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.
Mobile Chamber Announces Support for Annexation; Asks City Council to Allow Residents to Vote
The Mobile Chamber today announced its support of annexation to grow the City of Mobile and asked the members of the City Council to allow the residents in the annexation areas to vote to join the City of Mobile.
“Our future development is dependent on a strong, vibrant and expanding city,” said Mobile Chamber President and CEO Bradley Byrne. “We only need to look to Birmingham to know what our future holds if we don’t grow through annexation. Growing the city through annexation would benefit our entire region and solidify Mobile’s significance as the economic engine of southwest Alabama and the entire Gulf Coast region.”
The Chamber’s Board of Directors voted to formally adopt a resolution in support of annexation. The resolution cites that the city of Mobile’s population has been in decline, falling from the second-largest city in the state to now the fourth-largest. From 2010 to 2020, the city’s population decreased by 4.14% and is projected to continue decreasing; however, during the same time, the population increased by 13-14% in all four of the annexation scenarios and is projected to continue increasing.
Annexation would increase the city’s population to more than 200,000, the threshold of a “mid-sized” city, a classification that would give the city access to increased federal funding opportunities. For example, the city of Birmingham received $142 million in Covid relief funds, and the city of Mobile received $52 million. The primary difference was that Birmingham had a population of more than 200,000 and Mobile did not.
While each of the four proposed annexation areas brings Mobile’s overall population above the 200,000 threshold, Study Area A provides the most cushion with each of the other three study areas leaving Mobile under 200,000 in one to five years based on population trends.
The board resolution urged the members of the City Council to allow the residents in the proposed annexation areas to vote to join the City of Mobile.