end of 2007 the loan to deposit ratio rose to 107%, meaning that banks were overextended. “They made more loans than their ability to finance the loan portfolios,” Norris said, noting that while it isn’t a big deal for one bank, this ratio encompassed the entire U.S. banking industry. “In hindsight, it wasn’t whether or not something bad was gonna happen, it was a question of when it would happen and just how bad it would be.” Changes to the banking system, such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
“Small business owners remain very pessimistic about the second half of the year as supply chain disruptions, inflation, and the labor shortage are not easing.” Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 corrected this, and although some of the Dodd-Frank Act was rolled back under former President Donald Trump, protections continue to remain more robust than they were in 2008. Norris observed that the loan to deposit ratio is currently at 62.5%, meaning the banking system has “a ton of excess liquidity” and is very anxious to make loans. “There has never been in my studies a period of time where the banking industry is flush with liquidity and actively trying to make loans and actively trying to extend credit where all of a sudden the U.S. economy just collapses.” As a result, he argues that if there is a recession, it won’t be as bad because the banking sector is “super strong.” In the US, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates again in its biggest rate hike since 1994 in an attempt to tame inflation. While this is an effective way to cool the red-hot market, small business owners are not optimistic about the future. According to a recent study by the National Federation of Independent
Business (NFIB), the percentage of small business owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months decreased four points to a net negative 54%, the lowest level recorded in the 48-year-old survey’s history. Expectations for better business conditions have deteriorated every month since January. Twenty-eight percent of owners reported inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, down four points from April. The net percent of owners raising average selling prices increased two points to a net 72% (seasonally adjusted), back to the highest reading in the survey’s history last reached in March and 32 points higher than May 2021. “Inflation continues to outpace compensation which has reduced real incomes across the nation,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Small business owners remain very pessimistic about the second half of the year as supply chain disruptions, inflation, and the labor shortage are not easing.” On a more local basis, a February report from Area Development Magazine noted that Alabama is faring better than its neighboring states. CNN named Alabama “Best Southeastern State in Keeping People Employed During an Economic Crisis,” while Forbes magazine named Huntsville the “Best Place to Live During Recession.” Madison Mayor Paul Finley remains optimistic about the future of the area: “While I will never say we are recession proof, I do feel like our community is positioned as well as any community in the nation to weather an economic slowdown.” w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
COVID UPDATE
Staffing and Supply Chain Issues Remain as COVID Stays Active While the coronavirus keeps reminding the country, and Madison County, it’s not through with us as recent case numbers and hospitalizations rise in wake of the new sub-variant BA.5, the original COVID-19 is still having an impact. Though perhaps not as significant as at the height of the pandemic, staffing and supply chain issues that began at the onset of the virus linger. The restaurant and fast-food companies appear to be the hardest hit when it comes to workforces with “Now Hiring’’ and “help Wanted’’ signs dotting the landscapes outside and on windows of those businesses. According to a bar manager for a national chain restaurant in the south part of the city, who remained anonymous due to corporate standards, expressed doubt that federal government stimulus checks given out earlier during the pandemic were enough to sustain individuals
“We’re still seeing across-the-board a competitive labor market and talent landscape for sure’’
or families. “That can’t last,’’ she said. “I literally don’t know how people are paying bills without working. I don’t know if people found another field to go to.’’ The latter is one theory as to why businesses seek a return of employees following pandemic shutdowns. The
By Mike Easterling
reasoning is jobs might have opened for higher wages than can be found in the food services and other lowerwage industries. “We’re still seeing across-theboard a competitive labor market and talent landscape for sure,’’ Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Work-
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COVID UPDATE
force Lyndsay Graham said. “One of the things that we have seen, we actually got data last month from the state level, and one of the things that we focus on a lot in addition to the unemployment rate is the workforce participation rate. So what we want to see is the greatest number of people that are able to be in the workplace actively working or looking for work. “So we actually saw that laborforce participation rate increase by about a percentage point for our region over the last month. Seeing that number go up is a good trend for us, because it means more people are out there actively seeking employment opportunities and hopefully looking to get back into the workforce even in the case of those that maybe have been out of it and therefore wouldn’t have been captured in those unemployment numbers that we’ve been looking at.’’ Despite reports of the unemployment rate at a record-low 3.6 percent nationally for the past four months, industries including food services
continue to report a lack of workers. Alabama was at a 2.7 percent unemployment rate in May, according to U.S News and World Reports. The White House released a statement that same month saying Alabama was among 17 states where workers are “less likely to be unemployed than any other time on record.’’ The White House also reported in May that none of the 50 states reported an increase of unemployment and those payments were the lowest in 52 years. Those numbers suggest that workers have simply tried to climb the wage ladder instead of returning to lower paying jobs. However, “Staffing is getting better,’’ an unnamed manager of a national restaurant chain in north Huntsville said. “It’s not too bad in the back end (kitchen), but it’s hard to find servers.’’ Supply chain improving Ships no longer sit idle at sea outside docks loaded with cargo as they did months ago while the globe ex-
“All of the shoe manufacturers for the most part, they may be like three weeks behind on delivery but not six months. There’s no stuff sitting on boats anymore. That was real.’’ perienced a supply-chain issue caused by the pandemic. Goods are still being shipped at higher rates—Fleet Feet owner Suzanne Taylor reports a fee of $15 that once was $5—but shortages have been minimized. And higher gas prices, a burr in the population’s collective saddle recently, have reportedly gone down for 30 straight days. Costco, for instance, had regular gas per-gallon listed at $3.79 July 15 and the same day a station in the city’s Five Points neighborhood had it at $3.99. “(Supply chain) was a real thing for us,’’ Taylor said. “We’re in a good position now. Last fall, we actu-
ally overbought about 2,000 pairs of shoes and put them in our garage so we would have them. The first quarter (this year) was really bad. It was hard on our inventory. We were worried because it creates an upside down situation on your cash flow, but it paid off and we went through those pretty quick. “All of the shoe manufacturers for the most part, they may be like three weeks behind on delivery but not six months. There’s no stuff sitting on boats anymore. That was real.’’ Rising costs, like shipping, are not the fault of retailers. “You’re kind of at (the suppliers) mercy,’’ Taylor said. “It trickles down to the consumer. Our costs go up, they’re costs go up. And everything we sell is suggested retail. We have limitations on how much we can mark down things.’’ Hangovers from the height of the pandemic exist. “The cost of goods are way up,’’ the north Huntsville restaurant manager said, “and we are having trouble
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COVID UPDATE
getting paper goods and some liquors.’’ Virus lives on The COVID virus has been and remains “real’’ in the Tennessee Valley and nationwide. It keeps mutating and is currently introducing its latest strain BA.5 that has caused cases to rise. According to Huntsville-Madison County Emergency Medical Agency Director Jeff Birdell, the number of cases is rising but not enough to overwhelm hospitals or their staff. However, he said, case numbers “have been going up a little bit.’’ In the middle of July, the sevenday average of new cases was up at 162 but far from the peak number of 1,048. And while there were only eight people hospitalized with Covid weeks ago countywide, and there are 64 as of June 14, that’s far less than the peak of 300 at the height of the pandemic. “(64) is not a great number, you don’t really want that number,’’ Birdwell said. “But, the important thing is the deaths are
significantly reduced.’’ Return of mandates? Redstone Arsenal released news recently that there would be mandatory masking at all base facilities in lieu of rising positive test cases in Madison County, which rates the state’s high-risk areas among several statewide. This order was widely maligned on facebook, including statements like: “This is beyond stupid.’’ “Ridiculous beyond measure.’’ “Heaven forbid anyone catches a cold.’’ North Alabama district medi-
cal officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Dr. Wes Stubblefield is in touch with those sentiments and for now doesn’t see a widespread return to masking. “I don't know if there's really much of a public interest for masks mandates at this point,’’ he said. “Institution can act in certain ways, but what the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the ADPH recommends—we don't make policy but a direct recommendation. “I just don't think that there's an appetite for (mandating masking) in our state, I really don't.’’ He also adds that the data does show a rise in COVID cases. “We do know the trend where we’re heading,’’ Stubblefield said,
“which is this gradual rise.’’ Meanwhile, staffing and supplychain issues appear to be easing Fleet Feet, for instance, counts on summer employees who have sometimes began working there in high school and continue to return from college summer breaks. Taylor is at once optimistic and cautious. While her store didn’t experience the so-called Great Resignation, there were some older workers who chose not to return once the pandemic began. As for supply, shelves locally have never been vastly empty despite national and social media reports and currently only a few holes are seen here and there at grocery and large retailers. The big picture does not appear blurred. “Come August, we’ll probably be short-staffed again,’’ she said. “Apparel is still an issue as far as supply chain. That’s not as important, maybe it is for those of us who like to look good, but we’ve got clothes. People need shoes.’’ w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
ADVERTORIAL
Hensel Phelps Achieves Final Completion of Five Buildings at the FBI North Campus on Redstone Arsenal The vision for the FBI to expand its presence at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama is closer to fruition with Hensel Phelps achieving final completion of the Operations Support Building (OSB), Central Utility Plant (CUP), Health, Wellness and Resiliency Center (HWRC) and Technology 1 Building in 2022. This marks two completed projects by Hensel Phelps for the FBI on the North Campus, and the first of two technology buildings, constructed to support the Bureau’s extensive expansion and is expected to bring several jobs to the North Alabama community. This in turn will help stimulate the local Huntsville economy with an influx of employees moving to the area to work in said newly complete buildings. The FBI has had a presence at Redstone Arsenal for more than 50 years and was offered the opportunity by the US Army to build its capabilities, create new partnerships and ultimately further its mission. The agency has secured funding to increase its footprint in the area, with a focus on technology, innovation and bringing several additional FBI employees to the area.
“The decision to relocate programs and jobs to Redstone Arsenal is part of an integrated strategy to organize and structure the FBI for the future. With the opening of the Technology 1 Building the FBI is able to apply its expansion strategy with a broad range of technology by focusing our investments on enterprise and applied technology and advanced and specialized training throughout the
next decade and beyond,” said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Kathleen Mills. The Operations Support Building (OSB) is the signature building of the North Campus and establishes the design language for all future construction on the campus. The building is prominently placed at the site’s main vehicular entrance. The large, concave four-story entry
By Guest Post Photos courtesy of Hensel Phelps
and significant roof overhang provides a dramatic first impression upon approach to the campus. The building’s exterior façade consists of architectural precast panels and expansive amounts of glazing. These materials are arranged to provide a strong base for the structure that accents the rhythmic pattern of the glazing. The four story OSB is divided into three wings totaling approximately 310,000 square feet. The main lobby, located in the Center Wing on the first and second floor, is called the “Collision Zone." This space is accessible through a staircase located on the southwest corner of the building and from the main courtyard entry point. The central feature is a multifunctional oval staircase. In addition to vertical circulation, the stairs also provide theater style seating for presentations and collaborative workspace for daily use. The oval staircase faces a large LED video wall which serves multiple functions, including conveying information or broadcasting news programs during normal operations. Additionally, it serves as a backdrop for speakers during presentations and a portable stage allows the space to be used for collaboration. A large opening allows for additional viewing opportunities of presentations from the second floor as well as collaboration style seating. A vestibule area is located at the main courtyard entry for visual screening of occupants and escorted visitors entering the building. The Collision Zone also contains two food service areas, a visitor conference room, storage rooms and support spaces. The upper floors of
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ADVERTORIAL
the Center Wing and most of the East & North Wings house employee workspaces which includes individual work settings, group spaces, community rooms and support spaces. The workspace area is separated from the Collision Zone by a one-hour rating, accomplished by providing automated horizontal fire doors or rated glazing assembly. The building includes demountable partitions to allow for a dynamic workspace where rooms can be changed or moved. Each room, with respective partitions, have in wall conduits to support AV functions as well. The ground level of the North Wing houses Shipping and Receiving, the IT Workroom, the Redstone Operations Center (ROC) and Nurses’ Suite in addition to employee workspaces. “Hensel Phelps cannot be more proud of the efforts put forth from the talented trade partners that in many instances traveled from across the country and worked 6-7 days/ week throughout the duration of the project to get us across the finish line.” Said Hensel Phelps Project Superintendent Sean Crowe. The Health, Wellness and Resiliency Center (HWRC) is comprised of two buildings (Fitness Center & Community Building, as well as a Pavilion space); a 23,000 square foot, single-story facility, that serves as a service point for the campus and contains outdoor gathering spaces, a retail location for the FBI Recreation
Association, a grab and go café that offers made to order sandwiches and salads, an office for the Employee Assistance Program, and a credit union automated teller machine. A 6,000 square foot pavilion, featuring a canopy and precast half walls that connect the HWRC to the 12,000 square foot Fitness Facility. The Fitness Facility offers group exercise classes, resistance machines, treadmills, spin bikes, elliptical machines, and free weights which support fit-for-duty requirements. The Technology 1 Building is a four-story, 87,000 square foot building that houses administrative and technical space. The Type IIA construction consists of structural steel framing with open web steel joists, architectural precast panels, curtainwall/storefront windows and standing seam metal roofing. Its unique features include raised access flooring, security enhancements, as well as heavy IT/communications.
To support the building’s groups and their missions, the project includes a state-of-the-art telecommunication system. The Technology 1 Building is the first of several new buildings that will house different divisions of the FBI. This building serves as office space for multiple groups and will house several employees. The design merges the technology sector aesthetic with practical functionality. The project features an interior communal break area and outdoor spaces to emphasize a campus-style environment. The design communicates the FBI’s commitment to providing a modern work environment that balances the space’s mission with the workforce’s wellbeing. The design team accomplished this vision by providing ample collaboration
space to allow cross-functional or interdepartmental teams the opportunity to effectively work together. “I’ve been with Hensel Phelps for 17 years. I am the Project Manager of the team that completed the Commons and Technology 1 Project in January of 2022, and I was thrilled with the energy and commitment to excellence I saw over and over again. With everyone's hard work, our team successfully turned over the buildings, while also driving towards a successful 100% security inspection ahead of accreditation,” said Hensel Phelps Project Manager Marcus Davis. “This doesn't happen by accident. Our success was truly a team effort, and the Government was there supporting us the entire way, by showing grit, while meeting every challenge. I’d like to acknowledge the incredible FBI professionals who showed up every day and made our success possible. Thank you”. Hensel Phelps completed several delegated design items, including raised access flooring, two site retaining walls, aggregate geopiers and the furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) package. The Technology 1 Building is designed and constructed to LEED Silver standards. w
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
RECOGNITIONS Brandon C. Smith, CPA, Named Managing Partner of Anglin Reichmann Armstrong Anglin Reichmann Armstrong announced the appointment of Brandon C. Smith, CPA to Managing Partner, effective today. Current Managing Partner Gary Anglin, CPA, CGMA, transitions to chair of the firm’s board of directors. “Brandon’s role is a very intentional piece of our growth strategy, and he will continue to work closely with our internal team while also maintaining direct client contact. He has a natural skill set for building relationships and implementing strategy, which perfectly matches who we need as the next managing partner,” said Anglin Smith joined the firm in 2006 shortly after switching his career interests from computer science to accounting. He achieved his Master of Accountancy degree in 2007, and he has since served clients in a variety of industries as an outsourced CFO and business advisor. He expressed excitement for the managing partner role, noting that his background in IT and business advisory services (rather than a specific tax or audit track) is similar to the evolution of the public accounting industry today. “I grew my career at Anglin through our consulting practice, and this emphasizes where our firm is and where the profession is going — advisory services beyond compliance work.” Anglin will maintain his focus on client consulting while being available to the management team as needed. He will stay involved in the profession through CPAmerica International and state CPA societies. “I want our team, clients and community partners to feel good about the direction of the firm. We have a plan in place for firm leaders like Brandon and our emerging leaders,” Anglin added. “Team continuity and positive local impact are the cornerstones of that strategy.”
Bradley’s Harold Stephens Honored with President’s Award by Alabama State Bar Association Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that the Alabama State Bar Association has recognized H. Harold Stephens with the President’s Award. The President’s Award is presented annually to members of the bar who exemplify the motto of the Alabama State Bar, “Lawyers Render Service.” Mr. Stephens was among the 2022 recipients recognized at the bar’s annual meeting held on Saturday, June 25. “Harold is tremendously deserving of this award, which honors his dedication and years of service to the bar, and by extension, to the state of Alabama,” said Bradley Huntsville Office Managing Partner Frank M. Caprio. “We are proud of Harold’s exceptional work and of this special recognition.” Mr. Stephens is a partner in Bradley’s Huntsville office and focuses his practice on healthcare litigation, defending physicians in medical liability claims, as well as hospitals, nurses and other healthcare providers. He also represents clients in business and commercial disputes, including trade secret litigation, fraud and contract cases and computer software disputes. Mr. Stephens devotes a significant portion of his practice to alternative dispute resolution, and is a charter member of the Alabama Academy of Attorney Mediators and a member of the Panel of Neutrals for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
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RECOGNITIONS Huntsville Hospital Heart Center Names New Vice President Morgan Dennis has been named Vice President of Huntsville Hospital’s Heart Center and Cardiovascular Service Line. Dennis comes to the Rocket City from Tufts Medical Center Community Care in Boston, where he held numerous leadership roles including executive director, administrative director of medical surgical specialties, and business manager. Before that, he served as finance and operations manager for Huntsville Hospital’s Cardiovascular Service Line, responsible for the Heart Center’s satellite clinics. He also spent time as an administrative resident at Huntsville Hospital. Dennis earned his Master of Science in Healthcare Administration degree from UAB and also has a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts. He started his new role at Huntsville Hospital on July 5. With more than 1,000 medical professionals devoted to cardiac care, Huntsville Hospital has the largest cardiology program in North Alabama and is recognized as a U.S. News & World Report High Performing Hospital for heart bypass surgery, heart attack care, heart failure care, aortic valve surgery and abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
Mr. Wilson Enslen Accepts Position as Leasing and Sales Specialist with NAI Chase Commercial NAI Chase Commercial, a member of the world’s premier managed network of commercial real estate firms, NAI Global, announced today that Wilson Enslen has accepted a position as Leasing and Sales Specialist in the Huntsville office in early June. “We are so pleased to add Wilson as a new member of our brokerage team! Wilson comes with a strong financial background, a hunger for success and willingness to serve his clients. We’re honored to have him as the newest member of the NAI Chase team. The market will see great things from this young man,” said Douglas A. McCullough, CCIM – Vice President of Brokerage. Prior to accepting the position of Leasing and Sales Specialist, Wilson has been attending Auburn University where he is completing his finance major with a minor in accounting. As our newest licensee, Wilson joins the other professionals at NAI Chase Commercial. A fun fact about our new member is that Wilson loves all things golf.
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Huntsville BUSINESS JOURNAL
