Flotte’s Notes on
An Unofficial Encyclopaedia
of Mobile & Baldwin Counties
Promoting local history, culture, outdoors,
businesses, attractions, food, people, and places
Please submit all comments, additions, and
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Sources:
Mobile Chamber of Commerce: Business View, AN ECONOMIC
OVERVIEW OF THE MOBILE BAY REGION
University of South Alabama Mitchell
College of Business Center for Real Estate Studies
Competitive Strategies Group
September 2005 Report
Mobile’s Economy
·
See Jeff Amy, PR 10/28/07, 1/13/08, 4/12/08
·
Through the
1980s, the central business district became a ghost town. In the 1990s, the
·
o
o One private firm ranked
·
The post-Katrina boom represented a
remarkable turnaround for
o
The population
of Mobile County surged by about 10,000 in the three months following Katrina,
according to Semoon Chang; the county, meanwhile,
gained some 4,700 new jobs. More than 2,200 new homes were built.
o Before Hurricane Katrina, rising
industrial vacancy rates were a serious concern. After Katrina, these
dropped to near zero.
o


·
o Global Insight, a private firm based near
o
·
Don Epley with the University
of South Alabama Center for Real Estate Studies
(CRES) computes the CRES indexes to
show the change in gross metropolitan product for
o
o CRES figures indicate that
o CRES projected that

·
·
·
Mobile County
will have the fastest growing economy over the next five years among all 363
American metropolitan areas as measured by gross metropolitan product (GMP),
growing 34.31 percent from 2007 through 2012 according to a forecast by Moody's
Economy.com which was published Forbes
Magazine. – PR 2/1/08
·
Moodyseconomy.com,
said
·
Forbes
Magazine ranked Mobile 118 of 150
communities as the best place for
business. Inc. Magazine ranked Mobile 44
of 90 cites as an ideal location
for business.
·
Southern Light,
LLC and Hargrove & Associates, Inc. returned
·
Mobile
·
Employment Base: Services - 27%; Wholesale & Retail
Trade - 27%; Government - 15%; Manufacturing - 12%; Construction & Mining -
8%; Transportation & Public Utilities - 6%; Finance, Insurance & Real
Estate - 4%.
·
The average wage
in
·
Local leaders
like Bay Haas, executive director of the Mobile Airport Authority, have
expressed worry over having a qualified work force for anticipated aerospace
jobs. Bender has reported that it must
often look outside the country to find qualified welders.
·
The rate
of unionization in
Mobile is higher than the southeast
- 14% in Mobile versus 5% in the
southeast according to the Competitive Strategies Group report.
·
Mobile Works Inc..
is a partnership of business, education, labor and
community leaders, providing businesses and people with training, leadership,
labor market information and employment programs. Since its inception in 2000,
Mobile Works has invested more than $19 million to fund job and educational
programs.
·
53% of







·
The Mobile Chamber of Commerce was the
first in the state, chartered by the Alabama Legislature in 1854.
o Mobile Chamber of
·
Envision Coastal Alabama is a
regional development organization started in 1998.
·
·
The Mobile
County Commission implemented a tobacco tax
with a portion used for economic
development purposes. This tax totals about $950,000
annually
·
The Small Business Administration has
announced it will be opening an office in
·
University of South Alabama Small
Business Development Center
·
The two
key public business parks are the Mobile Commerce Park,
which has seen limited growth over
its fifteen-year history, and USA’s Technology Park.
·
The Mobile
Innovation Center is the
community’s small business incubator
·
Low
cost of living
is an asset to
·
Come Back Home to Mobile is an
effort to attract young, educated Mobilians back to
·
Mobile Area Young Professionals Association
(MAYPA)
·
The City of Mobile Industrial Development Board (IDB)
is granted the power by the State Legislature to give tax exemptions to recruit
businesses to move to or expand operations in
o
o This requirement for board ownership of industrial property
ended with
o The 1992 act also states that educational taxes cannot be abated, and business must contribute to the
schools.
o In 1962, the city of
o The Mobile Industrial
Development Board is a 13-member commission appointed by the mayor of
o While a tremendous tool
for economic growth, critics charge that the IDB courts energy-intensive and
polluting industries, such as chemical plants, paper mills, and incinerators,
because the heads of the electricity and gas utilities hold positions on the
board. Since the board's creation, its
members have consisted exclusively of prominent businesspeople, including the
presidents of utility companies, banks, and the Chamber of Commerce. See here for environmental concerns
and the IDB. - Harbinger
·
·
The Gulf Opportunity
(GO)-ZONE Act of 2005 establishes
tax incentives and bond provisions to support rebuilding the areas of
Competitive Strategies Group September 2005 Report:
·
Strategies
for job creation placed greater emphasis
of retention of existing business instead
of diversification of industries from 1985 to1995,
when existing industries were closing
or reducing its work force considerably.
Mobile Chamber’s Partners for Growth
capital campaign has a 5 year budget
of $7 million of which $3.7 million
is allocated for existing businesses and
$2.6 million for new development
o The Chamber’s vice president
of economic development is quoted in
the May 19, 2003 Mobile Register as
saying, “The days of the hunter-gatherer
approach to economic development are gone.
While bringing in new business is
important, he said, the majority of
his time must be spent helping
existing companies prosper.”
·
The Mobile
County Commission contributes over $400,000
a year to different organizations for
economic development, including the Chamber,
the Business Information Center, the
Forestry Commission, Mobile United, Women’s
Business Assistance Center and others. The
County does not conduct an annual
audit of these organizations.
·
The
Chamber’s economic development capital campaign “Partners
for Growth” has a target goal of
1,100 new jobs per year or 5,500
over five years. This compares to
similar campaigns in Chattanooga, with a
goal of 20,000 jobs and Macon, GA
with 8,400 jobs.
·
In the
aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and
Rita, office and industrial space has
gone from 17% vacancy rates to near
zero. The challenge to the County
leadership will be to install sound economic
policies and structure that will sustain
this growth after a three-year period
when many of these leases will
expire.
·
“We
applaud the University’s investment into
cancer research and in a research and
technology park, but these two product
improvements initiatives will not necessarily
be a panacea to Mobile’s economic
success… Biotech is limited to a
select few cities: San Diego, Research
Triangle Park, NC, Boston and in
emerging cities such as Houston, Austin
and Baltimore. Florida will become more
predominant in biotech research and
commercial applications once the Scripps
facility comes on line. There is
limited growth opportunity for this to
be a significant cluster in Mobile”.
·
“Nearly
all of our survey respondents said
that the City of Mobile’s permitting
processes and customer service was a
hindrance to growth in the City. The
County of Mobile has fewer permitting
and regulatory restrictions than the City
and as a result, receives higher
marks for its business climate and
ease of doing business in the County.”
·
“High
Speed Internet access is in limited
areas geographically of the County.
Investment needs to be made to expand
high-speed access throughout Mobile County
if the County is to be successful in
attracting “Mobile Entrepreneurs”. Further,
Mobile should consider creating WI-FI
locations downtown, and in all public
buildings.”
·
“Many
of the economic development allies familiar
with Mobile commented that even though some
in the business and government leadership
within the community like to say that
there is a team approach for economic
development in Mobile, it’s hard to
see. In many instances, these allies
and consultants observed territorial boundaries,
run away egos, or weak leadership as
a result of no one defined lead
organization for economic development.”.
·
Jay
Garner, who wrote the study for CSG, was director of economic development for
the Mobile Chamber of Commerce during 1985-1994


·
Among
·
Business with headquarters in Mobile include: International Shipholding, Ball
Healthcare Services (nursing homes and assisted living facilities); BancTrust Financial Group; Big 10 Tire Stores; Integrity Media; The Mitchell
Company; Shoe Station; and Volkert &
Associates.
o
·
The heaviest
concentration of large firms in the
o Although the chemical industry remains a strong
player, the area has diversified its economy away from its traditional paper
and chemical industry core. During the last 15 years, the oil and gas, tourism, and
aerospace industries have expanded significantly.
Manufacturing
·
The Alabama
Industrial Directory for 1999-2000 includes 78 Mobile area manufacturing
firms with over 100 employees (compared to 156 in
o
23.1 percent of
·
·
Proximity to
port facilities makes the
o
Foreign
investment is also pronounced in
Lumber and Pulp
·
In the post-war period, the pulp and paper industry
became a major industry. Between the
1920s and the 1990s, Scott Paper Company and International Paper combined to
have one of the area's largest workforces. However, the industry declined in
the 1990, with International Paper closing its mill in 2000, and Kimberly-Clark
closing its pulp mill in 1999.
·
International Paper, started in
o IP closed the mill in
2000. Eight hundred workers lost some of the best-paying jobs available in the
o The Alabama State Port Authority purchased the
International Paper mill for $1.6 million in 2005.
·
Kimberly-Clark’s
o