POWERGRAMS

21 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Patrick Murphy concluded his job as a president last summer. His term was less about pizazz and the trappings of being the boss than good old- fashioned elbow grease. Murphy is Alabama Power's vice president of Marketing and Economic Development. He delved into the presidential arena leading the Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA), a trade group of more than 500 professionals. "Economic development" may sound like a 50-cent phrase conjuring up all sorts of images, but it's a meaningful term that has put Alabama on the international map. In short, it's recruiting companies and organizations to start up or move to Alabama. The end result: jobs for Alabamians. "Representing this community through EDAA has been an aspiration of mine since I have been in economic development in Alabama," Murphy said. Once he got the chance, he made the most of it. "Patrick's tenure as president of the Economic Development Association of Alabama has been marked by a number of significant advances that will help sustain the momentum we developed in a record year for Alabama's business recruitment team," said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. An Auburn University graduate, Murphy first showed up on the business radar as vice president of the Birmingham-area Metropolitan Development Board (now Birmingham Business Alliance), where he focused on external recruitment, area business development and project management. Murphy previously worked as a site location consultant and real estate broker for the Hart Corp. in Atlanta and as a project manager for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Aer leaving the MDB, he became senior vice president of Economic Development for the BBA (the region's chamber/economic development organization), where he led business recruitment, retention and expansion in the seven-county metro area. The South Carolina native joined Alabama Power in 2011 as a senior project manager in Economic and Community Development, where he later became manager and vice president prior to assuming his current position in 2017. Recruiting business and industry to the state's largest metro area at the BBA, and later to the Alabama Power footprint, afforded Murphy the chance to gain a broad level of experience, leading him to develop expertise in a wide array of skills. Veteran economic developer Jim Searcy, now executive director of the EDAA, said the variety of experiences served Murphy well as president. "His diverse background as an economic developer at the state and regional levels, as well as a deep knowledge of corporate and industrial real estate, provided him with an excellent perspective on the breadth of issues confronting Alabama's developers," Searcy said. "His reputation as a consensus-builder and a strategic thinker made him an ideal advocate for the economic development profession." Given that most counties and larger municipalities have economic development agencies recruiting industry, the EDAA gives these economic developers a forum to network, exchange ideas and socialize, even though their individual communities may compete for projects. Another function of the EDAA is using its strength in numbers to pass legislation beneficial to economic development. It was the passage of two laws in the Alabama Legislature last spring where Murphy said he had his greatest impact as president. "These were two critical pieces of legislation to economic development in Alabama," he said. One was the Alabama Competitiveness Act, insulating economic developers from having to register as lobbyists – a move that could have forced them to divulge confidential information concerning industrial prospects and negotiations, puing them at a disadvantage with competing states. The second was the Alabama Incentive Modernization Act, expanding ways to aract new businesses and industries to rural areas and in the technology field. Murphy said another major accomplishment on his watch was boosting interest and participation of economic development agencies in rural areas. "Aendance and input from the membership at 'SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES' MURPHY LAUDED FOR LEADERSHIP OF STATE ASSOCIATION By Gilbert Nicholson PHOTOS BY PHIL FREE

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