Kvach We are beyond excited to welcome our new contributing writer Dr. John Kvach to the Huntsville Business Journal. Kvach moved to Huntsville in 2008 after receiving his PhD in Southern History at the University of Tennessee. He taught at the University of Alabama in Huntsville as an Associate Professor for ten years before leaving.

Kvach moved to Huntsville for a job but he says that job eventually became less fulfilling with each passing day.

“The reason I’m here in Huntsville is because of my teaching job. But that job became less fulfilling each day. Even though I had tenure and had written two books, I wanted more of a challenge at the end of the day. And that’s what led to me finding the Singing River Trail.”

Kvach now serves as the Executive Director of the Singing River Trail. He is in charge of constructing a 220 mile greenway system that he calls a “highway for humans.” It is a pedestrian trail that will connect the eastern side of North Alabama all the way to Colbert and Lauderdale County.

Kvach says the Singing River Trail will benefit Huntsville and its residents in multiple ways.

“I think when most people think of the trails, they think of it mainly as a nice place to get outside and ride a bike or just have a nice walk and that is true. When we say health and wellness though, it means emotional, spiritual and mental wellness as well as just physical wellness,” he explained.

“On the other hand, a trail system like this is a big business draw,” he continued. “It provides a quality of life that will attract business to North Alabama and keep them here. Some of our bigger private partners including Google, Toyota, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Regions are partners with us because they realize how good it is for attracting a workforce and keeping them here.”

Dr. Kvach says he wants his writing within Huntsville Business Journal to be more accessible than his previous writing in the field of academia.

“I want to use my writing not only as a tool to inform and educate but also to entertain. I want to be able to use my natural personality which tends to be more fun and more engaging than the type of academic drab I was used to writing. The way I want to approach this column is to make it meaty and factual but also make it opinionated and fun at the same time.”

Kvach also hopes to incorporate the goals of his work with the Singing River Trail and apply those within his writing as well.

“My job as Director requires me to deal with a lot of different kinds of people. What I’ve learned in the 17 months I have been on the job is that I don’t really care what news channel you watch and I don’t care what party you voted for. What I do care about is the stuff that binds us together and not what divides us. What I hope I can do for the journal and for our readership is to help see North Alabama in a new context and be able to see to potential of investing in our community.”