ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — With a new governor and an ever-changing economic climate, Baldwin County business leaders and real estate developers are going to have to “think outside the box” so to speak and start strategizing with different counties and states to be successful in attracting new business ventures to Alabama.

This advice from Neal Wade, immediate past Director of the Alabama Development Office in Montgomery, was the topic at the Thursday morning breakfast meeting of the Baldwin County Association of Realtors in Robertsdale.

Wade, who was appointed by former Governor Bob Riley in 2002, served in this position for eight years and was praised by Riley for his work in stimulating Alabama’s economy. The ADO office specializes in Project Assistance, International Trade, Small Business Advocacy and provides an Industrial Directory for the state.

“Alabama has seen record numbers of announced new jobs, record amounts of investment in our economy, and a more positive image of Alabama presented to the world. Neal is simply the best,” said Riley in a Birmingham News article.

Now the Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the St. Joe Company in Watersound, Fl (Panama City area), Wade will be in charge of developing the Venture Crossings Enterprise Centre, the region’s largest commercial development, located adjacent to the newly opened Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport.

In talking to the room full of realtors, Wade said to be able to compete in the economic market, Baldwin County needs to have at least 1,000 acres of land available for a major project close to Interstate 65.

“In doing research on this, I have found you lose half the business prospects if your development is not on a four-lane road or interstate. You need to be accessible to lots of traffic and be visible,” Wade said.

Emphasizing the fact that Gov. Riley really encouraged new industry and gave lots of incentives to prospective companies during his term in office and now that he is no longer in office, those things are not as easily available and it’s a different climate now.

“There are not many incentives and you are going to have to think of different ways to define economic development. Of how to include tourism, trade and economic development together and have aligned leadership across the board with elected and non-elected leaders,” said Wade.

Figuring out how to work with county leadership to grow your business and making sure everyone is on the same page should be a top priority, Wade said, and playing on the famous quote by football coach Vince Lombardi, Wade said “winning is not everything in economic development…planning is everything.”

Wade gave an example of how Alabama worked for five years to win an EADS North America (supplier in defense, homeland security, aviation, helicopters and telecommunications) defense project and that careful planning reaped great rewards.

“Two years ago the Aerospace Alliance was formed between Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi and by these states working together with its leadership on the project, it was able to come together and we were prepared to play,” Wade said.

Cautioning the group, Wade said you need a product to play the game and Baldwin County needs to make sure they have a good product to compete in the game.

“The pressure is on us as the state doesn’t have what it had before and we need to come together with other counties to form an economic alliance. The northern part of the state is already doing this and it is working great for them. We need to do the same,” Wade said.

Confident that Alabama can compete and be successful, Wade said the county commission needs to form an economic authority and work to make this happen.

“Growing and creating jobs is an investment, not an expense and payback is in the future (10 to 20 years), not immediate. You will see revenue in the future as business increases,” Wade said.

In addition to offering various services to the Alabama business community, the ADO also partners with biotechnology (research), automotive industry (Mercedes, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai), Alabama communities, Aerospace (300 companies) and Forestry (850 manufacturing operations in the state).

Also a key player in attracting Alabama business and industry is the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama located in Birmingham. This private nonprofit group established in 1991 works with state, regional, corporate and local organizations to help the state attract and retain industry ensuring quality jobs for Alabamians, according to their website.

Instrumental in securing the Mercedes-Benz contract in 1993, EDPA was also a key player in recruiting Boeing, Honda and Hyundai plants in Alabama. Employing an industrial recruitment process for marketing and promoting Alabama as a business location and providing research information and proposals to companies and consultants that are searching for a site, the website said.

In other association business, Starke Irvine, governmental affairs chairman, updated the group on bills and amendments pertaining to real estate and banking and Randy McKinney gave an update on the last BP news.

Alabama was allotted $60 million from claims czar Kenneth Feinberg but has only received $24 million based on 2009-10 income. McKinney said all the money has been expended and there is no more money to give but said Tom Perrelli, U.S. Associate Attorney General, convinced Feinberg that his interpretation of the real estate eligibility was inaccurate.

“Congressman Jo Bonner (R, Ala) and Feinberg have been exchanging letters and Feinberg determined we would be eligible for more money so be careful about taking a final settlement and signing rights away just yet. You will be included in another loss payment when it comes along. We are still in the ballgame and will be compensated,” said McKinney.