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Six counties pool ideas to improve regional economy
by Jeff Amy, Mobile Register
November 18, 2003

Better worker training and a more regional focus were among the recommendations that emerged from Monday's economic summit.

The meeting, held at the Adam's Mark Hotel, was intended to produce ideas to improve the economy of southwest Alabama. It was organized by U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, who came into the meeting pushing regionalism for the six counties in his district.

"In order to stimulate this economy from a regional perspective, we're going to have to help each other," Bonner said.

In recent years, the number of jobs and available workers have fallen in Bonner's district, which includes Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia, Monroe and Washington counties, as well as parts of Clarke. While Baldwin has continued to grow, other counties have staggered under the loss of manufacturing jobs. About 400 people, including representative of large and small businesses and chambers of commerce, attended. They answered questions on development problems and priorities via electronic keypads distributed by the Public Forum Institute, the Washington nonprofit organization that helped arrange the meeting for Bonner.

Those attending the program pegged the top "roadblocks" to economic development in the area as:

• Need for a more skilled work force (chosen by 30 percent)

• Lack of community will to progress (chosen by 26 percent)

• Current state of the economy (chosen by 22 percent)

Of attendees, 37 percent said "excellent schools" are the first step to bring new business to the region. A skilled work force was named by 36 percent as the first step.

Several speakers, including Neal Wade, director of the Alabama Development Office, praised efforts to encourage multi-county cooperation. After a brief talk, Wade said that regional efforts don't have to be so rigid as to necessarily include the same cities and counties each time. "You don't force anything to happen," Wade said.

"Maybe we still fuss and fight, but we're moving in the right direction," said Thomas Tucker, director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of South Alabama.

Several regional economic development efforts are already active in the area.

The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce has worked in the past to recruit businesses to Baldwin and Washington counties as well as Mobile, and many of Washington County's largest businesses are members of the Mobile chamber. Envision Coastal Alabama, formerly Envision Mobile-Baldwin, has worked since 1997 to strengthen ties between Mobile and Baldwin counties, including promoting economic development. Mobile Mayor Mike Dow highlighted that effort in a brief speech during Monday's conference.

Other regional approaches include the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance and the recently created Clarke County Development Foundation. Both unite towns that had previously pursued separate economic development efforts.

A group called the Southwest Alabama Rural Economic Development Partnership, stretching from Washington County north to Greene County, has also worked to seek highway and other infrastructure improvements.

But there was still plenty of evidence Monday that people remain attuned to more local, instead of regional interests. Bayou La Batre leaders pleaded for help for the seafood industry, and south Baldwin delegates pushed others to put tourism development at the forefront of regional plans.

The larger group broke into four workshops to try to identify specific ways to strengthen the economy, then reported to the larger group, which identified top priorities. Among those:

• More aid from schools and colleges in training new entrepreneurs and attracting new businesses

• Regionalized work force development

• Apprenticeship programs for young technical workers

• Help existing businesses find new markets, incentives and other resources

• Increase the availability of business financing

Bonner has pledged that Monday's meeting will be the beginning of a sustained campaign of regional coordination, although the congressman, as of Monday, had no specific details on what the next effort would be.

In recent years, Alabama congressmen have been supporting, not leading, players in private-sector economic development. There have been exceptions. For example, Frank Boykin, who represented Mobile in Congress from 1935 to 1963, was a key player in recruiting chemical companies to the U.S. 43 corridor in northern Mobile and Washington counties.  

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