RSS Feed
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Johnson encourages region to capitalize on new opportunities
With the new ThyssenKrupp steel plant and the possibility of the Northrup Grumman-EADS manufacturing, officials in Southwest Alabama have a twoyear window to prepare, "to get together and take advantage of this unique, once-in-a lifetime opportunity." Johnson spoke April 9 to the semi-annual meeting of the Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission at Ezell's Fish Camp in Lavaca, Ala. Community leaders and elected officials from the ATRC's 10-member counties were on hand at the meeting. Johnson is a former member of the Birmingham City Council and a former executive director of the Blackbelt Action Commission. "The quality of life in rural Alabama, you can't beat it," he said. "They (international manufacturers) want safety. They want security. They want good schools…low cost of living, low taxes. You've got it. It's just a matter of capitalizing on that." The investment in Alabama by international manufacturers such as Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai and soon ThyssenKrupp have changed the perception of the state from the old negative stereotype of water hoses and dogs attacking civil rights activists in Birmingham in the 1960's. "This image that people have of Alabama has changed incrementally with each one of those manufacturing successes," he said. There is a concern that Southwest Alabama will have enough skilled workers for the upcoming TK plant. Johnson said Alabama workers had proven their worth at Mercedes, Honda and Hyundai. "Our Alabama workers… have manufactured those products to the quality those leading international manufacturers and their customers have come to expect," he said. This has led to expansion at these plants. "…We have folks lined up trying to get into Alabama to locate plants." People in Southwest Alabama are seeing the direct benefit of that, Johnson said. "We have to be careful where we try to locate plants to make sure we have the workforce. I know this is a lot of stress on communities. There are a lot of existing industries with competition for their workers." As many have said recently in sessions on workforce development, Johnson said it is a great challenge to have - the struggle to find enough workers for the jobs that will be coming in the next several years. "To see the changes that have come (to the Black Belt region) in such a short period of time, it's just tremendous. Yes, there are challenges, but they are good challenges. How to find the workforce? How to get the water and sewer you need because you've got a $3.7 billion plant about to come in?" "This region is on fire," said John Clyde Riggs, ATRC executive director, "and it's about time. It's on fire partly because of all of you - the efforts you have made individually in your counties and your cities - what we've done collectively as a region.
"If we hadn't worked as a region we would not have survived the last 38 years."
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
