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About the Mobile Chamber

The Mobile Chamber is a private business organization with more than 1,700 members and the economic developer for the City of Mobile and Mobile County. The Mobile Chamber’s focus is to provide members with networking, marketing and professional development opportunities, expand jobs in the area, develop the local workforce, advocate legislative priorities and offer resources to help small businesses grow. Additional information is on the Chamber’s website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Air Show Opens – Team Mobile Scatters

So much for a group photo. This morning everyone just scattered to various pre-set appointments, cold calls and interviews. It wasn’t quite how I expected the show to begin, but throughout the day, different members of Team Mobile found themselves reconnecting and sharing details from appointments at the Alabama Pavilion at the show.

 

Highlights included:

 

  • A group of Team Mobile members met with company officials from Hutchinson. You might remember two years ago the company announced it would open an office in Mobile, and I was pleased to know the facility has recently opened with five full-time employees. If you’re interested, here’s some background on the company from their announcement in June 2015: http://www.madeinalabama.com/2015/    06/hutchinson-picks-alabama-for-aerospace/.

  • Troy Wayman, vice president of economic development for the Mobile Area Chamber hosted a meeting of Business France executives. This trade organization is planning on bringing a group to Mobile in December to study the area. We were selected based on continued robust interest by aerospace companies and suppliers about Mobile. Stay tuned for more details on this in the near future.

 

  • SkyWin is a Belgian association of aerospace companies the Chamber first met with last year through Alabama Senator Bill Hightower, and has continued to build a friendship. The key is to figure out how Mobile can support SkyWin’s efforts, most especially as it related to innovation.

  • Another appointment was with AKKA (pictured above with members of the Mobile delegation), one of the more recent announcements at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. As one of only three sites in the U.S., and one of two in Alabama, AKKA does work here in the mobility services sector.

 

  • Finally, some fun photos and factoids about the Paris Air Show. If you’re an aviation geek like me, then I would absolutely be sure to spend a little time on the #PAS17 website: https://www.siae.fr/en/. You can read about the latest contracts signed, watch flights of some incredible aircraft and check out exclusive “behind-the-curtain” details about the show. The photos below I shot as I walked around today in an area where corporate chalets are located, and these companies can showcase dozens of different types of aircraft. Sizes range from military-grade small drones to the jumbo Airbus A380. It’s really just a sight to behold in person.

Security, as you can imagine was thick. It took us nearly two hours to get from the train station to the Alabama pavilion.

This is an Airbus A350-1000. It’s the first time I’ve seen this model A350 fly.

 

 

 

An Airbus 400M – military plane. Fun to watch the tricks this work horse can do.

 

See the plane that says ANA on the tail? It’s Japan’s first commercial aircraft plane since 1962, and it’s made by Mitsubishi.

Crowds were impressive this morning at the air show. Somewhere in the throngs of people in this photo is French President Emmanuel Macron, who landed at the show in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane.