Alabama Young Farmers earned accolades during the Alabama Farmers Federation Farm & Land Conference Aug. 16 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Federation members from Autauga and Tallapoosa counties claimed victories in the Outstanding Young Farm Family (OYFF) and Excellence in Agriculture competitions, respectively, while a Final Four rose to the top in Discussion Meet.

Drew and Lauren Wendland were named the OYFF. They grow row crops, cattle and hay in Autaugaville, where they’re raising sons Mills, Smith and Rhett.

As the OYFF, the Wendlands will receive over $80,000 in prizes including $40,000 toward a new Ford truck compliments of Alfa Insurance; a John Deere 835M Gator sponsored by Alabama Ag Credit and Alabama Farm Credit; and a year’s lease on a John Deere tractor courtesy of John Deere, SunSouth and TriGreen.

First and second runners-up in the OYFF contest will receive prize packages from Kubota and Corteva Agriscience, respectively. Both families will be awarded $500 from perennial sponsors Alabama Ag Credit and Alabama Farm Credit.

Garrett and Robin Dixon of Lee County were named first runner-up. They raise row crops, plus children Chandler Jane and Cash, in Salem. They will receive use of a Kubota M series tractor courtesy of Kubota.

As second runner-up, Jacob and Misty Porter of Clay County will receive a custom chemical package from Corteva. The Porters are poultry and cattle farmers and have two children, Olen and Asher.

OYFF interviews in February were followed by on-farm judging in June. Families were judged on the growth and diversity of their operations, along with community involvement and Federation and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) leadership. OYFF competitors must receive over half their income from farming.

Excellence in Agriculture winners Josh and Bailey Williams of Tallapoosa County were judged on their application and presentation showcasing agriculture’s role in their lives. They also discussed solutions to major industry hurdles.

As the winner, the Williamses will receive a zero-turn lawn mower sponsored by Corteva Agriscience. Josh is a career technical education director, while Bailey is a speech language pathologist. They also raise cattle in Eclectic.

First runner-up was Caleb Beason of Franklin County, with Austin Blankenship of Lawrence County as second runner-up.

Twenty-five Young Farmers put their agricultural knowledge to the test during the Discussion Meet, which simulates a committee meeting where participants discuss solutions to agricultural issues. A Sweet 16 advancement round was new this year.

The Final Four are Zach Amason, Clay County; Emmanuel Bankston, Henry County; Drew Wear, Lawrence County; and Ben Castleberry, St. Clair County. They will compete for the title and a four-wheeler from First South Farm Credit during the Federation’s annual meeting in December.

All finalists received custom cedar chairs from The Best Adirondack Chair Co., courtesy of the Federation. Winners will represent Alabama during American Farm Bureau Federation national competitions in California in January.

Courtesy of ALFA Farmers

Every week on the Thursday before the game, Nick Saban gets in his “Final Word” on his radio show ‘Hey Coach’ with Eli Gold. Earlier in the year prior to the Tennessee game, he used the Final Word to ask the crowd to bring energy for the players and be loud enough to impact the game.

This week, with UT-Chattanooga in town and an 11 a.m. kickoff, coach Saban is aware that the crowd will not be as big or loud as it has been.

Nonetheless, Saban used his Final Word to mention the fact that it’s the last home game of the year as well as senior day, and that fans should be encouraged to show up and show out and continue the positive momentum that has been built this year.

https://twitter.com/UA_CTSN/status/1725551844460564829

“We can lose in this game, sometimes even if you win, if you don’t carry out the momentum. Our fans have contributed to that momentum in an unbelievable way this year. Maybe more than I can ever remember,” Saban stated.

“So to continue that, I think is something that is really important to our team being able to continue that momentum in the future.”

Entrepreneur and Vestavia Hills native Ted Alling has been elected to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. board of directors.

Claude B. Nielsen, chairman of Coca-Cola UNITED, said of Alling, “Ted has acquired a wealth of entrepreneurial expertise and extensive knowledge of the logistics industry, which will be very beneficial as Coca-Cola UNITED continues to grow and excel in customer service.”

Alling was selected because of his passion for creating economic opportunities in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a part of UNITED’s franchise territory and home of the world’s first Coca-Cola bottler.

Alling is the co-founder and former CEO of a $500 million startup, Access America, which merged with the United Parcel Service (UPS) subsidiary Coyote Logistics. Following that success, Alling and his fellow Access America founders helped to create Lamp Post Group, a venture capital firm and tech-focused incubator located in Chattanooga.

Lamp Post Group has invested $36 million into the local entrepreneurial ecosystem to date.

Alling further co-founded the venture capital firm Dynamo, which is focused on revolutionizing the logistics industry.

His other pursuits include a venture fund set up to draw businesses to Chattanooga and a preparatory school he opened with his wife for young men in the Chattanooga urban communities. He also served as the president of the Chattanooga Transportation Club, trustee of the Howard Fund, and board of directors of Pearl Ministries and the Tennessee Aquarium.

According to a release, Alling’s election to the board continues UNITED’s tradition of having representation on its board of directors from across the company’s geographic territory, with Chattanooga being the cornerstone given its historic significance in the Coca-Cola System and as a dynamic community with extraordinary Coca-Cola loyalty.

Since the end of the Great Recession, just 20 of the United States’ more than 3,000 counties have generated half of the country’s new businesses and the better part of its economic growth. Most of these 20 are home to tech-intensive industries that employ skilled labor. Think Silicon Valley in California.

Understanding this dynamic, several cities, most notably Chattanooga, Tenn., have attempted to attract tech startups by building their own municipal broadband network. Opelika has done this, sinking more than $40 million—an enormous financial commitment for a town with less than 30,000 people—into becoming Alabama’s first “Gig City.” Consumers aren’t biting. As of late 2016, the network, provided through Opelika Power Services (OPS), had only one customer for its gigabit service.

Despite low demand, the state legislature is considering four pieces of legislation (HB 375, SB151, SB192, and SB228) that would allow OPS to extend the network to include all of Lee County and perhaps beyond.

As a citizen of Lee County, I have some concerns about these proposed bills.

First, is Opelika’s network financially viable even within its existing boundaries? OPS shows a sizable loss on its publicly available financial statements. These financial documents, however, don’t provide enough detail about the telecom aspect of Opelika Power’s business, and the shifting of costs ($28 million in debt) onto its electric ratepayers, to provide a measured assessment of future viability. If policymakers determine the existing municipal system is unable to pay for itself going forward—a situation most municipal systems find themselves in—then proposals to increase its coverage area should be rejected.

Second, how much will it cost to provide new fiber lines to the rural areas of Lee County that have a lower population density than Opelika? Will Opelika’s captive electric and sewer ratepayers, who already subsidize the city’s money-losing telecommunications division, bear this additional burden and temporarily or perpetually subsidize the rural residents of the county, the city of Auburn, and perhaps even other areas as well? It seems so. This is not a sound decision.

Before considering this legislation, legislators need to answer these questions. They also should evaluate how other municipal systems have fared and use the lessons learned from those experiences to inform their efforts.

Internet service has substantial benefits, but it is costly to provide. The “success” stories out of Chattanooga, for example, often do not mention that an enormous subsidy, $111 million from federal grants (approximately $2,000 per subscriber), was required for that system to be financially viable. Other municipal broadband systems have not gone out of business. For example, the city council of Provo, Utah sold its $39 million fiber network to Google for $1. In Groton, Conn., the city’s residents are still paying for a $38 million network sold for $550,000. Four city officials in Bristol, Virginia, home to the latest failed government Internet system, are serving time in the penitentiary.

The spillover benefits of better paying jobs and economic growth are used to justify municipal broadband networks even though many city systems serve areas already covered by the private sector (an inherently anti-competitive act). But even when Google Fiber installs and manages a fiber network in a new city, economic growth is lackluster. In 2012, Kansas City was the first city in the nation to deploy a Google Fiber network (the company has since stopped fiber deployment) and the city’s GDP growth has still lagged behind the national average. Even Chattanooga has not outgrown its peers.

Super-high-speed internet is no panacea for economic woes. And, as we know in Opelika, it is costly. That’s why tech hub Seattle actually rejected building a government fiber network.

Until our leaders can tell us how OPS’s system will avoid the fate of other municipal networks, and until they answer questions about the OPS network’s current financial situation, changes to state law allowing any city to further bury their constituents in debt trying to compete with private telecommunications companies should be tabled. Otherwise, we’re just trying to catch lightening in a bottle.

Alan Seals is an associate professor and director of graduate studies at Auburn University’s Department of Economics.

HUNTSVILLE – A huge 1,252-acre property outside Huntsville is the newest “mega site” for the Tennessee Valley Authority and is ready to welcome new business to the state, officials from the City of Huntsville and Limestone County announced today.

The new mega site certification will help Huntsville compete internationally to bring large-scale industrial and manufacturing projects to the region. Status as a certified mega site makes the property significantly more appealing to companies because it shows that the area has already been properly studied, providing for a faster development period.

“The certification is our international calling card telling global manufacturers we are open for business and a prime place for industry and jobs,” said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. “This site should attract a high tech, high end company for worldwide customers.”

Governor Bentley also praised the new development for expanding Alabama’s economy.

“With this certification in hand, the Huntsville Mega Site is well positioned for a wide range of large-scale projects from major companies based around the world,” he said in a press release. “The Huntsville area has been a main driver of growth for the state, and this will make it even more attractive for new investment and well-paying jobs.”

To become a TVA-certified mega site, an area must have at least 1,000 acres, Interstate access, potential railroad access, and sufficient utility services. The site must also pass a number of due diligence studies to prove that any operations on the land would not damage the environmental, historical, or cultural nature of the area.

Huntsville is the eighth mega site for the TVA. Five of the seven existing sites have already landed major industrial projects with investments of over $5 billion. The mega site program was first established 12 years ago and has already helped create over 30,000 jobs throughout the region.

Mayor Battle expects that trend to continue with the new Huntsville mega site.

“You can move an industry in here, you can start working and you can expect 2,000 to 4,000 jobs. Each one of those jobs has a job multiplier and has 2.5 more jobs attached to it, so it’s a great thing for economic success of the area,” he said.

Huntsville leaders started the process of certifying the land in 2011 after the city lost the first U.S.-based Volkswagen plant to Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen passed on the Huntsville land because it had not been tested for soil contamination or a number of other potential issues. But now companies will have all the facts up front, thanks to the TVA certification.

While the new site will have the biggest impact on Huntsville, Bill Johnson, president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, believes the rest of the Tennessee Valley will benefit as well.

“The entire economy of the Tennessee Valley is a seamless web of communities that support and strengthen each other, so the creation of the Huntsville Mega Site is a victory for the entire Valley.”

By William J. Canary

Article I of Alabama’s 1901 Constitution guarantees certain unique rights to our citizens. In addition to mirroring constitutional guarantees in the U.S. Bill of Rights, Alabama’s governing document bestows the right to have civil disputes heard in a court of law, the right to avoid imprisonment because of outstanding debts, and even the right to freely navigate public streams and waters.

Missing among these, however, is one of the most important and fundamental rights for most of us – the right to work and provide for our families.

The Alabama Legislature is currently working to correct that oversight.

During a high-water mark of labor union activity more than 60 years ago, legislators in Montgomery noticed some disturbing trends. Non-union workers in certain plants, factories, and industries were being intimidated or pushed out by union members who wanted a “closed shop” workplace, and potential industrial prospects were reluctant to locate here in order to avoid the sometimes outrageous demands of organized labor.

To combat these threats to our economic development progress, in 1953 the Legislature passed a right-to-work statute.

But today, we are seeing history repeat itself as union activity is once again on the rise and threatening our ability to create jobs and opportunity. Just two months ago, the United Auto Workers were able to gain a foothold in organizing the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. Closer to home, workers at the Golden Dragon Copper facility in Wilcox County moved to join the United Steelworkers union by a razor-thin 75-74 vote.

As a result, it is time for Alabama to enshrine the right to work in our Constitution and send a loud message to economic developers and potential industrial prospects that we remain open for business.

The provisions of the amendment are simple: it further establishes Alabama as a right-to-work state with constitutional protections that prevent labor organizations from forcing employees to join. At the same time, the amendment prevents employers from denying union membership to workers who wish to join.

In some states, labor unions force non-union employees to pay a “fee” in lieu of membership dues because they, too, could potentially benefit from any collective bargaining negotiations with management. Alabama’s proposed constitutional amendment prohibits that practice.

The measure also prohibits labor unions from creating monopolies and preventing other organized labor groups from representing workers.

The Alabama House has passed the constitutional amendment and sent it to the Senate for consideration. If approved, the amendment will appear on the November 2016 General Election ballot for ratification.

Similar efforts on the federal level are progressing.

America’s labor laws have not been substantively reformed since 1947, but our nation’s economy and workforce have since changed significantly. For that reason, the federal Employee Rights Act seeks to pull American labor relations firmly into the 21st Century.

Because of its commonsense reforms, the Employee Rights Act commands strong cross-party appeal and enjoys high favorability, even in union households.

Currently, union members have to opt out of seeing their union dues used for political purposes, and they are often forced to give up certain workplace protections in the process. Far too often, union members see their dues being used to support the election of candidates who are on the opposite extreme of their own political leanings.

This federal proposal would make political spending purely optional and require unions to get positive consent from members before proceeding rather than requiring them to opt out.

It also guarantees secret ballot votes on any initial decision to join a union, which means employees can vote their consciences without fear of reprisal from union bosses.

Both of these fair, reasonable, and level-headed measures being considered by the Legislature and Congress are designed to ensure that union and non-union workers and businesses may peacefully coexist in a calm workplace environment, which will help grow new investments, new jobs, and new opportunities.

Because without jobs and the workers they require, the question of union or non-union quickly becomes moot.

William J. Canary is President and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama.

The United Auto Workers union won a small but important victory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last week, as skilled-trades workers at Volkswagen’s only U.S. factory voted 108-44 to grant the UAW the right to collectively bargain on their behalf.

VW contends the vote should not have been allowed because the plant’s full staff of 1,400 should not be impacted by the vote of just 162 of their colleagues. The German automaker plans to appeal to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“We believe that a union of only maintenance employees fractures our workforce and does not take into account the overwhelming community of interest shared between our maintenance and production employees,” Volkswagen said in a statement.

In February of 2014, the UAW’s attempts to unionize the full Chattanooga plant came up short by a vote of 712-626. The hotly contested vote was seen as a message that the South would not bend to the will of big labor bosses, who are often cited as the reason auto manufacturers abandoned Detroit and moved South in the first place.

The UAW has tried for years to unionize Alabama’s car manufacturing facilities, most notably the Mercedes-Benz plan in Vance. But with few notable exceptions, Alabama workers have rejected the unions’ overtures.

Alabama is a right to work state, meaning companies cannot require union membership as a condition of employment. However, if unionization of a particular manufacturer is successful, all workers would, by requirement of contract, be represented by the union. Conservatives are often quick to point out that this caveat strips the rights of workers who wish not to be a member of a union, and silences their voices.

Alabama’s status as a right to work state has been credited with being the most important variable in several large manufacturers deciding to bring jobs into the state, including Airbus, Austal USA and Remington.

“Over the last two decades, many businesses that were located in heavily unionized states have moved their operations to Alabama, choosing to locate their facilities in the right-to-work Alabama due to the ability to compete in the global marketplace,” said Business Council of Alabama President and CEO William J. Canary. “A union presence in Alabama would only serve to stifle job creation and economic opportunity. I continue to believe that free enterprise can best meet the needs of its employees by maintaining an open and direct relationship with them, without the interference of a third party.”

Earlier this year, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley’s efforts to thwart the unionization of the Golden Dragon Copper Tubing plant in Wilcox County failed by one vote.

Bentley said that the unionization of manufacturing plants in Alabama hurts the state’s ability to recruit companies and threatens to damage Alabama’s budding relationship with Asian manufacturers looking to locate in the U.S.

“(I)f I’m going to recruit companies — especially from the far east — if I’m going to recruit a new Hyundai plant, or any kind (of auto manufacturer)… if they know that if they come here they’re non-unionized and then ten years later their plant unionizes, they don’t like that, especially Asian companies do not like that,” he said. “They will not come to a non-right-to-work state. It does upset them… It does hurt in the recruitment of companies to come to Alabama and it does hurt me in creating jobs when a plant is non-unionized and suddenly it becomes a unionized plant.”

The Wilcox County plant employs approximately 150 people with salaries up to the low $40,000s in an area where the median household income is just over $24,000 per year. The plant is expected to grow to as many as 500 employees at full capacity, but it is unclear how the potential unionization of the plant could impact the growth trajectory going forward.

With the UAW and other unions now viewing Alabama as their next primary target in the South, economic developers are battening down the hatches for a fight over the future of the Yellowhammer State’s economy.

OPELIKA, Ala. — A Republican senator is proposing a bill that would allow Alabama cities to build out their own fiberoptic internet access, sparking a debate between municipal leaders who tout the economic development possibilities and some conservatives who view it as government encroachment on private enterprise.

Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Opelika) has proposed nixing current restrictions on municipalities, so those towns and cities can enter the business of providing internet services to their more rural citizens. Currently, cities are allowed to provide communications services only to individuals inside the city limits.

In 2013, the city of Opelika, population 28,635, issued bonds to fund the installation of fiberoptic cable through its Opelika Power Services (OPS).

OPS already provides electric, cable, phone, and internet services to Opelikans, but the proposed bill would allow them to extend their offerings outside the city limits.

Because Opelika’s city limits directly abut Auburn’s, there are currently several parts of the town that have access to OPS on one side of the street, but not on the other side.

In one of the more extreme examples, the main building at the local airport has access to OPS fiberoptic internet because it is in Opelika, but the hangar does not, because it is within the City of Auburn.

June Owens, the OPS manager of marketing and communications, told Yellowhammer Friday that the city had attempted to negotiate with the local private cable and internet companies to provide service to some of their more rural citizens, but the companies refused.

Opponents of the proposal to allow cities to operate such utilities outside their limits argue that the government should not be in business competing against the private sector.

Chattanooga, Tennessee has been the highest-profile example of a city installing and running its own fiberoptic internet service, which it calls ChattanoogaGig, because of the 1 gigabit per second speeds offered—200 times faster than the national average. Chattanooga received a $111 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to complete the project.

The federal government has taken an interest in making sure every American has access to high speed internet. According to a 2013 census report, 73.4 percent of American households and and 68.7 percent of those in Alabama — the majority who do not live in rural areas — already have access to high speed internet.

Ms. Owens said that high internet speeds have become integral to the city’s efforts to attract businesses to the area.

“When you’re trying to recruit industry, back in the day they wanted to know about your road infrastructure, how close you were to the main highway, what was your water system and phone service. Today they want to know what is your communications infrastructure system like.”

Several other Alabama cities are also investigating the possibility of installing their own communications systems, should the bill pass.

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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015