Survey to track program's impact

Nearly three years after the U.S. military started its relocation of nearly 4,700 employees to Huntsville and surrounding areas, local officials are beginning a survey this week to show what impact, if any, the program has had on the Shoals.

The Base Realignment and Closure program, in addition to the military jobs that are coming to Redstone Arsenal, promises an additional 4,700 spin-off jobs to Huntsville and other areas of north Alabama, including the Shoals.

The program, also known as BRAC, involves the Department of Defense's effort to streamline operations.

Local officials envisioned some of the new jobs would spill over into the Shoals through either new industry or new residents. They have been courting those contractors and residents who are being transferred to the region.

In 2007, the local BRAC committee sent 248 responses to people who inquired about relocating to the Shoals. Bob Nicholas, relocation director for the committee, said no one is certain how many have actually moved into the area.

"I can only go by what people are telling me. Officially, I don't know of anybody who has moved to the area," Nicholas said.

The United Shoals Committee, however, reported 19 property sales to relocating families who have bought nearly $2.8 million in property.

Officials will begin a mail survey to realtors this week to determine exactly how many people have moved to the Shoals from the closed bases from other parts of the country.

"We want to use that info to hopefully be able to generate more money to fund the (local) program," Nicholas said.

In 2008, Shoals donors pledged $37,500 to the program, a stark contrast to the $125,000 donated the year before.

The 2008 pledges came from the Colbert County Commission, Muscle Shoals, the Shoals area Board of Realtors and the Shoals Chamber of Commerce, according to BRAC documents.

"Last year, there was a little bit of a breakdown in communication," said Florence Mayor Bobby Irons. "We understood that they didn't need money."

In 2007, Florence donated $40,000 but didn't appropriate money for this year. The proposed 2009 fiscal budget includes a $15,000 appropriation to help market the area for BRAC.

"We don't have $40,000, but we do have some," Irons said.

Nicholas said the local BRAC committee plans to begin a pledge drive later this month, with plans to target area governments. Colbert and Lauderdale counties, however, already passed their budgets and other governments are in the final stages of approving their upcoming operating budgets.

Of the 1,350 military job positions offered to date in Huntsville, 1,285 have been filled, Nicholas said.

Only 10 percent of government employees who originally held those positions have transferred to north Alabama, with the remainder being filled by workers in Huntsville or by those recruited nationally.

That leaves nearly 3,400 military jobs to be filled along with an expected 4,700 local contractor jobs that support Redstone Arsenal.

"We haven't been able to find out who or what types of jobs are being hired," Nicholas said of the contractor jobs.

Just more than 600 job positions are expected to be filled in 2009. The deadline to complete the transition of military jobs is Sept. 15, 2011.

Another update meeting involving the BRAC project will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 12 at the North Hall of the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville.

"The uncertainty is we haven't seen much going on yet," Irons said. "The volume hasn't been enough yet for people to move out of Huntsville.

"There's potential - we just don't know how much."

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.