Huntsville Chamber Hosts Governor Ivey’s 2022 Alabama Update

The Von Braun Center North Hall held a large group of almost a thousand attendees on Thursday as local residents gathered to hear Governor Kay Ivey’s 2022 Alabama Update, in which she discussed issues important to Huntsville. 

The Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce hosted the luncheon event in which the governor gave her annual address to local business and civic leaders. Major sponsors for the event included LSINC Corporation, Meta, the Port of Huntsville, Aerojet Rocketdyne, The Boeing Company, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and S³, Inc. 

Greg Brown, 2022 Board Chair of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber kicked off the event and Ronnie Chronister, Vice Chair of Government & Public Affairs for the Chamber provided the introduction. 

Chronister credited Governor Ivey with helping bring thousands of jobs to North Alabama and helping create the infrastructure required to support those jobs. 

He also expressed gratitude for the important road projects Ivey has brought to the state during her tenure, including the widening of I-565 which started in 2020. “I’ve mentioned this to Governor Ivey before: as someone who drives that road three or four times a week; thank you, thank you, thank you.” 

Governor Ivey took the stage with a cheerful greeting, noting the huge crowd in attendance at the event and expressing her appreciation for being able to “spend this exciting day with you.” 

Alluding to the rapid growth that has propelled Huntsville to become the largest city in the state, Ivey joked that it was surprising that she wasn’t in Huntsville to cut a ribbon or do a groundbreaking–”it just seems like the thing to do up here,” she quipped. 

Ivey noted the state’s history of innovation. “You all continue doing that today,” she said, crediting Huntsville’s success for that of the state. “I’m confident that if we continue to work together, we’ll propel Alabama and our nation forward.” 

“We’ve been together in Japan with officials from Mazda and Toyota, we’ve been fortunate to recruit businesses at the air shows in Paris and London, and we’ve joined together to tackle…improvements to our state’s infrastructure,” Ivey said, adding that she wasn’t referring to Washington D.C’s definition of infrastructure, but rather Alabama’s: “I mean roads and bridges.” 

Noting that the state’s roads and bridges have needed work for some time and recounting recent work done in both the Huntsville/Madison County area and the state as a whole, Ivey announced that the Huntsville area would soon be on the receiving end of further improvements. “Today, I am thrilled to announce not just one, but three major projects in the area,” Ivey said.

The first of these projects will be Highway 72’s “long-overdue expansion, which will start at Providence Main.” She stated that Senator Tom Butler has been a strong advocate for this project. The second project will be the further improvement of Interstate Highway 565: “We completed work on 565 that stopped at County Line Road. Today, I am announcing that we will continue the expansion to Wall Triana.” 

“If you travel Highway 53, you know about growing pains,” Ivey continued. “Today I’m here to tell you that more improvement is on the way. Highway 53 will be getting additional lanes from Taurus Drive to Harvest Road. Highway 72, 565, Highway 53–folks, that’s what Rebuild Alabama is all about.” 

Ivey noted the Madison County area’s continuing success during the pandemic as a driving force behind the state’s growth, stating that even as much of the country went dark during the pandemic, “the Huntsville region’s economy kept growing,” with impressive numbers of new projects and expansions to industry. 

Citing the area’s technology, bioscience, and military industries as reasons for much of this growth, Ivey stated that $2.7 billion in new capital investment created more than 1,500 new jobs. “This is absolutely a testament to the Huntsville area’s dynamic economy.” 

“If I was a gambling woman, I’d put my money on the prediction that Huntsville and Madison County’s growth is only going up from here.” 

Ivey also noted the thriving aerospace industry in North Alabama, referring to Huntsville as the perfect location for the Space Force. “We’re also looking forward to seeing the work of Marshall Space Flight Center, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance in Decatur as they blast off and reach new heights.” 

“When you have top companies like this, it just makes sense that Huntsville is also the home to the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering,” she said. 

Ivey stated that the state is continuing to invest in schools, adding that students’ education is the single most important issue in Alabama and across the nation. 

“Today, I am also proud to announce that I am signing the Education Trust Fund budget. Yet again, we are making a historic investment in our students’ education.” Ivey stated that alongside the addition of Pre-K classrooms, the hiring of math coaches, and increased funding to after school programs, “teachers are getting a well-deserved pay increase and we are rewarding experienced teachers.” 

“All of us in this room know that receiving a quality education opens up doors for the rest of one’s life,” she concluded. “I refuse to accept anything less.”

Photo credits: Dawn Suiter of the Huntsville Business Journal.