We had an exciting start to the Mardi Gras season by hosting 60 of our state lawmakers for the Alabama Leadership Educational Summit right here in Mobile, AL on February 10-12th. The Alabama Leadership Educational Summit is organized and hosted by Coastal Alabama Partnership but is not possible to execute without the hard work and sponsorship of several outstanding economic development entities and partners. Click HERE to see the full list of this year’s event sponsors.
The purpose of the Educational Summit is to educate State Government leadership about water-borne commerce and catalog our extensive inventory of economic engines for the State of Alabama. What started as a one-time education event to educate state legislators has evolved into an ongoing effort to continually educate not only state lawmakers but to demonstrate to other statewide elected officials the role the Port plays in their local economies.
Our lawmakers kicked off the event on Thursday evening with a reception on Las Floriditas, sponsored by Regions Bank. The reception served as a warm welcome to the city of Mobile, as well as an opportunity to network with key regional leaders who are knowledgeable of the Port and the economic impacts of our Coastal Alabama area to the state of Alabama’s economy.
Lawmakers had a full day of events on Friday, starting with a breakfast at Dauphin’s that was graciously sponsored by Austal. Remarks were made by Rusty Murdaugh (Austal), David Rodgers (Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce), and Johnny Adams (Alabama Egg & Poultry Association). From there, lawmakers and tour guides loaded onto buses to tour the Alabama State Port Authorities facilities. Specifically, the tour stopped at the Automobile International Terminal, APM Terminals (container terminal), McDuffie Coal Terminal, and MTC Logistics (cold cargoes). Airbus hosted/sponsored lunch where our lawmakers were able to see Flightworks and the final assembly line for the A320 at the U.S. Manufacturing Facility.
The full day of tours was wrapped up with a water-borne based tour of the Port on the Perdido Queen, proudly sponsored by the Alabama State Port Authority and Page & Jones. Lawmakers, their spouses, sponsors, and regional key leaders joined one another at Fort Conde for an incredible closing reception sponsored by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. There, we closed out two days of educational tours, information, and networking with the very first parade of the 2022 Mardi Gras season, the Conde Cavaliers.
A sincere thank you is extended to our elected officials for taking the time to visit Mobile and learn about the extensive economic impacts the Port and surrounding organizations have on the overall Alabama state economy.
