City presents strategic economic-action plan developed with Bloomberg/Harvard team; priorities include housing, airport and IT assets

Economic development staff presented a strategic economic-action plan developed through a Bloomberg/Harvard program and a resident team that attended an intensive workshop at Harvard. Jeremy Reed (economic development) briefed the council on four priority focus areas: branding, quality of life, mobility and logistics, and technology and defense.

Reed said the plan identifies foundational barriers to growth that include housing gaps across income levels (a pronounced "missing middle" between lower-priced and higher-priced inventories), limitations at Montgomery Regional Airport (low enplanements and underused cargo capacity) and underexploited IT assets including a city-owned internet exchange. He cited airport figures presented in the briefing: Montgomery Regional Airport reported about 89,000 enplanements and 178,000 total passengers; by comparison, Huntsville and Birmingham reported substantially higher enplanements in the material Reed presented.

The plan recommends actions including local and regional branding, expanding convention-center and arena capacity as a catalyst project, improving airport cargo capability, leveraging research and IT assets with local universities and HBCUs, and organizing working groups and partnerships. Reed said the team will brief the county commission next week, has briefed the Chamber of Commerce and plans broader community engagement. He asked the council to help garner resources and participate in stakeholder groups to implement the plan.