HBJ Mar-23 Issue

Rocket City has always been at the forefront of the world’s efforts of leaving the earth for outer space, and soon it will soon be at the forefront of saving the earth from impacts of climate change as well.

By Noah Logan - Page 5

BIOTECHNOLOGY

HudsonAlpha's 15 Years of Economic Impact Come Together in Series of 2023 Community Events

In 2023, HudsonAlpha is celebrating 15 years of business, innovation, and community development in the Huntsville area, and will be inviting the public to join in on upcoming events.

By Ashlyn Grey - Page

14

ADDITIONAL STORIES

• Sit Down With Success: A Conversation with Haley's Flooring & Interiors

By Gus Wintzell • Page 3

• Huntsville: A Beacon for Cybersecurity

By Alexander Duck, II • Page 8

• Do Alabama Citizens Really Pay 3rd Highest Monthly Energy Bills?

By Noah Logan • Page 16

• Huntsville Ranks Among the Best Cities for Working Parents

By Ashlyn Grey • Page 19

IBM Announces Partnership with Marshall Space Flight Center to Impact Climate Change

NASA

The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors (HAAR) Have Released Their Monthly Report for the Month of January

By: Marie Johnson / Graphics courtesy of Huntsville Area Association of Realtors

The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors (HAAR) has released their monthly report for the month of January.

The report indicates that the average price of a single-family home in Madison County dropped by around $17,000 from December 2022.

With a total of 1493 homes on the market, the inventory of units available for purchase has nearly tripled since January of last year. This influx of inventory has resulted in the month’s supply of inventory to increase by 140%, up to 2.4.

Single-family units spent an average of 36 days on the market in January, up from 19 in January 2022.

Accompanying the dip in average list price is a corresponding rise in the Housing Affordability Index, which sits at a straight 100 for January. That is to say, the median household income for Madison County is now 100% of what’s necessary to qualify for a medianpriced house at prevailing interest rates.

This index has risen from the 95 rating of December, but is still 35 points below January of 2022, where the HAI sat at 135.

With the figures provided by Freddie Mac, mortgage rates continue to lower from the first week

of February, averaging 6.09%. This decline in mortgage rates, which peaked at 7.08% in November, contributes to making housing more affordable. However, it may not be prudent to count on those rates continuing to decline at that rate for the future.

The Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, predicts that, due to continuing efforts to control inflation, interest rates will continue to hover somewhere between 6 and 6.5% for most of 2023.

This may have a dulling effect on the predicted market thaw for spring, when new rules and regulations for financing, which are designed to make homeownership more affordable for a wider spectrum of people, will come into effect.

However, the demand for hous-

ing in Huntsville continues to be high, and with more and more inventory coming to the market in Madison County, the spring thaw should be brisk, though perhaps not magnificently-explosive in scale.

According to real estate tech-company Redfin, investors nationwide are pulling back from speculative real estate, due to the cool market and potential price drops. This may actually prove a boon for residents looking to buy homes in which to live, as individuals rarely have the cash to compete with the deep, collective pockets of investment institutions.

In short, with these investment bodies keeping their shenanigans down to a dull roar, the market should - barring unforeseen catastrophe from out of nowhere - reach

an equilibrium between residents looking to buy, and property owners looking to sell.

In such a market, the skyhigh profits of the past few years would be a thing of the past, but the market would be more indicative of the real needs of the actual people who live in the area.

“Ensuring that all Madison County residents can attain the dream of home ownership” is the top priority of the HAAR, according to Marketing Manager Abbie Kate Hancock, who provided the Huntsville Business Journal with its monthly report.

Of course, a critical part of making that dream a reality is keeping informed of the latest developments in the real estate market, so keep reading the Huntsville Business Journal for new Real Estate Updates! w

A Conversation with Haley's Flooring & Interiors

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.

In 1975, Carter and Nancy Haley moved to Huntsville, Alabama with a dream of establishing a well respected flooring and carpet business.

By October of 1988, Carter and Nancy opened Carpet Systems of Huntsville alongside their eldest son Chris Haley, who is the decades to come would eventually take over the business with his brothers, Michael Haley. After many years of success, Carpet Systems of Huntsville became Haley's Flooring & Interiors. Fast forward to today and Haley's touts 1 00+ employees.

In 2020, Carter and Nancy announced their retirement after more than three decades of excellent service and exceptional growth. Now, Chris Haley runs this business alongside his brother Michael, CFO and VicePresident. The family also welcomed

Adam Rogers, a long-time employee of the business.

This is one of the first businesses in town that the Journal has featured that has a non-family member having a major role in the leadership of the business. Why did Carter and Nancy ask Adam to join, and what value does he bring to the experience?

Chris Haley (CH): Adam has always been hardworking, and really became someone who knew every aspect of the business. He gained our parent’s trust. That is something that is very special, and something that we are proud of.

Michael Haley (MH): That’s right. And family is an extremely important idea there. We run this business like it is a family. We treat everyone that works here with that same dynamic. Adam also brings a balance to the business. Chris and I could not be more different, and Adam is here to keep us level headed.

How do you balance your personal and professional life?

MH: That’s a tough question. My best answer is this: when it is 5:00, you have to honor that time, go home, see your family, and try to relax. It’s not a simple answer, because as a business owner, some weeks are going to be more stressful than others.

Adam Rogers (AR): That’s a tough one. Sometimes, even when it is 5:00, I will still answer my phone. That’s just how I work, because really I like to work and work hard. But you can ask Chris and Michael, when I am close to home every evening, I am not coming back. I agree with Michael, I am sometimes just as tough setting boundaries with my personal life as I am with my professional life. What advice would you give to

By: Gus Wintzell /

someone who is considering running their own business?

MH: The biggest thing you will need to learn about running a business is that you not only affect the lives of your employees, but their families as well. They have wives, husbands, and kids that rely on their work. We might have 100 employees, but we impact fives times as many people.

To read the full story, please visit the Huntsville Business Journal website at www.huntsvillebusinessjournal.com. w

Photo by Steve Babin

Pictured L to R: Michael Haley, Chris Haley, and Adam Rogers

President /Publisher

Subsidiary of EVENT Publishing

Todd Stephenson

Editor Gus Wintzell

Writers

Contributing Writers

Graphic Design

Website

Photographers

Alan Clemons

Ashlyn Grey

Marie Johnson

Noah Logan

Jenn Memolo

Alexander Duck

Scott Harbour

Dawn Suiter

Justina Simon

Jim Gharib

Steve Babin

Justina Simon

Director of Sales …………………………………… Carolyn Stephenson

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 ©2023. 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.

IBM Announces Partnership with Marshall Space Flight Center to Impact Climate Change

Rocket City has always been at the forefront of the world’s efforts of leaving the earth for outer space, and soon it will soon be at the forefront of saving the earth from impacts of climate change as well.

On Wednesday, IBM Research and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center announced they are starting development on AI foundation models for NASA’s earth science satellite data. This AI foundation model will allow for NASA’s Earth-observing satellite to analyze geospatial satellite data more quickly and more efficiently in an effort to combat climate change.

Simply put, foundation models are specific AI models used to train on large sets of unlabeled data and apply one situation to another. Currently, half of all scientific findings come from archived data and this makes it challenging for researchers to study ever-evolving threats such as climate change.

Rahul Ramachandran, senior research scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, highlighted this challenge during a press briefing in early February as he explained that NASA’s collection of Earth observation data contains 70 petabytes of data and is expected to grow to more than 250 petabytes within a few years.

“Clearly, given the scale of the data that we have, we have a big data problem,” Ramachandran said. “Our goal is to make our data discoverable, accessible and usable for broad scientific use in applications worldwide.”

Ramachandran added the development of new foundation models will make it easier to analyze and draw benefits from the data that NASA has collected. In the examples he used, foundation models using satellite image data could potentially automatically map out flooding data or damage in a hurricane zone instead of researchers having to pour through that same data for the same information.

IBM’s foundation model technology will aim to vastly speed up the categorization and analysis of incoming data. The goal of this joint project is to advance the scientific understanding of and response to Earth and climate-related issues like natural disasters and warming temperatures. There are two new models being developed that will aid in this effort:

• The first model will be trained on over 300,000 earth science publications to

thematically organize the literature and make it easier to search and discover new knowledge.

• The second model will be trained on USGS and NASA’s popular Harmonized Landset-Sentinel2 (HLS2) satellite dataset; applications include everything from detecting natural hazards to tracking changes in vegetation and wildlife habitats.

One model will train an IBM geospatial intelligence foundation model on NASA’s Harmonized Landset-Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset, a record of land cover and land use changes captured by Earth-orbiting satellites.

By analyzing petabytes of satellite data to identify changes in the geographic footprint of phenomena such as natural disasters, cyclical crop yields, and wildlife habitats, this foundation model technology will help researchers provide critical analysis of our planet’s environmental systems.

The other model will develop an easily searchable databank of Earth science literature.

IBM is using an NLP model trained on nearly 300,000 Earth science journal

By: Noah Logan / Photos courtesy of NASA IMPACT

articles to organize the literature and make it easier to discover new knowledge.

Containing one of the largest AI workloads trained on Red Hat’s OpenShift software to date, the fully trained model uses PrimeQA, IBM’s open-source multilingual questionanswering system.

Beyond providing a resource to researchers, the new language model for Earth science could be infused into NASA’s scientific data management and stewardship processes.

The combination of these two models will potentially change humanity and, as pointed out by Ramachandran, workers from both NASA and IBM will be instrumental to the project in Huntsville along with other parts of the world.

“The beauty of foundation models is they can potentially be used for many downstream applications,” said Ramachandran. “Building these foundation models cannot be tackled by small teams,” he added. “You need teams across different organizations to bring their different perspectives, resources, and skill sets.” w

Short-wave infrared (SWIR) false color composite of glacial retreat near Innarsuit, Greenland from 2013 – present

True color composite image of irrigated agricultural fields near Sadat City, about 80 km northwest of Cairo, Egypt

The NASA IBM partnership will develop an AI foundation model that will analyze images from the NASA Earth Observatory.

The Changing Face of Huntsville’s Local Game Store Scene

Within a clean and well-lit store, a group sits around a table, hunched over a map, moving miniature figures, and consulting books and sheets of paper, planning their next move. One of their fellow players, with a folding screen keeping their notes out of view of the others, looks to a specific player, carefully adopting a look of bemused, mysterious detachment, a real poker face.

“Are you sure?” they ask.

Summoning their courage, the player in question nods.

“Roll for it,” replies the mysterious player with the screen.

The rest of the table holds their breath as the die is cast, success or failure hinging on the outcome.

Elsewhere, at another table, a pair is engrossed in a duel of their own, their strategies enacted by trading cards, their decks painstakingly-crafted to encompass complex layers of synergy. The game has been a close stalemate for a while now, and the decks are running thin. As a player draws a card, they look to see if it’s the one that will kick off the combo they need to finally win the game.

These are the sort of scenes that one can find at your local game store.

Before we begin, I must make a disclosure, dear reader; I am, in fact, a nerd. A nerd of tremendous proportions. So, when our editor floated the idea of exploring the entertainment options here in the Huntsville area, well, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to discuss my tabletop gaming addictions, and the many fine businesses that cater to them.

These hobbies have never been more popular, or more accessible, than they are today. The days of tabletop gaming facing a stigma of being the sole purview of antisocial basement dwellers are over.

Certified hunk and literal Superman, Henry Cavill, gushes over

his love of the militaristic sci-fi wargame Warhammer 40K, while Joe Mangienello and Vin Diesel regularly appear at conventions to play sessions of Dungeons and Dragons. Critical Role, the YouTube D&D show helmed by Matt Mercer and his band of cheerful reprobate voice actors, hovers around two million subscribers, and their swords and sorcery antics have led to an animated show on Amazon Prime, The Legend of Vox Machina, which itself has been a hit.

The kids on Netflix’s Stranger Things are no strangers to rolling dice, and the show’s plot is inextricably intertwined with the mythos of Wizards of the Coast’s venerable roleplaying game. I just about tripped when I heard my own mother, of all people, mention Vecna, a malignant deity in the Dungeons and Dragons pantheon.

When Covid-19 hit, the combination of widespread video conferencing apps and the urge to escape the socially-distant isolation of the quarantine days led to an explosion in the popularity of tabletop gaming. Now, with the pandemic (hopefully) abating, local game stores, which suffered during quarantine, are making a comeback, and in a big way, making changes to ac-

commodate the social needs of the gaming community.

Local Game Stores have been sites for gaming events and tournaments for decades. Now, however, many are making a concentrated effort to enhance the social aspects of the hobby, aspects that just aren’t possible from online retailers.

Huntsville’s Lucky Dice Cafe, located at the Village Center on Memorial Parkway, not only offers the traditional shopping for the accouterments of tabletop gaming - rulebooks, dice, trading cards, miniatures, and other accessories - but also, as the name suggests, a full-on restaurant in the store. Their menu includes pizza, chili, wings, and craft beer,

By: Marie Johnson /

but their specialty is in sandwiches. One can take their “Jean Grey” sandwich and turn it to a “Phoenix” by dint of spicy Buffalo sauce.

Stone Valley Games, located on, well, Stone Valley Drive, has been so successful with their winter sale that, for their upcoming spring sale in March, they’re once again entering curbside pickup customers into a giveaway sweepstakes, in order to keep the foot traffic in their shop to a manageable level.

Madison’s Raging Gazebo - yes, I know, I’ll get to the name in a moment - is actually owned and operated by local married couple Denim and Shanna Keezer. They are the proud parents of a little “nerdling” of their own, and as such, their store is geared towards accommodating customers with children. They have a dedicated play area for kids in their store, and other family-friendly events, like a group Saturday Morning Cartoon binge session.

Their store’s unusual name references a humorous story that made the rounds online a few years back. In the story, a beleaguered Dungeon Master - the player who ‘sets the stage’ for the other players in a game of Dungeons and Dragons - narrated a description of an aristocrat’s garden. They made mention of a gazebo, only for one

Photos courtesy of High Ground Hobbies and Cafe; Lucky Dice Cafe; The Deep Comics

of the players, who didn’t know what a gazebo was, to prepare for an epic battle against it. All attempts to explain it failed, and the DM, shrugging, opted to roll with it and have the party attacked by “a raging gazebo.”

Incidentally, I do believe the gazebo won that fight.

That’s the sort of off-the-wall experience that one can really only get from tabletop role-playing games. Films and shows are entirely passive experiences; video games offer player agency, but to a limited degree, as even the best-programmed video game can only account for so many actions and outcomes. But TTRPGs are collaborative experiences, and while the rules of each system provide structure to the game, the power of human imagination still remains unrivaled.

It isn’t just fantasy settings, incidentally; those who were introduced to the futuristic corporate dystopia of Cyberpunk 2077, and its anime tie in, Edgerunners, can continue to explore that world in its original tabletop form in Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2020, or the latest iteration of the game, Cyberpunk Red.

Those looking for a focus on tactics can deploy mass armies of power-armored space marines in Warhammer 40k, with its distinctive arrays of detailed miniature figures. Battletech plays like a season of Game of Thrones, if the likes of the Starks and the Lannisters hashed out their differences via giant stompy robot of doom.

Whatever your aesthetic, there is a game out there that will appeal to it.

Then there are the trading card games. While less freely-creative than tabletop role-playing games, the appeal of this sort of game comes from the intricate strategies and counters that players can build into their decks.

While there are “starter decks” for new players, which are pre-built with set cards, the trading card format depends on the addition

of cards that players can acquire through “booster packs,” which feature random cards in a set.

Local Game Stores not only sell decks and booster packs, but many will buy unwanted cards from players and sell them individually for those looking for specific cards for their deck. These cards can sometimes be worth thousands of dollars, due to their potency in the game, the rarity of their art, or both.

Magic: The Gathering has been a staple of the TCG scene for decades, and in that time, entire new formats, such as “Commander” - a four-way battle royale - have arisen, which call for all-new cards and strategies to deal with the new parameters.

The Pokemon trading card game has, of course, been just as popular as its video game counterpart, with many of the game’s first generation of players passing down their old card collection to their children. Other popular card games include Yu-Gi-Oh, and games based off of popular IP’s like the Marvel superheroes or various anime and manga series.

Magnolia Gaming Huntsville, on Memorial Drive Southwest, is a newly-opened store that heavily features trading card games and boasts a large, open and spacious floor with many tables for gaming.

The Deep Comics and Games is a Huntsville institution, and while they may rue the new construction that has hidden their building from sight on Memorial Drive, they are still there, ready to buy and sell. While they largely deal in comics and toys, they also deal in trading cards, and host tournaments in their store as well. Moreover, their inventory is extensive, with rows upon rows of cool stuff for sale.

JC’s House of Cards in Madison, as the name might suggest, largely focuses on trading cards, and they regularly host a great many tournaments and other events. They also boast a wide selection of accessories for trading card games, such as

deck boxes, playmats, and sleeves to protect individual cards.

High Ground Hobbies and Cafe, also in Madison, adopts a similar approach to the Lucky Dice Cafe, in that they serve food and drink for the enjoyment of their patrons. Their Magic: The Gathering tournaments offer prizes, not only for the victor and runner-up, but also to those who fulfill specific challenges during the tournament, such as being the first player eliminated, countering two spells in a single turn, or taking control of three or more of an enemy’s cards in a single turn.

Also, their trophies for the tournament winner each week is usually pretty sweet. This week, it was a bust of Master Splinter, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That isn’t necessarily relevant, I just thought it was neat.

Yes, with its vast ratio of geeksper-capita, Huntsville and its surrounding suburbs are rife with local gaming stores. With these places investing in the customer experience with sales, events, accommodations, and even refreshments, there has never been a better time to patronize these establishments.

If you’re bored with watching superheroes brawl their way across endless reboots and crossovers in the movie theater, if you’re frustrated with glitchy, unfinished video games charging you premium prices for beta testing their work for them, if you’re looking for a truly immersive and social experience, then try dipping your toe in the world of tabletop gaming.

There’s bound to be at least one local game store, and likely several, nearby. w

Huntsville: A Beacon for Cybersecurity

Huntsville is a hub of technology and innovation, making it a lucrative target for cybersecurity threats. As Huntsville surges in population and economic growth, the city is becoming a prime target for cybercriminals.

Cyber threats have become a pervasive issue, with malicious actors seeking to steal data, disrupt services, and extort organizations. While technical approaches used to prevent cyber attacks, like anti-virus tools, have continued to grow in sophistication, they are also largely reactive rather than proactive approaches to security.

Professionals in this area acknowledge that the human element of cybersecurity still presents a serious vulnerability within any system. For example, in 2020, Huntsville city schools were the victim of a ransomware attack that resulted in the closure of schools across the city.

Advances in Cyber Threats Continue

The scale and complexity of cybersecurity threats around the world has grown dramatically in recent years.

As the internet and cloud-based services have become more popular, organizations have become more vulnerable to hyper-targeted attacks. According to Joshua Crumbaugh, an ethical hacker with over 15 years of

By: Alexander Duck II

experience and CEO of the Huntsville-based company, PhishFirewall, the majority of hacking does not rely on the use of advanced technologies to break encryption.

Instead, hackers are more likely to rely on social engineering tactics in order to exploit the humans involved in organizational functions.

For example, Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a sophisticated attack meant to target businesses. By impersonating figures of authority, either within or outside the organization, hackers are able to manipulate employees into trusting and executing malicious code which infiltrates their corporate systems.

The tactics around social engineering have also become far more sophisticated in the past 6 months as hackers are utilizing recent developments in AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, which can create more

effective phishing emails that are personalized and tailored to their targets, much like an ad or marketing campaign.

In order to counteract these growing threats, PhishFirewall utilizes the latest AI technology to create sophisticated phishing simulations that mimic real-life phishing attempts. The company then relies on targeted micro-learning techniques to provide bite-sized, engaging, and customized training to employees that is based on their specific risk profile. This is a proactive approach designed to help reduce cyber risk across any business or organization.

Defense is a Full-time Business Individuals and companies have a lot of options and concerns to consider when preparing for their cybersecurity.

Currently, one of the most important things most people and businesses can do to better protect themselves is to turn on multi-factor authentication for all of their apps and websites that contain sensitive information. This way a hacker will need to have physical access to their phone or device before they can access those accounts.

This is not foolproof, of course, as hackers can still clone sim cards or install malware onto cell phones, but these options require greater effort. Overall, multi-factor authentication has been shown to be the most effective method for keeping accounts secure.

For organizations and companies, another important step is to provide relevant security awareness training to their staff. PhishFirewall is currently working on providing their full cybersecurity awareness training content for free, starting this month. The company has also offered to provide any local business early access to this free security awareness training platform for use in training their employees.

Since Huntsville is home to a large community of cyber professionals, another great way for companies and individuals to stay up-to-date on cybersecurity news and training is by attending local cyber events.

Cyber Brews, LLC is a local business dedicated to cybersecurity

training through networking and mind melding. CyberBrews hosts frequent, local events that are fun to attend but also cover in-depth cybersecurity topics, making sure that our local workforce of cybersecurity professionals stay well-informed and effective.

The Social Approach

Huntsville is also a major center for innovation when it comes to how we approach cybersecurity.

As mentioned above, CyberBrews was founded to encourage a more collaborative and engaging approach to problem-solving in the cybersecurity industry. While in-person social events had drastically declined during the pandemic, Karen Williams, the founder of CyberBrews, appreciates how valuable these after-hours gatherings can be. Social research confirms this.

In-person interactions have been shown to have multiple clear advantages over emails and Zoom meetings. Physical touch and proximity help to build trust, forge deeper personal connections, increase attention span, and make it easier to recognize social cues, such as tone and nonverbal body language.

CyberBrews is not alone, however, in providing this opportunity. Locally, one can find a great number of groups and organizations that provide in-person, social networking opportunities and training for cyber professionals.

There is CyberReach, CyberHuntsville, the North Alabama Chapter of Information System Security Association (NAC-ISSA), and Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), just to name a few! Cybersecurity is no longer the job of one man in a dimly lit backroom. It is a team sport that requires a great deal of crosstraining and cooperation.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is a serious concern for businesses nationwide. With major advancements in AI allowing for more sophisticated methods of attacks, that concern is justified. Here in Huntsville, however, we have many passionate people working hard to keep us and our data safe as we move ever onward into the 21st century. w

Family Honors Aerospace Engineering Pioneer with Ronald Lee Lancaster Memorial Scholarship

HUNTSVILLE, AL – Indiana native Ronald “Ron” Lee Lancaster, who passed away on May 15, 2022, held many titles: husband, father, friend, mentor, missionary, and engineer.

“He was so many things to so many people,” son Jeff Lancaster remembers, adding that his father was always giving of his time.

“If the opportunity presented itself, he would help anyone,” Jeff continued, noting that Ron would help neighbors work on their homes or he’d provide a meal to a person down on their luck.

That, and Ron’s pride and passion for the U.S. space program, are reasons why Esther Lancaster, Ron’s wife of nearly 65 years, pledged $25,000 to The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, to establish a scholarship for students pursuing mechanical or aerospace engineering.

The recipient will be an upper-level undergraduate student with the ambition to work in the aerospace industry and who is ideally an active member of UAH’s Space Hardware Club (SHC). This gift, Ron’s family says, is a way to help the next generation advance themselves in the space industry while honoring Ron’s legacy.

“If they have the desire and passion to pursue this career, we want to help,” Jeff said.

Amber Rose Porteous, the president of the SHC, says that gifts like this are crucial to student growth and the advancement of space exploration.

“Space exploration is huge in furthering humanity‘s understanding of the natural world because it would not only allow us to explore what we do not know about space but also bring back information that will help us back on Earth. This scholarship is so important in encouraging students to further their education outside of the classroom in

order to help out with this huge cause once they are done with their degree,” said Porteous.

College of Engineering dean, Dr. Shankar Mahalingam, also recognized the value of such a gift.

“Ron Lancaster was a pioneer in the space industry, having worked on the early Atlas-Mercury and Gemini missions and the Saturn V rocket, testing the Lunar Rover, and redesigning the faulty O-ring that caused the Challenger disaster. We are truly honored and appreciative of the generosity of his wife, Esther, and his family, for establishing the Ronald Lee Lancaster Memorial Scholarship as a way of preserving Ron's legacy. This schol-

arship will make a lasting impact on engineering students pursuing studies pertaining to aerospace at The University of Alabama in Huntsville,” remarked Dr. Mahalingam.

Ron entered the burgeoning space industry right as President John F. Kennedy sought to land a man on the moon by 1970. Ron graduated from high school in 1955, and in some of his papers and oral histories, which are curated in the UAH Archives, Ron notes that his family didn’t have the money to send him to college.

However, his principal saw his potential and told him about the Indiana Institute of Technology, where he could take classes as he could afford them.

Esther remembers that it still wasn’t easy.

“We sacrificed a lot. He was halfway through school when we got married [in 1957], and we had a difficult time paying for school,” said Esther.

Ron graduated from college in 1960 with an aeronautical engineering degree.

When he found

By: Jenn Memolo / Photos courtesy of Ron Lancaster | UAH Archives

jobs scarce in Indiana, he traveled to Florida where he heard they needed engineers to work on the space program. In Cocoa Beach, Florida, he saw an ad for aerospace engineers and applied. He was hired after his first interview, and his wife and children moved from Indiana to Florida that year.

As Ron said in his oral history, “I was in hog heaven.”

While in Florida, Ron worked on several notable and important space missions, including the MercuryAtlas 6 launch, which held astronaut John Glenn.

“It was very exciting,” Esther noted.

In 1963, Ron and his family moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where they built a house. Ron worked for Boeing on the Saturn V rocket and the design and testing of the lunar rover that landed on the moon. The rover was only 17 months in construction from contract to launch from the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.

The design was innovative, its piano-wire tires and folding capability meant it could deploy from the lunar module and adjust for the one-sixth gravity and rough terrain on the moon. Ron recalls in his archived papers that work was rushed, with a great deal of travel, little sleep, and time away from his family. But, Esther reminds, he had a good team and he loved the work.

“If they have the desire and passion to pursue this career, we want to help”

Pictured L-R: Members of UAH Space Hardware Club; Dr. Shankar Mahalingam, UAH Dean, College of Engineering; Jeff Lancaster; Leslie Boyette; Hill Rowan, UAH Senior Development Officer; Esther Lancaster; Dr. Helen Lien, UAH Senior Development Officer.

Ron Lancaster (3rd from left) poses with his engineering team with the 1971 lunar rover.

Ron also participated in the astronaut training for the operation of the rover with Commander David Scott and pilot James Irwin. When Apollo 15 launched in July 1971, the rover almost didn’t work because the astronauts neglected to pull a specific pin that released the rover from the lunar module. Ron had to watch the event unfold on TV, knowing what the problem was but unable to do anything about it. Fortunately, the astronauts were able to solve the problem and use the rover as intended.

As the space program dwindled in the following years, Ron found a new job with Wyle Laboratories. After the 1986 Challenger disaster, in which the failure of two redundant O-ring seals caused the shuttle to fatally break apart, Ron and his team tested and redesigned the O ring to prevent future tragedies. He continued to work and travel with Wyle Laboratories until his retirement in 1999.

Esther remembers that Ron was proud of his role in the space program and he wanted that history saved.

“He wanted young people to know

how the program got started. That’s why he wanted to give his photos and papers to the UAH Archives.” She also shares that it was Ron’s love of the space program that inspired them to create the scholarship. “He worked even when he didn’t have to because he loved the work so much. We wanted to honor his name at UAH because of his work on the space program and for who he was,” Esther said.

And while he was very good at his job, Ron wasn’t just an engineer. As exacting and articulate as he was, Jeff says, he also was a giving person with a sense of humor. In addition to being a skilled carpenter, skills he used by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Ron enjoyed traveling and camping, and he was an active member of his church, where he served on mission trips to build churches in the U.S. and to help residents in Haiti.

Still, space was on his mind, even in his later years.

“Even when the disease [Alzheimer’s] took other things, the last things to go were his stories about working in the space program. So if we can make

it easier for someone else [to go to school] and work in space engineering, we want to do that,” Esther said.

Jeff’s daughter, Taylor Lancaster, is a UAH alumna who graduated with a degree from the College of Business. Taylor was a beneficiary of scholarship support, which made a difference in her ability to attend and graduate from college.

“During my time at UAH, I was placed into an environment that provided growth and development,” Taylor shares.

“I learned more about myself at UAH than anywhere else. As a scholarship recipient, I know firsthand how that support can impact someone’s life. Scholarships change a person’s path in life for the better and help guide and motivate them to reach their goals,” Taylor continued.

Knowing the value of that support,

Ron’s family chose to make a similar difference in the lives of UAH students through a scholarship. Ron’s generous spirit, Esther and Jeff say, also inspired their family to give back. Jeff adds that Ron made a positive difference for so many people, something that was highlighted when people spoke about Ron during his funeral.

“He touched people’s lives in many different ways,” Jeff said. “And what he gave to people … you just can’t measure it.” w

Ron Lancaster poses with a Lunar Rover Vehicle displayed at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Rocket City appears to be starting off 2023 on the same note that it ended on in 2022. The city, which has already been singled out as one of the best places to live, is also predicted to be in the top five of the country’s most prosperous cities in 2023.

This prediction comes from a study completed by MyElisting.com which ranked all of the country’s metros with a population of at least 200,000 people. The 227 qualifying areas were each ranked based on 6 different metrics determined as the most important in indicating a prosperous city by the website. Those metrics were:

• The 5-year percent change in population growth;

• The 5-year percent change in median household income;

• The 5-year percent change in the value of owner-occupied homes;

• The unemployment rate in 2022;

• The percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2021; and

• Population rate below the poverty line in 2021.

Each city was ranked with the above metrics, and then given a final ranking based on the combined

City Praise and Nonstop Growth Debate Among Huntsville

By: Noah

average of ranking position for each individual metric.

In the website’s rankings, Huntsville is slotted in as the fourth most prosperous city and is the only Alabama city to make the top 25. Mobile, with its population decline and 18% poverty rate, did make an appearance in the website’s rankings for 25 least prosperous cities for 2023.

According to the analysis, Huntsville had experienced a 9% population growth over the last five years, the median household income had increased 25% along with value of owner-occupied homes going up 20% over the same time period. The analysis also reported Huntsville having an incredibly low unemployment rate of only 2% in 2022 while 43% of its residents have at least one college degree. The city’s poverty rate was 10% in 2021.

However, when the news was announced, not all Huntsville residents agreed.

This story predictably brought out citizens who wished to celebrate the city’s good placement in another ranking, but the amount of people who thought the complete opposite was resounding.

A large portion of those engaging

with the news had negative things to say for a variety of reasons. Some people feel the city is getting too big, and way too fast.

Others thought that the city’s growth is primarily benefiting only a certain few people, and not lower income residents.

Major complaints from people who engaged with this new accolade, primarily in online discussions, stated rising costs of housing, lack of night-life activities, increase in wealth inequality and poverty, lack of proper infrastructure, and an influx of outof-state transplants as reasons for why Huntsville was, in fact, nowhere near a prosperous city.

This prompted a series of questions from the Huntsville Business Journal:

1) What are the purposes for city rankings, and what other rankings have Huntsville placed in around the country?

2) What are the reactions from city officials regarding not just that specific ranking but also the trend of high ranking placements in general?

3) What were the city leader’s reactions to the passionate discussion brought on by that story?

The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce makes a nswering the first question easy. It’s doubtful that every single internet ranking that involves cities and includes Huntsville is listed in their “Huntsville Metro Media Recognition,” but the list includes an impressive 68 entries.

The Huntsville Business Journal was able to speak with Lucia Cape, who serves as Senior VP of Economic Development at the Huntsville/ Madison County Chamber, about how these high profile rankings affect the city.

“Rankings are incredibly helpful as we share Huntsville's story with people in other parts of the country or world,” Cape explained.

“When we place high among our peer cities, it keeps Huntsville on the minds of decision makers and people looking for new opportunities. This can include better jobs, quality of life or entertainment options. Affordability is also important -- and several recent rankings have confirmed we are still very affordable compared to other cities. These rankings are helpful to our employers as they recruit talent. We want our companies to have

Photo courtesy of Huntsville / Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Growth Fuels Passionate Huntsville Residents

Noah Logan

compelling information as they talk with potential employees considering a move here,” Cape concluded.

Among the more recent recognitions, Huntsville has been named the 3rd best place to live (Studyfinds.org), the 2nd Best City for Career Opportunities (smartasset.com), the 5th Best Tech Town (CompTIA.org), and the 2022-2023 Best Place to Live (News & World Report), to name a few.

Yet still, initial reactions to Huntsville’s recent rise in national fame were still negative, regardless of the above rankings.

The Business Journal sat down with Huntsville’s Director of Urban and Economic Development Shane Davis to get a response to some of these notions.

When asked about the sentiment that Huntsville is growing too fast for its infrastructure to allow, Davis responded that while the city has seen an influx of people, Huntsville has and will continue to provide for its residents.

“I think if you go back in and look historically over the last 10 years, we've seen this population growth now for the last decade. And, certainly if you look at the curve the last two to three years, it's been a much more vertical spike. But you've always heard leader-

ship in Huntsville say we don't wanna be the biggest, we want to strive to be the best,” said Davis.

“It gives us a matrix for housing demand and how to plan for transportation infrastructure. But there's not a goal inside City Hall to grow to a certain population. From an infrastructure standpoint, we've got two capital plans in the city, and we saw this coming back in 2014. We created a new capital improvement plan that's solely dedicated to public infrastructure and heavily focused on roads,” Davis concluded.

Davis also made a point to note the amount of infrastructure changes and enhancements that the city has made over the past few years.

“If you look at what we've been doing in the last five years, we've completed $400 million worth of road projects. And then there's $800 million on the books that will be completed in the next five years. So we feel like we've got a good handle on transportation. In 2023, I see over a hundred million dollars of additional road construction,” said Davis.

Davis then turned toward the future, and really urged bregurged citizens to look at the long-term picture.

“If you look at a 10 year span, what we've done and what will be

done, you're looking at $1.2 billion worth of road projects done here locally. So, we want to stay focused on infrastructure, not just roads, but our parks, our greenways, our utilities to make sure that, there’s always been a focus before this growth,”said Davis.

Davis was also asked to respond to people who have expressed their view that the city’s growth is unfairly benefiting the wealthiest of Huntsville’s residents.

“I would challenge that a little bit, in that, we've created 41,000 jobs since 2014 and 18,000 of those jobs are still to be filled. The one thing that we focused on coming outta the recession is to not have two classes of citizens, if you will,” said Davis Davis noted that, out of the 41,000 jobs added, 22,000 paid over $50,000 per year as a base salary, which does not include benefits.

He also pointed to the fact that more than half of the jobs added could be attained with a GED or high school diploma. Davis stated that more than half of the 18,000 positions that still needed to be filled could be at-

tained with these credentials.

“It gives people that don’t have a PhD or four year bachelor's degree in an engineering field per se, or a medical field, or finance field, to go get a really good job with benefits. We have helped create these opportunities, and we want [our residents] to do that,” Davis concluded.

Davis concluded the interview by urging people to get out and seek these positions.

“There are people commuting into the city. Our daytime population from Monday through Friday increases by 130,000 people in this community. We have evidence that there are opportunities for people here. We have people commuting from 14 different counties, including some in Tennessee.

“So, there are opportunities here. People come here to grow families, and for the health benefits. That’s why we got the ranking we did. We have helped create these opportunities, and we want [our residents] to take them,” Shane concluded.

To view a full and comprehensive list of recent Huntsville accolades and media recognitions, please visit hsvchamber.org/category/accolades. w

Huntsville Concerts in the Park series

HudsonAlpha’s 15 Years of Economic Impact Come Together in Series of 2023 Community Events

In 2023, HudsonAlpha is celebrating 15 years of business, innovation, and community development in the Huntsville area, and will be inviting the public to join in on upcoming events.

The Institute’s grand opening took place on National DNA Day, April 25, 2008, which commemorates the discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 and the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003.

The Institute’s unique model as a nonprofit institute dedicated to developing and applying scientific advances to health, agriculture, education and commercialization, set by founders Jim Hudson and the late Lonnie McMillian, guided HudsonAlpha since it first opened its doors in 2008.

“Lonnie and I wanted to create something that had never been done before,” Hudson said. “We wanted educators talking to researchers, researchers talking to entrepreneurs, and everybody working together in one space.”

Over the past 15 years, Hudson Alpha's economic impact to the state of Alabama stands at $3.3 billion, alongside $900 million in generated ROI from mergers & acquisitions.

In addition, HudsonAlpha is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that isn’t just one organization, but a collection of over 65 including 11 non-profit research labs, more than 45 independent resident companies, two dedicated philanthropic organizations, a staff of educators, and an on-campus diagnostic clinic.

On the campus alone, Hud-

sonAlpha houses 50+ Biotech Companies.

Most importantly, around 38% of these biotech companies found on HudsonAlpha’s campus are minority led.

“At HudsonAlpha, we value diverse ideas, collaboration, and innovation. This is central to the mission of the Institute. We celebrate diversity and inclusion in the workplace across race, gender identity, age, ethnicity, disabilities, sexual orientation, and religion/ faith. A diverse workforce is crucial to enriching organizational performance,

By: Ashlyn Grey

“At HudsonAlpha, we value diverse ideas, collaboration, and innovation. This is central to the mission of the Institute. We celebrate diversity and inclusion in the workplace across race, gender identity, age, ethnicity, disabilities, sexual orientation, and religion/faith.”

enhancing scientific discovery, and building bridges to engage our diverse community,” shared Dr. Darrell Ezell, PhD, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for HudsonAlpha, in the recent Economic Development release.

“We not only value these important measures, but they are embedded in the foundation of the Institute and have led to the development of strong life science companies. HudsonAlpha has competitive advantages as a biotech destination in a diverse city as

“As one of the earliest employees hired by Jim and Lonnie, I’ve been fortunate to participate in HudsonAlpha’s phenomenal growth over the last 15 years. In keeping with our cofounder’s vision, HudsonAlpha is a thriving bioscience ecosystem where genomics-based research, entrepreneurship and educational outreach combine to improve the human condition around the globe,” said President of HudsonAlpha Dr. Neil Lamb, PhD.

/ Photos courtesy of HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology

“In keeping with our co-founder’s vision, HudsonAlpha is a thriving bioscience ecosystem where genomics-based research, entrepreneurship and educational outreach combine to improve the human condition around the globe,”

Huntsville, to grow a new company and collaborate,” Dr. Ezell continued.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion provides strategic leadership that supports the Institute’s efforts to better engage the diverse community around them, diversify their workforce, support programs within the Institute, and create a more welcoming and inclusive workplace that meets the needs of their employees and the diverse communities they serve.

“Diversity is critical to sound science. But not just the diversity of scientific study. We must ensure that our workforce accurately reflects our diverse communities, and that access to the scientific findings and advancements are available and accessible to all,” shared Shared Richard M. Myers, Chief Scientific Officer, President Emeritus and Faculty Investigator.

Alongside HudsonAlpha’s impressive resume as a biotech business incubator, the campus touts a variety of programs for community development and outreach. Programs include the LABS (Launching Aspiring Biotechnology Scientists) program for high school students, and the SURE-GM (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience in Genomic Medicine) program that focuses on college students.

Both programs are designed to increase STEM exposure and experience for underrepresented students.

To commemorate the anniversary, HudsonAlpha will host a variety of public activities including a year-long speaker series, an exhibit in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and the City of Huntsville, and other special events.

The Anniversary Series includes the following events::

• Genomics and Biotech Discoveries: February 28, Jackson Center, 6:30 p.m.

• HudsonAlpha U Nights: HudsonAlpha U Nights are a series of evening events for a public audience. These events will be hosted by Kelly East, MS, CGC, Vice President for Educational Outreach, and held on the HudsonAlpha campus. These events are sponsored by the James Cecil and Margaret Ashburn Foundation.

• Transformative Technologies:

How HudsonAlpha Associate Companies are Proving the Model Works: March 23, 5 p.m.

• The Bias Inside Us, A Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition: April 24 – May 20. The Bias Inside Us is a Smithsonian traveling exhibition supported by the Otto Bremer Trust, presented in collaboration with the City of Huntsville. The self-guided exhibit explores the social science, psychology, and consequences of implicit bias and offers an opportunity to learn how to challenge bias in the world. The exhibit will be on display at HudsonAlpha’s flagship building, 601 Genome Way.

• Tiny Genes, Big Effects: How HudsonAlpha uses Genomics to Feed the World: June 8, 2023, 5:30 p.m. Tiny Genes, Big Effects: How HudsonAlpha uses Genomics to Feed the World is a talk between Alex Harkess, PhD and Josh Clevenger, PhD on how genes they have discovered can be used to increase a plant’s productivity, tastiness, or hardiness, and ultimately help solve food scarcity. The event sponsors are Bob and Sandy Hovde.

The speaker series, sponsored by Avilution, will feature guests from a variety of disciplines, ranging from education to genomic medicine to biodiversity. Speakers include Jim Hudson and acclaimed geneticist Dr. Mary-Claire King..

Apart from events happening throughout the year, HudsonAlpha has also announced another way that the Huntsville/Madison County Community can get involved with life changing work.

The HudsonAlpha Foundation is excited to announce the Innovation Fund campaign to allow the community to financially support the Institute’s mission. Funds raised in this campaign will be put to immediate use supporting five key pillars of innovation – talent, technology, seeding, scaling, and training – to propel HudsonAlpha into the next 15 years and beyond.

To learn more about upcoming events, or how you can get involved with HudsonAlpha’s Innovation Fund, please visit www.hudsonalpha.org/anniversary for more details. w

Do Alabama Citizens Really Pay 3rd Highest Monthly Energy Bills?

New report shows that while total energy bills across Alabama are high, the rates we pay for that energy are very low

A recent report published by Tennessee Real Estate specialists, TNRealEstate.com, suggests that citizens in Alabama have the third highest energy bills in the country out of 50 states. Their data was collected by TECO Energy in Tampa, Florida and released by Statista in January 2023. For their ranking system, they added together the average monthly costs of both electricity and natural gas to get the total average a resident in each state pays for energy each month.

In this report Alabama does rank third at $222.78 per month after Hawaii ($399.49) and Con-

necticut ($242.49.) Georgia and Arizona rounded out the top five.

The Alabama average for the electricity portion ranked third as well while our natural gas average was ranked sixth. However, it is important to view these rankings in proper context.

While Alabama might pay a higher amount on average for their energy bills, do we actually pay more for the energy we use? That answer is a resounding no. In order to gain a better understanding of why Alabama ranks so high on this list, HBJ sat down with Huntsville Utilities Community Relations Director Joe Gehrdes.

During the interview, Gehrdes pointed out that while the average energy bill might be more costly

than other states, the rate that we pay for energy across the southeast, and especially in the TVA regions, are much lower than the rates paid by other states. He attributed the

By: Noah Logan / Photos courtesy of Memphis Light, Gas and Water

high average partly to the fact that Alabama residents use much more energy than other states with milder weather patterns.

“Our cooling season in the southeastern United States is the longest period,” Gehrdes explained. “And so what you're referring to there is a thing called energy burden. The rate of energy across the southeast, but especially in the TVA area, is very low. Our customers pay for the lowest rates in the country, but they use more. So it's that long cooling season is mostly at play.”

His claims are backed up the annual utility bill comparisons provided by energy company Memphis Light, Gas and Water. Of the 40 cities compared in their report, Huntsville paid the 12th cheapest rates when factor-

“And so what you're referring to there is a thing called energy burden. The rate of energy across the southeast, but especially in the TVA area, is very low. Our customers pay for the lowest rates in the country, but they use more. So it's that long cooling season is mostly at play.”

“Many, many people around the southeast, and particularly in Alabama, have heat pumps, and that's electric heat as opposed to natural gas. Heat pumps are wonderful and very efficient under certain conditions”

ing electricity, natural gas and water. Huntsville paid the 13th cheapest rate for electricity alone and 20th out of 40 for natural gas rates.

While the weather and demand for energy is the biggest factor driving up the average monthly bill, Gehrdes also pointed out other factors which included the methods used to heat homes during cold snaps and existing home infrastructure.

“Many, many people around the southeast, and particularly in Alabama, have heat pumps, and that's electric heat as opposed to natural gas. Heat pumps are wonderful and very efficient under certain conditions,” he continued. “But when they switch to heat in the winter months and the temperature gets below freezing for an extended period of time, they don't work well. So they switch to what your system will call auxiliary

or emergency heat. That is electric resistant heat. Think of it as a hair dryer or a space heater in your HVAC, and it uses from three to seven times more energy than your heat pump would use if it were operating efficiently. That's a huge cost to the consumer. And because it's weather driven, it's unavoidable. So this past winter, we did have some of that. We've had a cooler, consistently cooler winter season than we normally do.”

Another factor pointed out by Gehrdes and supported by the Department of Energy is low income burdens which have citizens living in very inefficient housing situations. While weather, home age, and home size can certainly have an impact on

We also have some programs that are aimed at our low income / income constrained customers where if they qualify, they get some improvements for free. And that's funded in part through our project share program and TVA’s home uplift program. So we're sensitive to high bills.”

energy consumption, low-income households in the southeast generally consume more energy and more electricity than most other regions, even when controlling for these factors due to inefficiency.

One way to address high energy burdens is by implementing cost-effective energy efficiency measures to help reduce consumption of electricity and other fuels. Efficiency is a low-cost resource across the country and can reduce household energy costs regardless of climate, heating fuel, or energy price factors in a state. The map provide by the Department of Energy presents analysis from a new study which found cost-effective efficiency improvements, such as

insulation and more efficient lighting and appliances, in low-income households can reduce electricity consumption by 13% to 31%. These measures reduce a household’s energy costs, and lower energy bills as a result.

Gehrdes explained that there are programs within Huntsville and Madison County to help increase efficiency with energy consumption.

“We have the most successful energy efficient new homes construction program. Which gets about 90% of all the new single family homes built in Madison County go through our program. And that's energy code compliant, very efficient residential construction. We also have some programs that are aimed at our low income / income constrained customers where if they qualify, they get some improvements for free. And that's funded in part through our project share program and TVA’s home uplift program. So we're sensitive to high bills.” w

Alabama Tops Nation in Economic Stress Report

A new report from HelpAdvisor. com, drawing from Census polling data taken in December, has Alabama as the state most affected by inflationrelated economic stress.

According to the report, 81% of adults in Alabama reported feeling “moderate to severe stress” caused by rising prices driven by inflation.

This makes Alabama the most affected state in the nation, where the national average is 74.7% of adults reporting moderate to severe stress.

Stress is well-known as a contributing factor to elevated premature mortality rates, with Alabama already suffering from some of the highest rates of premature death in the country.

Unfortunately, the economic nature of this pressure may compound those risks with additional factors.

“Accelerating the issue of inflation-related stress in Alabama is the

idea that people there may be sacrificing prescription medications, doctor's appointments, and other medical treatment as a response to increasing inflation,” the report’s author, Christian Morstell, said in a statement provided to the Huntsville Business Journal.

“The data in our study shows 22% of U.S. adults are countering inflation by delaying medical treatment and 31% are purchasing less produce and meat. In other words, an already vulnerable demographic is becoming even more at risk.”

“It wouldn't be a stretch to say that current inflation is trimming years off the lives of Alabama residents.”

20% of respondents reported taking on additional employment to try

to cope with rising prices, which also, naturally, leads to more stress. Morstell added that inflation was exacerbating issues already present in Alabama.

“Obviously if inflation comes down, so too should the stress associated with it. But inflation or not,

By: Marie Johnson

residents in Alabama remain in a high-risk category for stress due to high rates of poverty and low levels of education. Until these are remedied, Alabama will remain a state with increased levels of stress and the health outcomes associated with it,” said Morstell. w

Huntsville Ranks Among the Best Cities for Working Parents

The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber Foundation has renewed its partnership for 2023 with the national Best Place for Working Parents® program, offering real-time designations to businesses of all sizes whose family-friendly policies qualify through a first-of-its-kind, 3-minute online self-assessment.

The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber Foundation’s partnership offers local business leaders the opportunity to instantly determine whether their organization qualifies to earn a Best Place for Working Parents® designation, positioning them among the leading family-friendly businesses in the U.S.

In 2022, more than 90 local companies earned the designation. The Huntsville/Madison Chamber invites all to take the assessment again for 2023, as there is no cost to complete the survey.

While family-friendly policies have a direct impact on working parents, local and national research proves there is also a serious business case to being family-friendly:

• 83% of millennials would leave one job for another with stronger family-friendly support.

• Replacing an employee costs an employer six to nine months of that employee’s salary.

• Over 60% of working parents said childcare issues have caused them to miss work.

• Employers lose $13 billion annually due to childcare challenges faced by their workforce.

Lyndsay Ferguson, Executive Director of the Chamber Foundation, leads this effort for The Chamber.

“The Chamber Foundation is proud to partner in this program that provides best practices, research, and data to local employers who are looking for ways to best support their workforce. We share the belief that every child, family, and business deserve the opportunity to thrive. Attracting and retaining top talent, maintaining a thriving and productive culture, and building a sustainable workforce pipeline for the future is

critical to the success of our community,” Shared Ferguson.

Ferguson also explained why family-friendly business practices are curcial for the continued growth of Huntsville’s community.

“Childcare is really a two-generation issue – it not only affects our current workforce and their ability to work, but access to high quality child care also lays a critical foundation for children, the workforce of the future. Investing in this effort today is also an investment in our future. The Chamber Foundation exists to ensure the growth of Huntsville by supporting the education and workforce talents here. We aim to align resources that address employment opportunities and challenges in Huntsville/Madison County and improve the quality of life for all residents. As our community continues to grow, it has become increasingly apparent that access to quality child care is a critical component in our mission,” Ferguson continued.

National research reveals that there is a serious business case to being family friendly.

The Best Place for Working Parents™ partnered with SMU’s Center on Research and Evaluation (CORE) to survey 825 families and working parents in May 2021 to learn what will constitute the “new world of work” – and what employees and employers need to know in order to thrive in the post-

COVID environment.

“We believe there is a serious business case to being family friendly. That can look different for different businesses, but many don’t know where to start. This partnership allows companies to assess where they are today and to benchmark against companies in similar sizes and industries to identify ongoing opportunities to meet the unique needs of their workforce,” stated Ferguson.

Compared to their competitors, great workplaces win when it comes to revenue growth, employee retention, productivity, innovation, resilience, agility, customer service, and employee engagement.

Many employers surveyed their employees over the last year to find out how they could support their workforce during a particularly trying time for families and working parents. The need for childcare is not just a desired “perk” for today’s working parents – but has emerged as a necessity that impacts performance, attendance, and engagement at work.

The effects of childcare issues are not limited to a specific demographic or industry – the majority of our survey respondents indicated their work life has been negatively affected due to breakdowns in child care.

As business leaders consider options to support the 84% of working parents that need full time childcare today, it is helpful to understand specifically what parents are looking

By: Ashlyn Grey /

of Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau

for when it comes to care. The top priorities for the working parent respondents when choosing a childcare setting included:

• Safe and clean setting

• Quality of the Provider

• Close to Home

• Student Learning

In a post-COVID work world, many parents (and specifically women) are seeking childcare and family-friendly solutions that will allow them to reenter the workforce, while a vast majority of currently employed workers (80%) are echoing the need for intentional family-friendly policies in order to stay in their current jobs.

Child Care assistance, flexibility, and other family-friendly practices are increasingly becoming a strategic lever for employers of all sizes who are seeing the direct correlation between these policies and the strength, success, and sustainability of their workforce.

While childcare is one of the top needs that employees share, for getting back to work, supporting the fragile child care industry requires innovation of its own. PostCOVID recovery for childcare small business owners is daunting as they work to make up for lost revenue, increased PPE and sanitation costs, and unpredictable enrollment rates.

When replacing an employee costs a business 6 to 9 months of that employee’s salary, the ROI becomes clear. Family-friendly policies are not just good for working parents – they are beneficial for businesses who seek to maintain a competitive advantage by attracting, retaining, and developing a top-flight workforce both for today and for the future.

The Best Place for Working Parents® is a growing network of business leaders proving that family-friendly is business-friendly. Originating in Fort Worth, Texas, The Best Place for Working Parents® effort is expanding across the state and nationwide, supporting businesses with researchbacked strategies that benefit working parents and businesses’ bottom line. w

Photo courtesy

On The Spot to Open New State-of-the-Art Car Wash Facility

Getting your car cleaned has never been this sweet, or even this luxurious.

On Thursday, February 16, Huntsville’s On The Spot will host a grand opening for its first ever one of a kind facility, bringing a brand new business model to North Alabama.

The festivities start at 1:00pm and will include a ribbon cutting ceremony, a live band, catering, and giveaways. The new facility will be located at 6555 University Drive NW, Huntsville, AL.

On The Spot has invested $7 million into this new business model that features an assembly-style conveyor belt running over 220 feet in length.

At this location, On the Spot will boast the world’s longest full-service

car wash. It will also have a detail center equipped with two dry bays for tint and paint correction, three detailing bays, and one hand wash bay.

“Over the past two years we have toured domestically and internationally at any car wash claiming to be the best. I’m building this to be the Taj Mahal of car washes,” said owner Nathan Sharp.

This facility was a plan seven years in the making. Mr. Sharp saw a need in the market for a full-service car wash that provides a total clean for customers so they do not have to do any work themselves, while still upholding his philosophy that “no spot goes untouched.”

The result of this innovative business model is a state-of-the-art car wash with a strong focus on the customer experience.

For customers, there will be a 40ft wraparound bar that will serve snacks and beverages. There will also be a Spot-on self-serve station for all customers, featuring fair trade coffee, organic sodas, and snacks. Available

to members only will be complimentary beer and wine and a cigar lounge, where they can view the final stages of our assembly-line process.

To enhance the experience, the customer waiting areas will include a 700-gallon saltwater aquarium and over 20 large 4k televisions.

At this new location, On The Spot anticipates washing over 300 vehicles with hand-wash quality in a single day. Some of the processes the company has been doing by hand at other locations will be done more quickly by machine, but the quality will be the same since we will be using all-foam wash material.

“The foam wash equipment is a first-of-its-kind in the United States. It will allow us to wash cars at speed, around three to four minutes per car, while still providing a gentle touch experience,” said Sharp.

The wash time will be reduced from 45 minutes for a hand wash to 8-15 minutes for this full-service, partially automated experience. w

Torch Technologies Announced the Promotions of Sam Burkett to Senior Vice President and Brady Porter to Vice President Effective February 1, 2023

Burkett joined Torch in 2016 and manages the Torch Air Force Weapons Group headquartered in Shalimar, FL, with employee-owners in Albuquerque, NM, Dayton, OH, Boston, MA, Hampton, VA, Las Vegas, NV, Montgomery, AL, and San Antonio, TX.

He has provided over 35 years

of technical and management expertise in the field of aerospace and defense, with over 30 of those years at Eglin Air Force Base.

Burkett is currently President of the Gulf Coast NDIA and the Chairman of the Emerald Coast Military Affairs Council. He is a long-term member and has been the Chairman of the Economic Development Council’s Defense Support Initiative (DSI).

Burkett is also a current Board Member for Okaloosa-Walton Career Source, past-President of the Okaloosa/Walton United Way, and past-Vice President of the Gulf Coast Council Boy Scouts of America. Additionally, he served on the Board of Directors for the EDC, the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, Children In Crisis, and the Emerald Coast Military Affairs Council.

Burkett received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Statistics from the University of

Southern Mississippi, a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from The University of West Florida, a Master of Science in Management from Troy University, and post-graduate studies in Systems Engineering at the University of Florida.

“Mr. Burkett is a distinguished leader supporting a vast array of Air Force programs. He is a tremendous asset to the success of our customers, a leader of our employee-owners, and a servant to the Northwest Florida community. We know his experience and dedication to the mission will continue leading Torch forward,” said Torch President Brad Walker.

Porter joined Torch in 2004 and manages the Torch Advanced Concept Engineering (ACE) Group headquartered in Huntsville, AL with employee-owners in multiple locations across the United States. He has over 25 years of experience in the defense industry.

During his tenure at Torch and prior to joining the company, Mr. Porter served in a variety of progressively complex technical and leadership roles. Prior to his promotion, he served as deputy for the Advanced Concept Engineering (ACE) Group which supports a diverse set of customers by providing superior engineering, logistics, operations, test and evaluation, and environmental services and solutions.

The group consists of over 620 Torch employee-owners across four business units focused in the areas of Combat Systems, Strategic Systems, Technology Development, and Space & Joint Operations

“Over the years, Brady has been a dedicated employee-owner who has been an exceptional example of our Torch culture and our core values. He is well versed in the technical and business principles that continue to make Torch successful for our customer mission,

employee-owners, and communities,” said Walker.

As Vice President, Mr. Porter will provide senior leadership to the Torch Advanced Concept Engineering (ACE) Group while focusing additional efforts on Torch’s continued growth.

Mr. Porter earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is a graduate of the Leadership Greater Huntsville Management Academy (MA-8) and Flagship (L-32) programs.

Mr. Porter has volunteered for a number of community programs and currently serves as a board member for both Torch Helps and the Quatina M. Wolaver Foundation of Hope. He resides in Fayetteville, Tennessee with his wife Suzanne, son Cameron, and daughter Carolyn. w

Huntsville Filmmaker Sees Alabama’s Industry Potential

Award-winning Huntsville filmmaker Jurian Isabelle, creator of the movie God of Dreams, has announced the upcoming red carpet premiere of his latest film, Nine Divine. Sponsored by MidCity District, the premiere will be held on March 25 at 6:00 p.m. at Cinemark Bridge Street and XD, with a second showing at 8:00 p.m.

Nine Divine is a mind-bending emotional thrill ride told through the eyes of an introverted, artistic 15-year-old foster girl, Nine, who finds herself pulled into a mystical quest to find her little brother after he and other children suddenly disappear without a trace. This timeless story taps into themes of loss, abandonment, faith, fear, and the struggle to find one’s place in life.

“Lynyrd Skynyrd said it best - Alabama is home,” Isabelle said. “There’s something definitely very beautiful and magical about it and I think the world is beginning to catch on. A lot of people who have ambitions to do something in life feel they have to move somewhere for validation. I’ve never felt like that.”

Although much of the film was shot in Downtown Birmingham, Land Trust of North Alabama’s Three Caves at Monte Sano plays a significant role. According to Isabelle, he chose Huntsville for the location of the premiere because that’s where he got his start. “No matter how big the films get, I probably will always have a premiere here first – before festivals, before distribution, because this is where it all began.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.isabellebrothers. com/ninedivine. The VIP experience will include preferred seating, a limited edition Isabelle Studios T-Shirt and bag, Red Carpet 360/ photos, and a VIP panel with a Q&A film discussion. w

WeCaretlc to Open Expanded Healthcare Center in Huntsville

A new locally run healthcare center is set to open this spring at Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, providing cost-effective primary care for local businesses and their employees.

As a leader in implementing and managing onsite health centers around the country, WeCaretlc will manage the Health & Wellness Center of Huntsville and work with employers to provide quality, coordinated, patient-centric healthcare for their employees.

The center’s anchor tenant, Dynetics, is an information technology company with more than 3,500 employees headquartered in Huntsville.

“We’ve been proud to be part of the Huntsville community for six years, and we’re just getting started,” said Raegan Le Douaron, President and CEO of WeCare tlc. “We’re excited to see more growth and opportunities develop in the Huntsville market as we partner with more local employers to improve the health of their employees.”

The center will feature a 5,017 square-foot facility at the Bridge Street Town Centre at 365 The Bridge Street, Suite 106, with a capacity for 10 exam rooms.

Qualified and trusted professionals at the new center will provide primary healthcare services, including wellness check-ups, disease management, onsite prescription drug dispensaries, lab work, and other diagnostics. The expansion is slated for completion in late Spring 2023.

“We are on a mission to transform how healthcare is delivered,” Le Douaron said. “At our centers, we rely on excellent personal service as well as cutting edge data and information to provide outstanding care and better outcomes for

our patients.”

Employers interested in making cost-effective primary care accessible to their employees can learn more at wecaretlc.com. w

it fund a second dual-source cardiac CT scanner that will reduce patient wait times for diagnostic scans from two months to an anticipated two weeks.

Country Superstar Martina McBride to Headline 34th Annual Huntsville Classic

The Huntsville Hospital Foundation announced that Martina McBride will be headlining its 34th annual Huntsville Classic on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at The Orion Amphitheater.

The country music icon will perform a variety of her greatest hits at this year’s Huntsville Classic concert fundraiser. This is the second year that the event will take place at the new Orion Amphitheater, an 8,000-capacity venue in the heart of Huntsville’s MidCity District.

As a four-time CMA Award winner, McBride has sold more than 23 million records and boasts 20 Top 10 singles and six No. 1 hits. Fan favorites include, “Wild Angels,” “A Broken Wing,” “Anyway,” “Independence Day,” and “This One’s for the Girls.” McBride also has 14 GRAMMY nominations and three Academy of Country Music Awards to her name.

“We are thrilled to have Martina McBride as our headlining artist and to be back at the Orion,” said Bill Roark, 2023 Huntsville Classic co-chair. “We know this year’s Classic will be a terrific concert appealing to different generations in our community, all benefiting a meaningful cause.”

The event benefits Huntsville Hospital’s Heart Center through Huntsville Hospital Foundation. Proceeds will help the not-for-prof-

“This investment will truly be lifesaving for men and women right here in Madison County and from across our region,” said Hank Isenberg, 2023 Huntsville Classic co-chair. “The Heart Center team saved my life, and also my fellow co-chair Bill Roark. We believe in this cause and encourage everyone to buy a ticket or sponsor the 2023 Huntsville Classic to make this technology possible, ultimately saving more lives.”

Huntsville Hospital’s Heart Center and Heart Institute represents the largest and most experienced team of board-certified cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiac anesthesiologists in North Alabama and southern Tennessee and is recognized as one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals for superior clinical outcomes.

“We are extremely fortunate to have nationally ranked cardiovascular care so close to home,” said Huntsville Hospital Foundation President Sarah Savage-Jones. “By purchasing a concert ticket, you are helping ensure our local notfor-profit hospital can continue meeting needs and that heart patients can receive the essential care they need, when they need it.”

Tickets for the 34th annual Huntsville Classic go on sale February 10, 2023, via theorionhuntsville.com.

Tickets range from $75.50 to $29.50.

VIP concert seats and benefits are also available for event sponsors. To learn more about sponsor opportunities, contact HHF Director of Corporate Relations Cheryl Geiger at cheryl.geiger@hhsys.org.

Top sponsors of the 2023 Huntsville Classic include IronMountain Solutions, Robins & Morton and Torch Technologies. w

Kristina Hendrix Selected as UAH’s Vice President for Strategic Communications

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has selected Kristina Hendrix to fill the newly created position of Vice President for Strategic Communications.

UAH’s newest VP officially began her new role on Feb. 1. She reports directly to UAH President Charles L. Karr, and her focus will be on providing leadership for a comprehensive communications strategy for the University, as well as overseeing the management of the Office of Marketing and Communications.

“I’m very happy to welcome Kristina Hendrix to The University of Alabama in Huntsville. In this role, I am confident she will not only help UAH continue to grow, but also to meet the challenges and many opportunities that lie ahead for our institution,” said President Karr.

During her career, she has amassed nearly 20 years of communications experience. She is an award-winning public relations executive with extensive expertise in promoting aerospace, national security and advanced manufacturing hardware programs within the Department of Defense, NASA and private industry.

The new appointee comes to UAH from Dynetics, where she held the communications director position since 2016. Additional communication roles include stints with NASA, the Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center.

“My desire is for the Office of Marketing and Communications to be a known and trusted counselor to our stakeholders and to develop and implement effective communication strategies and projects across our campus,” Hendrix says. “UAH is a preeminent research institution, and it is vital that our communication strategy plays a key role in all facets of the University’s growth and future.”

Huntsville Fire & Rescue’s Mac McFarlen to Receive Distinguished Community Award

Huntsville Fire & Rescue Chief Howard “Mac” McFarlen is the latest recipient of the Career Fire Chief of the Year award from the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs (AAFC).

With 45 years of fire service experience, McFarlen has contributed significantly to public safety in the City of Huntsville, Madison County and State of Alabama. Known for his steady demeanor and commitment to keeping Huntsville safe, McFarlen exemplifies the finest in public safety leadership.

The AAFC, a fellowship of fire chiefs and senior chief officers from across the state, will formally recognize McFarlen during the group’s fall conference in Gulf Shores.

“I am extremely grateful for this award, and thank the AAFC for this honor,” he said. “I am also thankful for the brave men and women of Huntsville Fire & Rescue who I have the great privilege of leading each day. I look forward to continuing to serve with you and for the community as a whole.”

McFarlen was instrumental in reorganizing Huntsville Fire & Rescue’s Hazmat Team to become a fully functional, 24/7 special assignment unit with certified and specially trained personnel.

Since that time, he has further advanced the unit’s capabilities to become a special operations division and join the Alabama Mutual Aid System (AMAS). McFarlen went on to chair the AMAS Training Committee that oversaw the development and training of all AMAS teams statewide.

“Rarely does one encounter an individual with a passion for service and public safety that matches that of Chief McFarlen,” Mayor Battle said.

U.S. Space & Rocket Center Names

Robert La Branche VP of External Affairs

Robert La Branche has been named as Vice President of External Affairs at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC). His responsibilities include engaging with local, state, and federal leaders to build awareness of the Rocket Center and its programs and to build partnerships to support them.

Before assuming his new fulltime role, La Branche served as Special Assistant to the CEO in a part-time capacity.

“We are so excited to have Robert join the Rocket Center team full time,” said USSRC CEO and Executive Director Dr. Kimberly Robinson. “He has already proven to be a valuable asset in engaging government and industry leaders with our mission of education and inspiration.”

La Branche has served as an aerospace and defense consultant as the head of Real Strategies, LLC, which he founded in 2014. Among other clients, La Branche worked with the strategic communications team of the Space Launch System Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center from 2014 until late 2021.

He has also served as Executive Director of the Alabama Military Stability Foundation since April 2018, and he will remain on an interim basis as its volunteer executive director to assist with the transition to a new director.

“It is a high honor to have the privilege to take this leadership position at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, an icon for the State of Alabama and a beacon for STEM education,” La Branche said. “I am passionate about the Rocket Center’s mission and look forward to serving in this capacity.”

Huntsville’s Lori King-Taylor Selected to Serve on SACS COC Board of Trustees

Lori King-Taylor, Owner and CEO of Trinity Performance Solutions, has been elected to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS COC).

SACS COC is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices primarily among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and certain other international sites approved by the SACS COC Board of Trustees that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees.

“The SACS accreditation signifies quality programs, services and student support. In order to become accredited, an institution must comply with SACSCOC's Principles of Integrity, Comprehensive Standards, Core Requirements, and Federal Requirements, as well as with policies of the Commission on Colleges,” said King-Taylor.

SACS COC serves as the recognized regional accrediting body for institutions of higher education quality. As a Trustee, Ms. King-Taylor will represent approximately 800 institutions and be responsible for determining Commission policy, reviewing and making decisions regarding the accreditation of institutions, and conducting the initial review for any proposed dues changes or any modifications to the standards of the Commission.

“It is an honor to have been nominated and elected to serve the SACS Commission on Colleges in this capacity. Education has been a passion of mine my entire adult life and I am looking forward to serving the higher education community in this most important role,” said King-Taylor.