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1) Project Alabama
Vogue Magazine calls the look "Haute homespun out of the Deep South." In 2000, Natalie Chanin and Enrico Marone-Cinzano paired up to create Project Alabama. Chanin is originally an Alabama native whose fashion career has taken her around the world. She found success, however, returning to her roots in Fayette, Alabama. Chanin and Marone-Cinzano began Project Alabama by recruiting women in Alabama to help sew one of a kind, handmade garments. Project Alabama designers partner with budding artists to create true couture that is original and fresh. Project Alabama garments can range from $300 to $3,000. The company began in 2000 and is already projecting sales in excess of $2 million for the 2004 year.
Website: www.projectalabama.com
2) Intergraph
In 1969, Jim and Nancy Meadlock founded consulting firm M & S Computing.
Their first contract was to build a guidance system for the US Army Missile Command Center in Huntsville, AL. The system that they created later grew into Intergraph's computer graphics business. Their first commercial graphics system was used for mapping. The target market was architects, engineers, and contractors. The company grew so quickly, that in 1980 the Meadlock's took the organization public. Today, Intergraph is a major player in the technology industry. Intergraph provides mapping and design software for local, state and federal government organizations. Additionally, they provide products for businesses in the transportation, process plant design, power, offshore, public safety, and utilities industries. For the Fiscal Year, 2003, Intergraph had sales in excess of $527 million. Their staff exceeds 3,700 employees that reside in offices around the globe.
Website: www.intergraph.com
Phifer Wire
In 1952, J. Reese Phifer founded Phifer Wire in Tuscaloosa, AL. The initial product of the Phifer Wire was aluminum insect screening. Today, Phifer Wire is the world's largest producer of aluminum and fiberglass insect screening products. Their product line has expanded to include interior and exterior sun control fabrics, as well as vinyl fabrics for outdoor furniture. All Phifer products
are manufactured in Tuscaloosa, AL. Phifer owns their own trucking fleet that delivers the products across the United States and Canada. Additionally, Phifer wires exports their products to over 100 companies worldwide. Phifer Wire attributes their success to their commitment to the Golden Rule.
Website: www.phifer.com
3) Unclaimed Baggage
"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Bryan Owens father, Doyle Owens, began selling unclaimed airport luggage and its contents in 1970. Owens' father developed agreements with the airlines for the unclaimed baggage, and his son Brian has expanded that agreement to include airlines all over the world. Unclaimed Baggage, located in Scottsboro, Alabama, spans nearly a city block; this is to accommodate the one million annual visitors that go there. The most common items on sale are books, cameras, clothing, CD's, and computers, all in good condition. Oprah Winfrey proclaimed Unclaimed Baggage as one of the greatest shopping secrets. The Today show described Unclaimed Baggage as an exciting treasure hunt. You never know what you are going to find.
Website: www.unclaimedbaggage.com
4) Stanley Construction
This year's Small Business Person of the Year, Thornton Stanley, a paving contractor from Huntsville, Alabama, employs his three children and a niece at his Huntsville, Alabama-based company. After spending too many nights away from home working for another road-building company, Thornton Stanley decided to focus on jobs within 50 miles of home so that he and his workers could get home to their families every night. Stanley Construction Co. Inc.'s focus on local paving projects has paid off. Its revenues have grown along with Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is becoming a prosperous city due in part to being home to the Redstone Arsenal, a major Army installation. "I knew at the get-go that Huntsville was going to be a thriving place," said Stanley in an interview, "even though 40 years ago it was a small cotton town."
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5) Med Jet Assistance
MEDJET ASSISTANCE is an annual travel membership program for people who travel for business or pleasure, in the United States or abroad. If members of MA are hospitalized within 150 miles of home, we will fly you to your choice of hospital at no extra cost! MEDJET assistance is a privately owned Birmingham, Alabama based company. Over the past decade, MEDJET assistance has acquired thousands of members who pay annual fees for the assurance that MEDJET provides.
Website: www.medjetassistance.com
6) Buffalo Rock
In the late 19th century, Sidney W. Lee founded the Alabama Grocery Company. The grocery company moved into the soft drink industry when Sidney Lee met a chemist named Ashby Coleman. The two entrepreneurs developed Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale. In 1927 the two men renamed their company Buffalo Rock Company. Their cornerstone product was Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale. Today, the company is headquartered in Birmingham, AL. Buffalo Rock owns a bottling facility that occupies more than 410,000 square feet. They operate 13 distribution centers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Today, Buffalo Rock is the nation's largest single-family privately owned Pepsi-Cola bottler.
Website: www.buffalorock.com
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