30 minute read
By Ashlyn Grey
A.R. “Rey” Almodóvar Awarded Citizen of the Year
Omega Psi Phi Fratenrity recently awarded A.R. (Rey) Almodóvar, P.E., co-founder and CEO Emeritus of INTUITIVE, the Citizen of the Year Award.
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Omega Fraternity is a national fraternity that was founded in 1874. The fraternity has chapters at colleges and universities across the country.
“Omega Fraternity is committed to academic excellence and the personal development of its members. The fraternity provides its members with opportunities to grow academically, professionally, and personally, Omega Fraternity also promotes leadership, service, and citizenship,” shared American Watch Guide.
Almodóvar’s professional career began in 1984, which included assignments as a U.S. Army civilian providing technical, production, and programmatic support to weapon systems such as the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), the PATRIOT Advanced Capability – 3 (PAC-3), and the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) missile systems, among others. INTUITIVE attributes Almodóvar as a key element in the success and growth that the company has achieved since its inception in 1999.
“Through Mr. Almodóvar’s guidance and expertise, INTUITIVE has become a renowned aerospace and defense company and a leader in developing advanced technology and innovative solutions to meet our customers’ most challenging problems. INTUITIVE’s rapid growth rate, financial stability, and ability to retain top-notch professionals are a direct result of the principles instilled by his dedication to a performance driven organization. Under his executive leadership, INTUITIVE has been recognized in the Inc. 500/5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S., and it has ranked locally and nationally as a Best Place to Work,” shared INTUITIVE online.
Intuitive Research and Technology (INTUITIVE) is an aerospace engineering and analysis firm headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama that provides production support, systems engineering, programmatic support, product development, rapid prototyping, and technology management to the Department of Defense, government agencies, and commercial companies.
Almodóvar has received multiple awards to include the Regional and District Level Small Business Person of the Year by SBA, Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Hispanic Engineer National Awards Conference (HENAC), Russell Brown Executive
By Ashlyn Grey / Photo courtesy of Intuitive
of the Year Award by the Huntsville/ Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Medaris Award for Excellence in Industrial Preparedness by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Cocklin Award for his lifetime of support to the U.S. Army by the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), and the Davidson Award for Leadership in Missile Defense and Space Technology. The Almodóvar family was awarded the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville Family Philanthropy Award.
Almodóvar is a mentor of the youth and provides servant leadership in the Huntsville, Alabama community. He supports charitable organizations, local schools, and young professionals through incentive programs and volunteering. He has served in several community leadership positions including Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce (2015) and Board Member of the National Children Advocacy Center (NCAC).
He is currently serving as Chair of the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, member of the executive committee for the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), and member of the Advisory Board for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Integration Center (AMIIC).
Almodóvar is also a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) and holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering – University of Puerto Rico, M.S. in Engineering – University of Arkansas, and M.S. in Business Administration – Texas A&M University (Texarkana). He is a graduate of Leadership Alabama Class XXVI.
Many congratulations were in order as INTUITIVE publicly announced its co-founders success: “Congratulations to our Co-Founder and CEO Emeritus, Rey for being recognized by the Omega Fraternity with the Citizen of the Year Award. This award is given to someone who is dedicated to selfless service, philanthropic giving, and the betterment of our communities.”
“We are thankful for executives who lead by example. Thank you for all you do for your community, Rey!” w
National Association of Realtors Puts Huntsville in Top 10 Markets to Watch for 2023
By Marie Johnson
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has compiled a list of the top ten real estate markets that bear watching for the upcoming year. The ranking was unveiled at the NAR’s fourth annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit.
All ten metropolitan areas on the list are located within the South. These markets were selected due to ten economic indicators: 1) better housing affordability; 2) greater numbers of renters who can afford to buy a median-priced home; 3) stronger job growth; 4) faster growth of information industry jobs; 5) higher shares of the information industry in the respective local GDPs; 6) migration gains; 7) shares of workers teleworking; 8) faster population growth; 9) faster growth of active housing inventory; and 10) smaller housing shortages.
The markets expected to outperform the rest of US markets are, in order: 1. Atlanta, Georgia 2. Raleigh, North Carolina 3. Dallas-Fort Worth Arlington, Texas 4. Fayetteville-Springdale- Rogers, Arkansas-Missouri 5. Greenville, South Carolina 6. Charleston, South Carolina 7. Huntsville, Alabama 8. Jacksonville, Florida 9. San Antonio, Texas 10. Knoxville, Tennessee "The demand for housing continues to outpace supply," said NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. "The economic conditions in place in the top 10 U.S. markets, all of which are located in the South, provide the support for home prices to climb by at least 5% in 2023."
These conditions that make Huntsville among the top ten markets in the country are heartening even in the best of times. However, as BlackRock, the largest asset management firm in the world, warns of a recession of potentially spectacular scale on the horizon, they could prove all the more crucial for ensuring resilience to weather the storm. 2023 promises to be an eventful year, and the Huntsville Business Journal will continue to keep its readership apprised of all the ups and downs in the real estate market. w
First-Time Homeowners at All-Time Low, And At Older Age
By Marie Johnson
The National Association of Realtors has released its 2022 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and it reveals shifting trends in first time home buyers.
The percentage of first-time buyers among all buyers in the United States has fallen to a mere 26%. This is the absolute lowest percentage since data collection began. Furthermore, the age of first-time buyers has increased as well, up to an average of 36 years old.
This change has been driven by the hammer and anvil combination of high borrowing costs and a scarcity of affordable housing, exacerbated by the record inflation that came to define the year of 2022.
This dynamic had additional effects on the market, which made themselves known in sometimes strange buying trends. 18% of first time home buyers were unmarried couples, while 5% were of “other” composition, usually meaning friends or roommates looking to pool resources to purchase a house. These are both the highest numbers for their respective demographics since record-keeping began. 14% of all home buyers, not just first-timers, bought “multigenerational homes,” which is indicative of both homeowners bringing their parents to live with them, as well as adult children moving in, or staying with, their own parents. 88% of home buyers purchased previously-owned homes, with detached, single-family units remaining the vast majority of houses sold, at 79% of units sold.
47% of home buyers made their down payment by drawing from savings, while 22% of first time buyers used a gift or loan from family to make the down payment. 88% of all home buyers were White/Caucasian, with the next largest ethnic group, Hispanic/Latino, made up 8%.
Interestingly, the age of house sellers has increased as well, at an average of 60 years old, up four years from 2021.
FSBO homes (For Sale By Owner) sold for an average of $225,000, while homes sold with the help of a realtor averaged $345,000.
Here in Huntsville, the latest reports from the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors continues to track a general trend of decreasing sales and increasing inventory. Pending sales of single-family units decreased 17.1% for the week of November 26, while inventory of those same units increased 79.6%, up to 2,973.
Barring unforeseen catastrophe, the basic laws of supply and demand should check inflation and keep housing prices here in Huntsville under control. However, “under control” and “able to provide for the needs of a large population of young adults looking to move out from their parents’ homes” are not necessarily one and the same. This could prove to be an opportunity for a developer looking to serve a market need that appears to be going unfulfilled.
The Huntsville Business Journal will continue to keep its readership informed of the latest trends and reporting on the residential real estate market. w
Healthcare Quality Expands with Continued City, Regional Growth
By Mike Easterling / Photos by Mike Easterling
As Huntsville continues to witness a population boom and the rapid expansion of business, one part of the recipe that has created the city’s explosion is likely at the top of the ingredient list.
Healthcare quality.
Shane Davis, city Director of Urban and Economic Development, lists this as one factor spurring Huntsville’s growth. There are other key reasons – quality of life, for instance – with none perhaps more important than quality healthcare the growing population can expect.
“We’re fortunate to have some of the best healthcare in the country with Huntsville Hospital and Crestwood (Medical Center),’’ Davis told the Huntsville Business Journal.
There was a time when Huntsville residents might opt to head to Birmingham looking for heart care or other facilities for an array of treatments. That’s still the case for specialty services at places like Vanderbilt and UAB that aren’t available locally, but for the most part citizens can find a healthcare answer to what ails them in the Rocket City.
“A hundred percent,’’ Davis said. “You don't have to travel outside of Huntsville for complicated health surgeries. You get A-to-Z. They can handle these within the community, and I think it just shows what type of market we’ve become.’’
He’ll get no argument from Jeff Samz, CEO of Huntsville Hospital Health Systems since July. Samz knows healthcare, a business where he’s spent 28 years and the last 12 at Huntsville Hospital.
He’s also worked as CEO at Vanderbilt Heart Institute and Associate Operating Officer/ Heart Services at Duke University Medical Center.
“I think the quality of healthcare in Huntsville is as strong as it’s ever been,’’ Samz said. “The biggest challenge we’re facing, like many other employers, is workforce. We’re very fortunate to have great schools in our community, Drake (State), Calhoun (Community College), UAH, the high schools – they’re all helping us train and grow our local healthcare workforce.
“But, like everybody else coming out of the pandemic, we need more nurses, we need more service staff, entry level staff. And that is a terrific challenge. But the way I look at that is we’re very blessed to be in a growing economy where there’s demand for services. I think we’re better equipped to meet the workforce challenges than any hospital in the state. So we have workforce challenges, but the state of health care is very very strong.’’
Others have recognized the quality of healthcare in the Rocket City. According to a ranking this year by the U.S. News and World Report, which rated the city as the Best Place to live in the country, Huntsville Hospital is the second-best in Alabama only behind UAB Hospital.
In addition to overall ranking, the system was recognized as ‘high performing’’ in nine specialties: colon cancer surgery, COPD, diabetes, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, stroke, and uterine cancer surgery.
The evaluation of Huntsville Hospital also includes data from Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children and Madison Hospital.
Meanwhile, Crestwood was lauded through Get With The Guidelines in partnership with the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. As a participant in Get With The Guidelines programs, Crestwood Medical Center qualified for recognition by demonstrating how their organization has committed to improving quality care. The hospital was awarded “Afib Gold’’ and “Heart Failure Gold.’’ “Crestwood Medical Center is committed
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
to improving care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely and proper care for heart attacks and strokes,” Kris Goodwin, Chief Nursing Officer, said in July after the honors were announced. “The Get With The Guidelines programs make it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, which helps us ensure more people in North Alabama experience longer, healthier lives.”
According to Samz, health procedures not available locally are by design.
“There are a handful of things we don’t do and don’t do on purpose,’’ he said. “An example is burn care or transplant care – that’s really best done in very specialized, centralized locations in every state. So we’ll continue supporting our friends in Birmingham for that kind of care. Our Children’s Hospital is very capable, but there is some very specialized pediatric care that needs to be cared for either at Children’s in Birmingham or in Nashville.’’
A recent addition to the Huntsville Hospital group of caregivers is the Pediatric Endocrinology & Diabetes Clinic at 920 Franklin Street. The system recruited Dr. Priscila Rodas and Dr. Zeinab Zorkot to open the facility. The doctors are pediatric endocrinologists who specialize in the evaluation and treatment of children with endocrine disorders including puberty, bone, thyroid, diabetes, growth, pituitary and adrenal.
“We’re trying to grow services smartly and when we add services of pediatric and endocrinology it’s absolutely a service we should support, it’s a wonderful addition,’’ Samz said. “But, pediatric neurosurgery for example is something we’re going to continue to send to other children’s hospitals and appropriately so.
“But, yeah, you can get very advanced cardiac care, trauma services and oncological surgery. We have an amazing group of cancer surgeons in Huntsville now from (gynecology) oncology and the breast cancer program has grown and has outstanding surgeons. There really is a wide complement of very specialized care available in Huntsville now. There’s really very little you need to leave the community for.’’
As Davis put it, Huntsville has “top notch healthcare, absolutely.’’ w
Local Business Expert Discusses Huntsville’s Entrepreneurial Allure
When starting a business, navigating those initial big decisions lay the foundation for whether the business will truly be put to the test and have the opportunity to thrive. In Huntsville, local and small business growth is rampant and still on the rise, which has landed it in the sights of business owners and corporations alike as a potential hotspot for growth.
Local business expert Jerry Bird of FranNet Huntsville took time to discuss Huntsville’s entrepreneurial allure with the Huntsville Business Journal, along with Pollo Compero's Director of Franchise Development, Blas Escarcega, and Christmas Decor's President, Brandon Stephens, whose very different, but incredibly successful companies are both considering Huntsville in their business opportunities.
FranNet is a group of experienced franchise experts with decades in the industry, with the collective primary focus on connecting individuals with their unique idea of the right opportunity.
“The first thing that pops to mind is the ongoing need for Business Services in multiple areas – IT as well as basic business support,” Bird continued.
When asked for any advice that Bird had to share with Huntsville’s local and small business owners, he shared, “Stay on top of the trends and traffic patterns. Demographics are critical to developing a solid game plan for future growth. Network with folks that can help you stay ahead of the curve. Stay on top of all new technology that helps control not only cost, but also efficiency. Be an advocate of Customer Service.”
When asked why Huntsville is considered to be ripe for franchise growth over the next year, even with recent inflation, Bird explained, “First and foremost is the population increase and the need to support small business. Huntsville is a very affluent city with pockets of big opportunities. Service sectors are in big demand. Many franchises thrive in not only recessions, but inflation.”
With companies considering Huntsville, such as Pollo Campero and Christmas Decor, Pollo Campero’s Director of Franchise Development, Blas Escarcega, and Christmas Décor’s President Brandon Stephens, shared a bit on their respective companies, and why Huntsville is seen as such a hotspot for growth.
Pollo Campero started as a small family-owned restaurant in Guatemala in 1971 and has grown to one of the biggest chicken chains in the world. Through its flavor and quality, Pollo Campero offers a unique and convenient feel-good eating experience for individual, group/ family, and catering occasions.
Chicken entrees can be ordered either Campero Fried or Citrus-Grilled, bone in or boneless and paired with an array of fresh sides, drinks, and desserts for a complete meal.
“We like the area due to economic growth and business-friendly environment. The metro area was recently voted as one of the best places to live in the US. Additionally, Huntsville is one of the fastest growth cities in the Southeastern USA with a rich history and cultural diversity with a low cost of living,” Escarcega stated.
With the recent success of many growing businesses, Huntsville provides a confident atmosphere for those who are willing to work towards their business goals.
When asked about this being a huge factor for interested businesses, Escarcega agreed. “Absolutely. Pollo Campero has seen a growing legacy customer base from Central America who have a passion for the brand and live throughout the Southeastern USA. We believe that by offering our flavors to the community Pollo Campero will be successful.”
For Christmas Décor, the excitement feels much the same, especially as the holiday season arrives.
“There is tremendous demand for our services, and many home and business owners are frustrated that they either can’t do a magical display themselves, or simply do without. Most people celebrate the holidays in some fashion, which leads to demand for our services. We’ve found that all communities— large and small create opportunities to meet these needs,” shared President Brandon Stephens.
Founded in 1986 by Blake Smith, Christmas Decor has become the leading holiday decorating brand in the U.S. and Canada. Originally created as an off-season supplement to the landscaping business, the Texas-based franchise now brings holiday cheer to over 300 communities across North America, ultimately creating jobs for 3,000plus seasonal workers that might otherwise be unemployed.
Backed by a strong business model and double-digit revenue increase year-over-year for the last 11 years, Christmas Decor is looking to grow in markets across the U.S. and Canada.
When asked what about Huntsville specifically is so attractive to entrepreneurs and potential business starters, including himself, Stephens responded that Huntsville’s market growth fits his business model.
“Christmas Decor by Bama Exterminating (Tuscaloosa) has been one of our fastest-growing franchises in the United States, and Tracy Butler with Christmas Decor by Butler Services in Huntsville has been a solid performer for a long time, with steady growth. This gives us a lot of confidence that other contractors can go into the market and be successful,” concluded Stephens.
With so much excitement and interest from outside of Huntsville, it is still important to support those who are already here. As local business expert Jerry Bird stated, with the growth of Huntsville, there is an opportunity to support new and blossoming businesses, but also opportunities to support those who have been established and nurtured by the community throughout the years. w
By Ashlyn Grey
Mayor Battle Highlights Growing Path Forward in “State of the City” Address
By Noah Logan / Photo by of Noah Logan
The excitement in the air was evident at Mayor Tommy Battle’s “State of the City” address on Tuesday, November 29. Around 1,400 community and business leaders filled the Von Braun Center (the most ever for a chamber event according to Battle) to hear what the mayor had to say and to celebrate many of Huntsville’s latest achievements.
The city is still abuzz after various city accomplishments and some major city makeovers. Huntsville was obviously named Best Place to Live in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report, The Orion Amphitheater has breathed new life into the tourism industry and the Artemis launch ushered in a new era of space travel.
While there was much to celebrate, the recurring theme presented by Battle focused on going forward with that success and the work still to be done. It’s a common notion that staying at the top is harder than actually getting to the top and, according to Battle, the city of Huntsville will be taking every step necessary to remain “the star of Alabama.”
Battle pointed out that along with being named the best place to live in Alabama, Huntsville is now the largest city in the state in terms of population and still growing. Huntsville gains 460 new residents each month and the city “That’s why everything we plan, develop and build is done with transparency and prudence. It is done with purpose and strategy.”
must plan accordingly.
Much of the speech was devoted to explaining the “quality of life” infrastructure projects that will allow the city to grow while also maintaining its beauty and excellence for future generations to come. These projects included investments in roads, greenways and parks.
Perhaps the largest project aimed at increasing the quality of life for Huntsville is the second phase of the Restore Our Roads initiative. Totaling six projects with an estimated cost of around $800 million, the initiative will aim to enhance traffic flow around the city and in and out of the arsenal.
“With growth, we may not be able to provide an 18-minute commute (the city wide average for a commute to work) for everyone, but we’re working to keep traffic moving, safe and manageable,” Battle explained.
The project is a much needed one as, highlighted by Battle, the Huntsville metro area has seen a 24% growth in employment during Battle’s tenure as mayor. The growth in employment can be attributed not only to new residents moving into the city, but also to initiatives that are equipping the citizens who grew up here with the appropriate skills for 2022’s job market.
The Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering opened earlier this year in Cummings Research Park.
“This school will educate, train and prepare the next generation of animated thinkers. Their students
will someday solve the problems of tomorrow and possibly even take center stage at our National Cyber Summit that is held right here in Huntsville, Alabama.
So while there is much to celebrate within The Rocket City, Battle’s address made it clear that we can’t stop anytime soon.
“Our secret is out,” as he put it. And with his speech, he also made it clear that growth for the sake of growth is not acceptable. The goal is to grow in such a way that future generations will be positively affected by the growth.
“That’s the secret to our success and the secret to being the star of Alabama. With everyone’s help sitting here today….We will continue investing in a quality of life that brings people here and a quality of life that exceeds the dreams of our predecessors.” w
By Noah Logan / Photos courtesy of Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce
Over 300 community leaders gathered in the Von Braun Center’s East Hall on Thursday, December 8th for the annual Redstone Arsenal update.
The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce hosts this event every year to help the community get “a glimpse behind the curtain” of the economic engine that powers roughly half of the Huntsville metro and employs 42,000 people. "The realization of the economic impact that Redstone Arsenal has for our community is not just the jobs that are on post, it's all that goes on in the region, and it's really supported by Redstone and the level of expertise there," said Greg Brown, chair of the Chamber Board of Directors in his opening statement. "Someone like me, that's lived here for 60 years, doesn't really understand exactly what goes on, and this community event really helps bring home a sense of pride — pride for national defense and security of our nation and the world."
The event was the first for the new Senior Mission Commander of Redstone Arsenal Christopher Mohan since the U.S. Senate approved his promotion.
“We will continue to evolve, as a Federal Center of Excellence with our diverse and synergetic missions involving space, logistics, research and intelligence operations,” Mohan said in his keynote speech.
“To ensure Redstone stays on the path for success, I will focus on four lines of effort that are designed to ensure we are prepared to meet our global mission. Those lines of effort are recruiting and maintaining a 21st century workforce; continued synergetic growth on the installation; ensuring a high quality of life for the Redstone workforce and families; and providing security and response to ensure safety of those on the installation,” Mohan continued.
Leaders from eight different agencies, including the FBI and Marshall Space Flight Center, delivered reports Thursday with topics ranging from rockets and missiles to buildings and Redstone’s role in the country’s support to Ukraine.
A recurring theme during all the briefings was the plans for expansion. For NASA, the FBI, and the Army, growth is coming not only in the form of new buildings but also the addition of employees.
This was most prominently featured during FBI Deputy Assistant Director Drew Watts’ presentation. The FBI is seeing one of the biggest expansions with a new operations building opening earlier this year with much more to come after that.
For years, the visuals of the expanding FBI campus at Redstone Arsenal have been somewhat mysterious with visitors unable to take pictures of what they see during their visit.
During his presentation, Watts played a two-minute video that gave the audience a better glimpse of the sprawling north campus that has reached more $2 million in capital investments.
Included in the buildings that have opened so far include the first operations building, the largest on the campus with 1,300 employees, the first technology building, the TEDAC Explosive Technical Lab as well as the Health, Wellness & Resiliency Center. Greenways and sidewalks link the buildings to create the sense of campus connectivity.
“We see how much we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time,” Watts said after screening the video, crediting the Redstone Arsenal and the Huntsville community for their support of the FBI’s growth into what has unofficially become a second FBI headquarters away from Quantico.
“This will be a robust campus, enabling the FBI to address the rapidly changing threat environment,” Watts said once the north campus is fully built out. “And it’s going to be a robust campus. But can I tell you the north campus is already booming. We are building a technology district which will really be the epicenter of the FBI’s technology infrastructure and tool development, centralizing our tech talent and tools to a connected campus environment.”
Watts also touched on some of the buildings scheduled for the future, including the FBI’s Innovation Center, which recently had its groundbreaking ceremony that the FBI’s
Jody Singer, Director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, presents Artemis I video
By Noah Logan / Photos courtesy of Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce
Director Christopher Wray attended.
With all of these new buildings, the number of employees on campus will grow exponentially.
Watts explained that the campus will grow from its current 1,508 employees to roughly 2,000 by next summer. Long-term, the FBI will have full-time capacity for 5,000 employees by 2028 with the capability of accommodating 3,800 additional people for training.
Electronics engineers, IT specialists, cybersecurity analysts, data analysts and computer scientists were among the opportunities being promoted along with opportunities for clerical workers.
“We’ve got a lot of positions that are going to be opening, we got a lot of positions that are open now and those are the skill sets that we’re looking for,” Watts said.
Along with the FBI briefing, leaders from Marshall’s Space Flight Center and the Space and Missile Defense agency also gave updates.
Jody Singer from the Space Flight Center played a video documenting the successful Artemis launch and touched on the future Artemis II-V missions. With Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration at the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft, along with the commercial human landing system and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.
Space and Missile Defense gave an update on its efforts as well. However, no update on the final destination regarding the home of Space Command was given.
“I can’t answer anything about Space Command coming to Huntsville,” said Richard De Fatta, Space and Missile Command Deputy to the Commander. “I don’t know anything more than you do. If you have that question, please pass that on to the Secretary of the Air Force.”
The last part of the event featured an extensive panel providing insight into the support the U.S. is providing Ukraine through both presidential drawdowns and foreign military sales of military equipment. The panel discussion focused on The Materiel Enterprise and Redstone’s Support to Ukraine.
The panelists included: - Renee Moser, Director of Operations and Readiness with Army
Materiel Command - Dr. Myra Gray, US Army Security
Assistance Command - Warren O’Donnell, PEO Missiles and Space - COL Richard Pfieffer, Chief of
Staff Army Contracting Command
The focus was largely on the Army Materiel Command and its ability to provide anything and everything needed to help the efforts in Ukraine. Director Renee Mosher, said the AMC has handled $6.8 billion in weapons and supplies for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February.
“We are managing, supporting and executing logistics and sustainment,” Mosher said. “If you talk about logistics, maintenance and sustainment, then AMC is the one organization that provides that for the U.S. Army. That gives you the magnitude and the scope of the support that we are managing to support Ukraine in this war effort, all at the same time balancing readiness of the United States Army and ensuring we maintain the equipment we need within the U.S. Army to support our readiness in our troops’ training and warfighting requirements,”
Retired Major General Jim Myles, who is now the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce’s chair of its military affairs committee, added that Redstone Arsenal is the “center of gravity for supporting the Ukranians.”
“That’s what’s happening,” Myles said. “And it’s amazing when you think about what it is we normally do and then, all of a sudden, someone gets invaded halfway around the world. And Redstone Arsenal becomes decisively engaged in a big way. Why do we become engaged? Because of what we do in the arsenal.” w
C-StoreMaster Opens New Warehouse, Receive Recognition from Governor Ivey
By Noah Logan / Photos courtesy of C-StoreMaster
C-StoreMaster officially opened its brand new 130,000-square-foot automated warehouse on Mastin Lake Road, and just off of Jordan Lane. The national distributor of convenience store products has been based in Huntsville since its creation in 2015.
For a company that’s not even a decade old yet, its efforts have been widely recognized throughout the state. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey even proclaimed Dec. 8 (the day of the opening) as Technology Innovation Day to recognize the new opening and C-StoreMaster’s dedication to advancing technology in Alabama.
In an interview with Huntsville Business Journal, C-StoreMaster President Sharan Kalva acknowledged the Governor’s actions.
“Technology is at the center of everything we do as a company. We were honored to have Governor Ivey recognize our efforts and look forward to continue innovating over the years to come,” said Kalva.
Picture from L to R: C-StoreMaster CEO Sandip Patel, C-StoreMaster Founder and Chariman Satish Kalva and C-StoreMaster President Sharan Kalva
The new warehouse has created 30 jobs as the company expands distribution throughout the country. Kalva also acknowledged how important the city has been for the company’s past and future.
“Our connection to Huntsville goes back years before C-StoreMaster when we were convenience store operators,” Kalva explained. “We saw a need for the type of distribution we offer and when the perfect solution wasn’t available, we created it ourselves. Huntsville’s location is a great asset for our delivery needs and as the city continues to expand its local offerings, we have more talent to hire.”
C-StoreMaster partnered with Geek+ on the project and
incorporated three automation technologies in the new warehouse which will improve picking accuracy to 99.99 percent.
“By implementing the robotic system, C-StoreMaster has increased their picking productivity by three to four times,” said Rick DeFiesta, executive vice president of sales and solutions at Geek+. “As the company continues to experience impressive growth, our cutting-edge system will help them provide even faster service for their customers.”
C-StoreMaster also kept the comfort of their employees in mind when designing the facility. Employees no longer have to walk long distances or lift heavy objects to fulfill orders thanks to the robotic instillations. Additionally, the warehouse includes areas that aim to foster a great work environment. A workout area, pool table, air hockey, walking track and a bean-to-cup coffee offering are available to meet employees’ needs.
Specializing in the tobacco and beverage categories, C-StoreMaster services 4,500+ independent c-stores and 6,000+ chain stores throughout the country.
“To bring the first multi-level shuttle system of its kind in the country to Huntsville is a great accomplishment for our team,” Kalva proclaimed. “Innovation has always been at the forefront of our business and with this new warehouse, CStoreMaster is set up for success for years to come.” w
