Huntsville Named 'The New Federal City'

Government Executive magazine's August issue features a cover story on Huntsville entitled, "The New Federal City: Huntsville, Ala., is becoming the center of gravity for key agencies." The magazine, which gives an account of Huntsville's and Redstone Arsenal's growth, includes interviews with several families who have relocated here as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission's shift of nearly 5,000 federal jobs from the Washington area to Redstone. In the article, Ethan Hadley, the vice president of economic development with the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, calls the 2005 BRAC the "largest economic development announcement in Alabama history," with thousands of new, high-paying federal jobs coming to Huntsville. BRAC has resulted in a $500 million construction boom for new federal facilities, according to the article, and significant contractor expansion at Cummings Research Park is accompanying the new government activity. The BRAC transition is also putting stress on military organizations overwhelmed by expanding missions, according to the article. The Army Materiel Command is moving its entire headquarters from Fort Belvoir, Va., to Redstone, the magazine states, "just as its work force handles some of the most complex logistical operations in recent history - withdrawing an array of equipment from Iraq and deploying more to Afghanistan." Katherine Peters, the reporter who wrote the "New Federal City" article, visited Huntsville in June and talked with several members of incoming BRAC commands and other business leaders.

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