When the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama was courting Mercedes-Benz to Alabama in the early 1990s, many thought the state was in over its head. What did Alabama know about building cars? And not just cars, but one of the most recognized luxury cars in the world?
The truth is, Alabama didn’t know much about building cars. But what community and business leaders in this state did know, was that by aligning their resources and working as a team towards a shared vision, they could not just meet, but exceed expectations.
It’s been an interesting journey for me. I was on that team that came to Alabama in the early ‘90s. I worked with Alabama’s economic development team - economic developers, government officials, and workforce development entities such as AIDT - to make sure that Mercedes was able to do what others said couldn’t be done – create a world-class workforce here in Alabama. Then, at Mercedes, I was often asked to share the Mercedes experience with other companies considering a location in Alabama. Now, as president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, I have come full circle, positioning the state for future growth.
So what do we do?
We don’t need to re-invent the wheel. Rather, we need to build on our successes.
While the automotive sector has been good and continues to be good for Alabama, we need to look at diversifying our industry base.
Those headline-grabbing “mega-projects” with high investment dollars and job numbers are becoming a thing of the past. We need to recruit more mid-sized and smaller, innovative companies with potential for growth. We need to recruit companies who are a good fit for Alabama’s resources – including centers of excellence out of our universities.
As economic developers, we need to become intimately involved with our local industries, to help identify and solve problems before they become crises.
At Mercedes, it takes a team – a large team – to build quality vehicles. And it’s not just vehicle assembly, it’s engineers, human resource specialists and IT professionals.
Those of us charged with creating/saving jobs know that education is key. We need to build a workforce not only for the jobs we have today, but those we desire in the future.
We must align our educational systems. Every step of the workforce development pipeline must be aligned through thoughtful planning – from the pre-K initiatives for the youngest Alabamians to our universities. Re-training for our current and displaced workers is critical.
There are pockets of excellence throughout the state. Huntsville is still building rockets. North Alabama is gaining thousands of jobs through BRAC. Biotechnology is quietly growing out of our research universities. Mobile has landed several internationally significant projects. And yes, award-winning automobiles are being produced in three different plants.
For those of you about to enter the workforce, recognize that the learning process doesn’t stop with a diploma. That’s just the beginning.
At Mercedes, we didn’t stop when the new Alabama-made M-Class won its first award. We never stopped making improvements. As individuals, and a state, shouldn’t we do the same?
Bill Taylor is the President of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a private non-profit organization supported by Alabama’s business community that provides services to companies looking to locate in the state, encourages emerging business development and assists companies who want to improve their competitive edge. Prior to joining EDPA in July 2009, Bill was president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International.
