Imagining Huntsville’s Future: The City of the Stars

A claim, put forward by Yahoo Finance in April and further analyzed on AL.com last month, suggested that the average price of a home in Huntsville could reach a million dollars by 2030.  Seems a bit steep, doesn’t it?  And yet, this future may not be as outlandish as it appears at first glance. Gabrielle […]

Alabama ranks 45th in labor productivity among states

With numerous economic experts predicting that the U.S. is headed toward recession, one of the many concerning signals is a sharp decline in labor productivity. After more than a decade of below-average productivity growth, the COVID-19 pandemic raised the prospect of a productivity boom. Many low-productivity jobs were eliminated early in the pandemic, while major infrastructure investments and the accelerated adoption of […]

Real Estate Update: High Inflation Hits Market

The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors’ (HAAR) Economic Report for Q1 2022 illustrates the rapid inflation that has hit all aspects of American economic life. The rate of inflation hit 8% in March, a four-fold increase since that month the previous year.  With the 8% inflation rate far outstripping the approximately 2% increase in median […]

Mayor Battle outlines new goals and development for Huntsville’s BIG Picture plan

The genesis of Huntsville’s master plan came during Mayor Tommy Battle’s second term in 2014 when the city was the third largest in Alabama. In 2018, the mayor’s office unveiled The BIG Picture master plan at a time when the city had grown into the state’s second largest. Four years later, with Huntsville now the […]

Solid Ground Mental Wellness workshops open the conversation for local businesses

Mental health conditions have long been perceived as something that developed outside the workplace. The past couple of years, however, have made it clear to many that workplaces directly impact employee health in every way–not just spreading infection, but also increasing the potential for anxiety, depression, and other disorders.  Rachel Sullivan of Solid Ground Counseling, […]

Mayor Battle announces closure of TIF

A financial tool used to provide millions of dollars toward school improvements and job creation will retire in August, two years ahead of projection and nine years before its required closing. On Wednesday, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle announced that the City of Huntsville will soon make its last bond payment to close a tax increment […]

Progress Financial Corporation declares special dividend

HUNTSVILLE, AL – At its July meeting, the board of directors of Progress Financial Corporation, the parent company of Progress Bank, approved a special cash dividend of $0.16 per share.  The dividend will be payable on July 27, 2022, for shareholders of record as of July 8, 2022.   “We are proud of everything Progress Bank […]

Huntsville sees wage increase while Alabama lags behind

On the surface, the economy of the last two years has been extremely favorable to workers. After spiking to nearly 15% early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate today sits around 3.6%. Despite employers’ urgency to hire, labor force participation has been slower to recover, and the “Great Resignation” has workers quitting at historic […]

Should You Buy or Start From Scratch? A Guide For Prospective Business Owners

The past couple of years have changed the local business landscape, with many small business owners shuttering their businesses for various reasons. It goes without saying that running a small business is not a job for the faint of heart given the long hours, challenges requiring a large toolbox of business skills, and unexpected expenses. […]

Real Estate Update: Housing Inventory Doubles for Madison County

The Huntsville Area Association of Realtors has released real estate statistics for the month of June. In tandem with Realtor.com’s recent survey of the national market, these latest reports confirm that, with the pandemic conditions mitigated and new sellers entering the market, the inventory of single-family homes listed for sale in Madison County has more […]