Hutchison: There isn't a single incentive in the state of Alabama that's available to a new company that isn't available to an existing company.

      Shaia: We're lucky, too, in that we have such a strong financial base. We have four major bank holding companies, which puts us with the largest population of bank holding companies other than New York in the United States. That's impressive, because from that you can be sure that your company -- those that are looking at the state and those here -- are always assured of solid financial funding when they need it. These banks do a very good job of working with these in-state companies.

      Site Selection:Are there areas in which you would want to see additional resources made available to help you reach your goals?

      Shaia: Your people are your greatest assets, so any time I would be looking for additional resources I would be looking for more sources of [labor force] support, either through additional work force development or training or in the education system. But that's the main priority.


      Emmett Meyer: That's right, and that's one of the reasons we came to this area. Aside from the geographic parameters we laid down, it's the next most important thing, not only for us but for our suppliers. Having the people that are trainable and have the skills is a main reason we came here.

      Site Selection: Do you consider Alabama to be competitive with other states in work force training and targeted incentives?

      Ed Castile: Research and develop ment [resources] are sometimes overlooked in our state. Speaking as someone trying to help the state grow economically, we have a good resource base for research and development, a good supply of engineering programs and research universities that put people out there that are needed by the variety of companies that locate here.

      Shaia: And with the education system here, you have a built-in capacity builder. The universities are here to grow the capacity with ongoing research initiatives. Ed is right -- sometimes that gets overlooked, but it won't in the future.

      Mike Bunney: There is a very large research park in Huntsville -- the largest in the country -- immediately adjacent to the University of Alabama-Huntsville, which turns out research and engineers of all sorts. A UA-H degree will get you a job anywhere in aerospace.

      Susan Matlock: Just the level of research dollars flowing through [Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham] would indicate the training of a lot of people.

      Hutchison: There are ways that incentives can be brought to bear on certain projects, but, as has been discussed in Alabama for a number of years, part of that could be taken care of through constitutional reform. There are some things built into the constitution that sometimes prevent us from doing some things that maybe other states can. We do from time to time technically adjust the legislation that is on the books for attracting industry to the state of Alabama.