In early December, the Chamber held its 145th Annual Meeting luncheon. Hundreds of the area’s business leaders attended the sold-out event to hear Chamber leadership unveil its 2018 goals and tout 2017’s strategic gains.
We Dream Big
Launched in 2007, the Chamber’s Imagine a Greater Montgomery strategy is a multi-year visionary plan to push the city to reach its potential, support and aid it on its way there and make life better for everyone here. Since 2010, it’s hit some major milestones:
- 10,500 announced jobs
- New homes for the No. 1 high school in Alabama and the academies for career and technology
- 900+ young leaders engaged
- $2 BILLION+ invested in downtown’s transformation
- 10 YEARS of a nationally acclaimed Diversity Summit impacting thousands of community leaders
- $2.3 MILLION capital investment by new and expanding industry
- MGMix: First open internet exchange in Alabama
- 14,000 entrepreneurs and small businesses trained and mentored
- 15,000 JOBS and $1.8 BILLION annual economic impact projected at Maxwell AFB
- $1.4 MILLION being spent by visitors daily
THE CHAMBER’S LEADERS OUTLINED THE SUCCESSES OF ITS EFFORTS IN 2017 INCLUDING:
- Direct Air Service from Montgomery to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport starting in June of 2018.
- The launch of Montgomery’s Technology strategy (TechMGM). TechMGM has created technology workforce training in partnership with local educational institutions, leveraged the Air Force Information Technology and Cyber Power Conference to continue to strengthen the partnership between the business community and the Air Force and introduced major technology companies to the Montgomery Internet Exchange (MGMix).
- Community-wide support of the successful e ort to win the F-35 Lightning II mission for the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard, based at Dannelly Field.
- 1,056 announced jobs
- 30 new and expanded companies
- $204.9 million announced in investment
ADDRESSING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
Interim State Education Superintendent Ed Richardson was the Chamber’s 2017 Annual Meeting keynote speaker and explained the impact problems in our education system are having in the long-term. “We haven’t come to grips with the magnitude of this problem. Every year that we delay, 1,000 or more students exit our system and are under-served.”
