Cramer, Davis urge cooperation across valley at summit
By Lucy Carter, Editor & Publisher
Elk Valley Times
April 16, 2007

U.S. Reps. Lincoln Davis (TN-4) and Bud Cramer (AL-5) brought together 48 economic development leaders and elected officials from Tennessee and Alabama border counties last week for a summit to discuss regional economic efforts.

This is the second summit Davis and Cramer have held with the goal of spurring greater cooperation among counties in the Tennessee Valley. The first meeting was held in September 2006 in Fayetteville.

"As a result of the first meeting, we have introduced the partners and opened channels that were not there previously," Davis said following the summit, held in the Redstone/Athens room at the Huntsville International Airport. "We must continue to think and work beyond our respective borders on economic issues."

Both Davis and Cramer cited a major grant awarded to the region by the Department of Labor earlier this year as a great foundation to grow a stronger regional workforce and strengthen ties between our communities. The WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) Initiative is an effort to integrate economic and workforce development as ways to drive economic transformation in regional economies.

"We need to make sure we can strategize on projects we can pitch together," said Cramer, noting that the need for area counties to work together as a region is becoming more important as opportunities to gain major initiatives rise. "We’ve got to be ready and come to the table leading this charge.

"Our areas have a lot in common," he said. "I’m glad I’ve got a good colleague and friend to work together with … It hasn’t always been this way."

Both congressmen referred to area efforts related to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s actions, which are expected to draw thousands of jobs to the area, as well as the new Common Battlefield Airman Training (CBAT) that may be based at Arnold Center near Tullahoma. Implemented in three phases, a total of 14,410 airmen would be trained annually through CBAT.

"We’re all in this together," said Cramer. "You bring 10,000 jobs to our area, and the synergy created can be extensive – We’ve got to understand the challenges of this and be prepared to meet them."

"We’ve got the best of two worlds here, and we’ve got a lot to offer. We need to put the whole menu out there and make sure our counties in Tennessee and Alabama are together."

Among those traveling to Huntsville from Lincoln County were Peggy Bevels, county executive; Ron Mahal of the Fayetteville/Lincoln County Industrial Development Board; Nathan Ward, IDB economic development director; and Jerry Mansfield, executive director of South Central Tennessee Development District.