Stanton Chase, a top-ranked global leadership advisory and retained search firm, has recently expanded to Huntsville with a new office.

Mayor Battle helped welcome the firm at the 106 Jefferson hotel on July 29.

“Founded in 1990, Stanton Chase serves as a global leadership partner, recognized for exceptional results around the world. Our firm is dedicated to assisting our valued clients in making their most important decisions – planning, recruiting, assessing, and developing superior executive leadership talent,” stated a release from the firm.

Mayor Battle welcomed Stanton Chase leadership to Huntsville, and provided insights into Huntsville’s business ecosystem and ongoing development.

“Gather & Grow” was the theme of Stanton Chase’s regional, semi-annual State of the Firm meeting.

While this meeting was focused on Staton Chase’s offices in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia, Stanton Chase employees in attendance hailed from such far-flung locations as Turkey, Mexico, and Germany.

Mayor Battle spoke in a conversational manner to gathered representatives from the firm, as he chronicled Huntsville’s trajectory since he became mayor in 2008.

At the time of Battle’s initial election to office, the entire nation was deep in an economic recession. The economic strain was being felt locally as well.

Mayor Battle reported that, during the early years of his tenure, quite a number of Huntsville residents approached him to say that they felt like they had been left outside of Huntsville’s success story.

The challenge of underemployment was revealed with startling clarity when 13,000 applicants sought 400 available jobs at the Polaris manufacturing facility — which opened in Huntsville nearly a decade ago.

Battle and his team began actively recruiting companies that would bring middle-income jobs to Huntsville. These middle-income jobs allowed workers to advance from entry-level positions into higher paid, more specialized roles — without the need for a university diploma.

GE Aviation, Blue Origin, Mazda Toyota and Polaris all responded to these recruitment efforts. Battle said that these companies — among others — brought advanced manufacturing jobs to town and ensured that many more Huntsvillians have the opportunity to pursue financial stability.

Ultimately, said Battle, this push for advanced manufacturing jobs produced 18,000 middle-income positions.

The mayor told “Huntsville’s story” for roughly 20 minutes before fielding questions directly from Stanton Chase employees for the remaining half hour.

Affordable housing, quality of life, talent retention, and infrastructure were discussed during the Q & A session.

Questions about how to maintain affordable housing during a period of both inflation and growth have emerged frequently in recent local discourse.

“How do you define affordable housing? Today, when we start talking about affordable housing we’re talking about housing in the $250,000 to $300,000 range,” said Battle. “Back when I first came to Huntsville, if you had $250,000 or $300,000 to put on a house that was huge. You were not worried about affordability.”

While Huntsville residents have seen local home prices rise in recent years, Huntsville continues to maintain its low cost of living when compared with larger cities.

Battle explained that an FBI employee who works in Huntsville will have much more purchasing power in Huntsville than they would in Washington, D.C.

The city is also experimenting with more creative solutions to meet the need for affordable housing.

Battle described plans to build a mixed housing unit on Governors Drive, near Memorial Parkway. A third of this unit will be offered at market value, a third will be workforce housing, and the final third will be subsidized housing. The units designated as workforce housing will be earmarked for essential workers such as nurses, police officers, and school teachers.

The mayor knows that attracting and retaining families is critical to the future success of Huntsville. Battle related that 91% of the city’s children attend public, rather than private, schools. The Trash Pandas, the Orion Amphitheater, and craft breweries were named as local amenities that help to draw and retain talent to the area.

A Stanton Chase employee congratulated the mayor on Huntsville’s incredibly low unemployment rate and questioned him on “best practices” that other cities may wish to emulate in regards to employment.

Battle responded that there are three keys to Huntsville’s successful maintenance of low unemployment numbers. First, Battle said that Huntsville “keeps its head down” and focuses on the types of industries and positions that have traditionally brought the city success. Second, he said, city leaders work diligently to ensure that companies that relocate in Huntsville will bring jobs that are well suited to the city’s workforce. Finally, attracting companies that will be investing in the community from generation to generation is critical.

“The future looks very good. We plan on continuing to grow,” stated the mayor. “As they say of cities, ‘If you don’t grow, you die.’ We don’t want to grow exponentially, like Austin or Nashville. We want to grow in measured amounts. We’re growing by 5,000 to 7,000 people a year right now — a very workable number.”

Al Smith, Jr., Managing Director of Stanton Chase Huntsville, relocated to Huntsville five months ago to anchor the firm’s efforts here in town. Smith is joined in Huntsville by his wife, Amanda, and their five children.

Smith felt optimistic after the mayor’s visit.

“It was an honor to have Mayor Battle kick off our annual state of the firm meeting,” stated Smith. “He highlighted Huntsville’s impressive growth and generated a lot of excitement within our team, further fueling our enthusiasm for contributing to the city’s dynamic business environment. Our entire team was impressed with Mayor Battle’s knowledge, approachability, and the compelling vision he holds for Huntsville.”

Smith will be supported by a team of over 30 Stanton Chase employees in the southeastern United States. The firm anticipates that they will “bring on additional consultants, researchers, and associates to our Huntsville office over the next couple of years.”

Visit Stanton Chase online at www.stantonchase.com.