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Community Foundation's annual meet draws state attention
Sparks spoke Oct. 18 to the annual meeting of the Clarke County Development Foundation. He praised the work of the foundation. "It's pretty obvious that we need to sit down and learn from you. That's what we are trying to do throughout rural Alabama. "…I want to talk about those million people who live in rural Alabama." The governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house and senate pro-tem all came from rural towns, he said. A native of Fort Payne, Sparks has served as agriculture commissioner since 2003 although he was appointed in 1999 as Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, where he ran the day-to-day operations of the department. He opposed the Central America Free Trade Movement (CAFTA). His grandmothers used to work in a sock factory. "When CAFTA was passed there were 8,500 jobs in that little town of Fort Payne, today, there are 3,500 jobs," Sparks said. "Those jobs are leaving. "I'm sick and tired of sending our jobs overseas. It's time that we build our communities back and make sure we can keep those jobs in rural Alabama." Sparks has helped create a Center for Rural Alabama, a Democrat alternative to Governor Bob Riley's Alabama Rural Action Commission. (Larry Lee, the director of the center, was also in attendance at the foundation meeting.) In response to criticism that there are two competing organizations, Sparks has said "I don't think we can do too much for rural Alabama. Sparks sponsored a "Committee of 100" meeting also held in the morning Oct. 18 in Montgomery, which was also attended by State Representative Thomas Jackson and Democrat Editor and Publisher Jim Cox. The group is an advisory council for Sparks' rural center. Through such meetings "…we want to deliver ideas," Sparks said. "We want to bring communities together. "…I believe very strongly in agriculture in the State of Alabama. I believe in consumer confidence (and) consumer protection. "…A lot of folks don't realize that agriculture is our number one industry in the State of Alabama," he said. "They don't realize that 24 percent of our jobs come from agriculture (including) 467,000 jobs. It is a $5 billion industry that puts over $40 million-a-year back into the economy. "As I traveled across Alabama, I kept seeing agriculture going away. In the 1950's and 60's in the State of Alabama, we had over 250,000 family farmers. Today, farmers can't make their total living off the farm. They have to have (another) job." Sparks wants to keep agriculture alive in Alabama. "I don't want people from other countries feeding us like they're putting gasoline in our automobiles. We've got to continue to be able to produce the food and fiber we have the luxury of eating. "…The more we can keep rural Alabama alive, the better off we are. Farmers have got to stay on the farm….We've got to build communities." The state agriculture department has also created a Center for Alternative Fuels. "Alternative fuels is the buzz word in this country today," he said. "…Every gallon of oil that we can produce in Alabama is one less gallon we bring out of that desert. It's that simple. This section of Alabama is sort of like the corn belt. Alabama's niche in alternate fuels is not going to be soybeans and corn. Two-thirds of our state's wood; it is going to cellulose; it is going to be algae. "In Alabama today, you can get 4,000 gallons of algae oil off a one-acre pound, when you can only get 40 gallons of soybean oil off a one acre of soybeans," Sparks said. "That's the technology that we've got to bring forward." There has been speculation concerning Sparks running against Jeff Sessions for the U.S. Senate in 2008 or for governor in 2010.
In other action from Thursday's Development Foundation meeting, four new foundation board members were selected: Roy Waite, Michelle Orwig, Mary English, and Leta Stephens.
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