Blackburn Institute

Travel Summary: Burt Jones Travel Experience to Huntsville

January 31, 2007

by Jesse Woods
2006-2007 Blackburn Fellow
A Sophomore from Harvest majoring in Chemical and Biological Sciences

To see photos from the trip, please click here.

On January 19, 2007, 30 student and alumni fellows of the Blackburn Institute journeyed to Huntsville as part of the Burt Jones Travel Experiences, and what an experience it was! The trip was intended to expose second/third year fellows to the particular challenges facing urban communities in Alabama. We were pleased to be joined by several first-year fellows and alumni fellows from the area as well. When not busy being engaged by panels of many of The Rocket City’s emerging leaders, the fellows had an opportunity to take note of what Huntsville was doing right and how they were setting an example for Alabama.

Photo from the Huntsville Travel ExperienceThe first activity in Huntsville was lunch at the National Space Science and Technology Center with a presentation by Ed Buckbee, author of The Real Space Cowboys. Mr. Buckbee spoke about his work with the men of America’s first space programs. He also explained how the fates of NASA and the city were intertwined during the early years of the space race. Following Mr. Buckbee’s presentation, our first panel was held on The Future of Space with distinguished panelists from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as well as Redstone Arsenal’s Army Aviation and Missile Command. The future of space flight was highlighted by a presentation on the Ares program- NASA’s vision to go back to the moon and beyond. The next panel, Huntsville’s Role in Advancing the Future of Space was again populated with some of Huntsville’s most distinguished leaders, including U.A. trustee, Joe Ritch. A major topic was American’s lack of engineering graduates and the need for more as our society becomes more technologically dependent. Fellows also heard mention of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process through which the US Army has chosen Huntsville to locate five-thousand white-collar jobs in the Army Acquisition Command. The panelists expressed their concerns of how Huntsville was going to cope with the massive influx of population; a theme mentioned many more times thought the trip.

The fellows’ next panel was on Economic Development in Huntsville Outside of Space, Defense, & Government Contracts. A theme all the panelists were passionate about was the city’s hospitality due to its relatively young age. The panelists also discussed the great diversification of businesses within Huntsville which had occurred in recent years as the city grew. The next panel was one of personal interest to many fellows, Life for Young Professionals in Huntsville: Career & Personal Opportunities. They discussed civic, professional, and personal opportunities from groups that mentor at-risk children to lively music venues in the downtown area. Later at the hotel, an invigorating late-night discussion ensued concerning how the panels seemed unwilling to discuss any short-fallings of the city. The fellows hoped to hear another side in the morning with a panel from the North Alabama African-American Chamber of Commerce (NAAACC).

Our first two panels on Saturday began with the NAAACC. The most pressing question was, “Why is a separate chamber of commerce needed for African-Americans?” The idea that there was a rivalry between the two chambers was quickly dismissed by the panel as one panelist was a member of both chambers of commerce. The NAAACC stated clearly that their mission was not to compete with the Madison County Chamber, but rather to provide additional support to black businesses in the area. Following that panel, we heard from Huntsville’s education community with the panel Challenges and Issues in Education: A Look into the Huntsville City and Madison County School Systems. Representatives from the Huntsville City school system discussed their attempts at better integrating their schools though bussing programs while leaders in the Madison County system presented their ‘growing pains’ and the difficulty of having such rapidly increasing enrollment with a lower tax-base.

For lunch, the Institute headed to the Alabama Constitution Hall Village where the first constitutional convention in Alabama was held in 1819. Following lunch was the final panel for the weekend, Managing the Speed of Change: Huntsville Community Strategic Planning. The Institute was joined by two state representatives and two officials from the city who specialize in planning. They expressed a want to see more collaboration on strategic planning while the officials from the city felt the competitiveness of landing new businesses made this noble pursuit impossible.

Clearly, Huntsville is on the right tract, but it remains to be seen whether it will be a city of great unity or one of disparity. Huntsville’s history is compelling, and its future bright, for as Dr. Werner Von Braun said “There was dancing here in the streets of Huntsville when our first satellite orbited the Earth. And, there was dancing again when the first Americans landed on the Moon. I’d like to ask you-don’t hang up your dancing slippers.”

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