For the first time in its history, the Business Council of Alabama will play host to three nationally known guest speakers at its 2010 Chairman's Dinner. The dinner, to be held Sept. 21 in Birmingham, is the BCA's annual salute to its volunteer leaders whose guidance and generous service have been integral to BCA during the past year.

Headlining the event, "Politics Takes Center Stage," at the Birmingham Sheraton will be Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and governor of Vermont; Dick Morris, political analyst for Fox News  and advisor to Former President Bill Clinton; and J. C. Watts, former congressman from Oklahoma and chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. Robert Bentley shakes hands with Democratic nominee Ron Sparks at the Business Council of Alabama's 2010 Governmental Affairs Conference at the Grand Hotel in Pt. Clear Saturday morning. The BCA event marked the first time the two candidates had met on the same stage since the July 13 Republican Party runoff. A year ago, both candidates participated in BCA's first-ever gubernatorial forum with all eight candidates who were then seeking the state's highest elected office. Bentley and Sparks will face each other in the November general election.

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View photos from the conference here.

BCA’s 2010 Governmental Affairs Conference will be July 16-18 at the Marriott Grand Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa in Point Clear, Alabama. The theme for this year's event is "Looking Forward."

This annual weekend of relaxation and fellowship with fellow BCA members, business leaders, state officials, friends and colleagues, will be highlighted by our special guest speakers, pollsters Peter D. Hart and Frank Luntz, who are replacing MSNBC's Joe Scarborough who had to cancel his appearance due to a family illness.

The Business Council of Alabama, along with several state agencies and five federal agencies, is helping sponsor a pilot program aimed at helping Alabama automotive suppliers improve their economic, energy and environmental performance. The program, Alabama E3 (Economy, Energy, Environment), will coordinate technical assistance programs offered at the federal, state and local levels that help companies maximize their energy efficiency, reduce pollution, and establish “green” manufacturing practices. Gov. Bob Riley visited the Mercedes training center in Vance on Wednesday to announce the launch of the program.

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Key BCA members on the Gulf Coast have appealed to BCA membership for support. See their letter here.

Your Business Council of Alabama is monitoring the oil spill on a daily basis and will keep you informed on developments important to your business.

Photo by U.S. Coast Guard.

Rep. Frank McDaniel, D-Albertville, was given the Business Council of Alabama's Spirit of Public Service Award for his outstanding leadership and support of the business community at a recent BCA Governmental Affairs meeting.

The Business Council of Alabama (BCA) and The Alabama Technology Network (ATN), in partnership with The Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama and The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), presented the prestigious 2010 Alabama Manufacturer of the Year Awards to three Alabama manufacturing companies March 24 at the RSA Alabama Activity Center. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, shown here with Large Manufacturer of the Year ADTRAN's Grady W. Broadnax, Jr.,  gave the keynote address.

In response to the House passage Sunday of health care legislation, William J. Canary, president and chief executive officer, Business Council of Alabama, issued the following statement:

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The 11th Annual Alabama Manufacturer of the Year Awards will be March 24, 2010, at 11:30 a.m. at the Alabama Activity Center in Montgomery. This annual event, presented by the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Technology Network, recognizes  manufacturing enterprises that exhibit excellence in leadership, performance, profitability and work force relations.

More than 400 persons, including many legislators, attended the 2010 Business Council of Alabama Legislative Reception Tuesday at the Alabama Activity Center. The annual event honors the state's lawmakers and this year saluted the Alabama's manufacturing industry. BCA Chairman Sandy Stimpson, left, greets Gov. Bob Riley and Rep. Jamie Ison of Mobile.

See more photos in our Photo Gallery.

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The Business Council of Alabama is mourning the passing of former BCA board member Brad Jones, the former CEO of Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville and a former chairman of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, who died Wednesday in Atlanta following an extended battle against lung disease.

BCA congratulates K.L. Brown of Jacksonville, who won election in  the Alabama House District 40 race this week. Brown, a small businessman who was endorsed by ProgressPAC, BCA's political action committee, was sworn into office Wednesday and began serving in the Legislature Thursday.

Two members of the legislative leadership, House Majority Leader Ken Guin (D-Carbon Hill) and Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little (D-Cullman), outlined their views of the regular legislative session thus far to BCA’s Governmental Affairs Committee last week.

Governmental and regulatory threats to your business are a daily threat. But your BCA is watching out for you whenever and wherever public policy that affects your business is made. BCA's newest book, What If No One Is Watching, documents, in a readable and engaging volume, the key events of the 2009 Alabama Legislative Session.

It was two sides of the same coin at Tuesday’s BCA Governmental Affairs Committee meeting as State Rep. John Knight (D-Montgomery) and Dave Stewart, chief of state to Gov. Bob Riley, discussed Alabama’s finances and other issues being considered by the Legislature.

BCA interviews Rep. Rep. John Knight

BCA interviews Dave Stewart, chief of staff for Gov. Bob Riley

Alabama House Speaker Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, was given the BCA "Spirit of Public Service" Award for his 32 years of distinguished service to the state. BCA Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Blackwell presented Hammett, who will retire after this year, with the award, an eagle sculpture, at the first committee meeting of the 2010 legislative session.

The Business Council of Alabama honored its outgoing 2009 Chairman Phil Dotts of Huntsville at the organization's Annual Meeting in Birmingham. For the first time, the BCA held a joint Annual Meeting with the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama. Both groups heard from Gov. Bob Riley, and Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who outlined a chamber campaign to promoted free enterprise and create 20 million new jobs over the next decade, 286,000 in Alabama.

Read Op-Ed article, "Policies Needed to Strengthen Free Enterprise System," by BCA President and CEO William Canary and BCA/CCAA President and CEO Ralph Stacy.

Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will be the guest speaker at the historic joint Annual Meeting of the Business Council of Alabama and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama, Friday, Dec. 4. The event begins with a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at the Harbert Center in Birmingham.

BCA President and CEO William Canary stressed the importance of job creation in the present economy, the need for fair and meaningful tax reform, and fully funded pre-K education for all of Alabama's children at The Forum, the 27th Annual Economic Summit presented by Auburn Montgomery.

See story in Montgomery Advertiser.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to her former hometown of Birmingham as the guest speaker at BCA's 2009 Chairman's Dinner, inspiring a crowd of close to 1,000 at the Birmingham Sheraton.

Watch video from the event!

Read Birmingham News story.

See photos in our photo gallery!

The 2010 Alabama governor's race took center stage Aug. 1 when the Business Council of Alabama hosted the first-ever 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate Forum at its annual Governmental Affairs Conference at the Grand Hotel in Pt. Clear. All eight candidates participated in the two-hour forum, moderated by respected television anchors Kim Hendrix of WSFA-12 in Montgomery, and Bob Grip of Fox10-TV in Mobile.

See more photos in our Photo Gallery.

Read coverage in the Mobile Register.

Watch video introductions of the candidates.

With the debate about health care front and center, the Business Council of Alabama is making sure our Alabama congressional delegation is aware of our opposition to any legislation that would create a government-run insurance plan, force employers to pay-or-play or establish an unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy to make your health care decisions.

BCA Health Care Reform Toolkit

The 2010 Alabama governor's race will be in the spotlight this summer at BCA's 2009 Governmental Affairs Conference July 31-Aug. 2 at the Grand Hotel, Pt. Clear.  All announced candidates for the state's top job have been invited to participate in a Saturday morning Gubernatorial Candidate Forum, "Setting the Stage for Alabama's Future."

The Business Council of Alabama and The Alabama Technology Network, in partnership with The Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama and The National Association of Manufacturers, presented the prestigious Alabama Manufacturer of the Year Awards to four Alabama manufacturing companies Wednesday.

Business Council of Alabama President and CEO William Canary and Senior Vice President for Governmental Affairs Quentin Riggins were guests on "Capitol Journal," a program of Alabama Public Television which covers the Alabama Legislature. The program aired recently on APT, and will be available on APT's web site at a later date.

More than 130 persons heard about the challenges facing the state in 10 years at “Alabama 2019,” a conference hosted in Mobile last Friday by the Business Council of Alabama and Business Alabama magazine. Panels covering business, education and legislative issues addressed the half-day gathering at the historic Battle House Hotel.

Former Michigan Gov. John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, met with BCA President William Canary and other key Alabama business leaders last week to discuss several dangerous legislative proposals now pending in Congress that pose great threats to Alabama’s manufacturing community.

The Alabama House on Tuesday approved a resolution, opposed by BCA, that tells the federal government it wants to accept all money from the federal stimulus package -- including temporary funds to permanently expand unemployment compensation benefits that would raise taxes on business.

In addition to working aggressively to encourage Business Council of Alabama members to speak out in force against the dangerous union-backed federal 'Card Check' bill that will, if enacted, dismantle the nation's long-held and proven fair labor laws, the BCA has led the way in establishing a growing coalition of state business and industry groups lined up in unity to fight the job-killing bill. 

Rep. Greg Canfield, R-Birmingham, says he thinks it’s inexcusable that every graduating senior in Alabama’s public schools in the past 30 years lived through the budget struggles and classroom cutbacks of education proration at least once. And, as Alabama schools limp along under the weight of proration again this year, Canfield says the time has come to fix the problem once and for all -- and cut our students and educators a break from the impediment of fear and unpredictability.