SPANISH FORT, Alabama – Former gubernatorial candidate and Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce board member Bradley Byrne has been making the rounds of city council meetings pitching an economic development luncheon for the Eastern Shore. Byrne made the pitch in Daphne and Spanish Fort last week and expected to do the same in Fairhope last night. The invitation-only event, scheduled for Nov. 16 at Five Rivers Delta Resource Center on Battleship Parkway, will allow the Chamber “to hear what is available to us out there and decide what we are going to target as far as business,” Byrne said.

Byrne reported that the Eastern Shore is home to a particularly well-educated population, with 42 percent of adult residents having baccalaureate degrees. “This is an ideal place for companies looking to staff the educated professional, but mainly what we have is retail, hotels and convention activity,” Byrnes said. “We need to figure out if we can recruit high-tech, aviation or financial firms and others.”

Byrne said the meeting would help clarify the Chamber’s Blueprint for a Better Tomorrow campaign, which lacks specifics on workforce and economic development. “It’s time for us to start setting specific goals,” he said.

Among the topics that could be discussed include whether Baldwin County or the Eastern Shore can expect business development and job creation ahead of a broader national economic recovery, what industries the Eastern Shore could attract other than retail or tourism, and if there are any properties along the Eastern Shore that would be an ideal location for large-scale corporate or industrial operations.

Robert Ingram, president of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, said he was helping to facilitate the meeting and gathering a group of panelists from various state agencies.

“The Eastern Shore is a unique place that has unique assets to a certain extent,” Ingram said. “I don’t want to get into specifics, but I’ll be offering my observations and discussing the potential for business development on the Eastern Shore.”

The BCEDA recently changed marketing strategies for its 3,000 acre “mega site” in north Baldwin County, unveiling a website for the site where they have been hoping to recruit a large-scale industrial operation.

“We’re approaching things differently and hope to see some success,” Ingram said. “It’s a great website and we’re adding to it every day. Once we can say ‘it worked,’ that is something that could be applied to other projects in the county.”