Competitiveness, space exploration, energy innovation and BRAC highlight event

On May 28-29, U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (D-AL) will be convening in Huntsville a top array of national leaders in Huntsville, including Senators Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Bob Corker (R-TN), other members of Congress including Corridor founding Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN) and several of the top U.S. Army officials most important to the national security investments in North Alabama.

Complete information about the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Technology Summit can be found online at www.tennvalleycorridor.org. Anyone interested in the future economic development of the region is encouraged to register and attend.

The U.S. Army's highest-ranking officer and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, four-star general and U.S. Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr. will bring keynote remarks to this year's TVC Summit.

"We are very excited and fortunate to have Gen. Casey joining us in Huntsville for this national event," said Cramer. "There are so many exciting opportunities related to BRAC and the transformations taking place within the U.S. Army that we in North Alabama have the chance to seize and maximize for the benefit of our entire region. Nobody knows these opportunities better than the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and we look forward to hearing more about this from Gen. Casey later this month."

Thanks to the latest round of the Base Realignment and Closure process in Huntsville, the Tennessee Valley region expects to gain at least 4,700 military jobs by the year 2011, and a projected 10,000 other related high-paying jobs within the same timeframe.

Other top U.S. Army officials scheduled to speak at the event include: Maj. Gen. Chris T. Anzalone, Deputy for Test, Integration and Fielding, Missile Defense Agency; Maj. Gen. James R. Myles, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; Dr. Mark Swinson, Chief Scientist, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command; and Mr. Ron Lewis, Deputy G-3/5 for Enterprise Integration, U.S. Army Materiel Command.

This year's event will also feature sessions on America's global competitiveness; NASA and the leadership role that Marshall Space Flight Center is playing in both science and space exploration; and America's nuclear renaissance and the Tennessee Valley Corridor's leadership role in boosting America's energy independence.

More keynote speakers and additional information on all Summit sessions can be seen at www.tennvalleycorridor.org/summits/detail.html.

The Summit in Huntsville is the 19th in a series of such events since 1995 that have strategically linked the technology-rich Tennessee Valley Corridor, which extends from North Alabama through Tennessee into Southwest Virginia and Southern and Eastern Kentucky.

Building on such regional assets as NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal, the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center, the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the National Transportation Research Center, the Center for Rural Development, the National Safe Skies Alliance, several world-class research universities and dozens of corporate leaders in science and technology, the Tennessee Valley Corridor organization has helped showcase the region's superior quality of life and the people, business, natural and scientific resources needed for high-tech research, development, business and investment in the 21st Century.

Previous Corridor Summits over the past 12 years have been held in Chattanooga, Kingsport, Knoxville, Johnson City, Nashville, Oak Ridge and Tullahoma, Tenn.; Decatur, Ala.; Somerset, Ky.; and Washington, D.C.

For complete information on the Tennessee Valley Corridor or for more details on the National Summit in Huntsville, please visit www.tennvalleycorridor.org.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Huntsville Times