Mayor Stimpson Delivers Opening Address at Aviation Forum 2013 in Hamburg, Germany

Dec 6th, 2013

Mayor Stimpson delivered the opening address on December 4, 2013, at the Aviation Forum 2013 in Hamburg, Germany. The audience of about 300 included top executives from Airbus and many of the aerospace industry's top supplier companies. A copy of his remarks is included below.


Mayor Sandy Stimpson
Speech to Aviation Forum 2013
Hamburg, Germany
December 4, 2013

Guten tag.

I know you have a full agenda today so relax - I will be brief.

It is my privilege to be here with you today to share a few words about my hometown, Mobile, Alabama.

Many of you may know Mobile as the place where Airbus will soon begin assembling A320 aircraft. It is an exciting project and a tremendous opportunity for our city.

Airbus broke ground on the $600 million project in April, just a short distance from our downtown.

The plant is on schedule to begin production in 2015, with first deliveries in 2016. Eventually it will employ more than 1,000 workers, and many more at supplier businesses expected to locate near the plant.

Airbus represents a game-changer for our community and, I imagine, it will have an impact on many of you here in this room.

The plant will establish a new aviation center of excellence in the Southeastern U.S.

It also will generate increased activity throughout the Airbus production network and its global supply chain.

Some of those suppliers are already setting up shop near the production site at the Brookley Aeroplex. Many more are actively looking at sites in Mobile. We hope you'll be the next to join us.

I'm here today - just a month since taking office as mayor - to bring you a simple message: Mobile is open for business.

The best way for you to meet Airbus' needs will be to establish a presence in Mobile. My pledge to you is that we will be a good partner. Your success is our success.

A global city

Airbus may be one of our newest corporate citizens, but in fact Mobile has a long history of foreign investment beginning with our founding by French explorers in 1702.

That may not seem like such a long time in Hamburg, but it's actually older than the United States itself.

Today, more than 400 international companies from 30 nations have active operations in Mobile, making us the most global city in Alabama.

More than 10,000 people in Mobile work for foreign-owned companies. That's about about 7 percent of our local work force - well above the state and national average of 4.8 percent.

In fact, in its history Mobile has flown under the flags of France, Spain and Great Britain.

And we've enjoyed particularly strong ties with German companies, from chemical manufacturers like Evonik Degussa and BASF to steel companies like ThyssenKrupp.

Our location on the Gulf Coast has long made us a center of international commerce.

The Port of Mobile ranks 12th in the nation in overall waterborne foreign trade cargo volume and handles more than 25 million tons of cargo annually.

Our Foreign Trade Zone enhances the competitiveness of companies engaged in international trade. Companies use the FTZ to reduce costs associated with duties and tariffs, and to streamline inbound supply chains.

My experience

We may come from different places, but I want you to know that when it comes to business, we speak the same language.

Let me share a little of my own background in business, and what I am doing as mayor to improve our business climate.

I spent 45 years in the lumber manufacturing business. My father gave me my first job - sweeping floors in the sawmill - when I was about 13.

I went on to become the chief financial officer and executive vice president, running the company with my brother and two of my cousins.

We grew the company from a small sawmill in Mobile to the 12th largest sawmill operator in the United States. We recently sold to a Canadian company which is the fourth largest sawmill operator in North America.

It was during the last six years that we experienced our growth, and that coincided with one of the most difficult economic downturns in our lifetime.

So I'm very familiar with the challenges you have competing in a tough environment.

I know first-hand the challenges of today's business world, from regulatory and tax issues to workforce training as well as safety and environmental concerns.

I wasn't looking for a job when I decided to run for mayor. I saw an opportunity for our city to become something greater - some have called it a magic moment for Mobile.

Over its long history, Mobile has always been known as a good city. It is now our opportunity to move from good to great.

Our mission is clear: We want to make Mobile the safest, most business and family friendly city in America by 2020.

Economic development - which is what brings me here today - is just one of several critical components in that vision.

We are working hard to streamline government, making it easier for both our new and existing businesses to thrive.

I also know first hand what it takes to hire, train and keep good employees.

I can tell you that we have some of the hardest workers anywhere in the world - as Airbus can attest - and the State of Alabama's workforce development program is truly world-class.

Closing

We invite you to learn more about our community - or even better, to come and visit us yourselves.

I would like to close by recognizing the members of our economic development team who are here with us today. Will our Mobile delegation - as well as Bob Smith from the Alabama Department of Commerce - please stand.

I, along with the other members of our team, will be available to answer any of your questions here at the conference or at any point in the future.

Please come to Mobile and let us show you what the true meaning of Southern hospitality is all about. Thank for letting me be with you.