The Alabama Digest
Monday, October 2, 2023
  • Login
  • Main News
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Main News
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
The Alabama Digest
No Result
View All Result
Home Main News

ALM director: Alabama cities are bouncing back better than before

Nora Owens by Nora Owens
October 6, 2022
in Main News
0
ALM director: Alabama cities are bouncing back better than before
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ALM director: Alabama cities are bouncing back better than before

The COVID-19 pandemic rocked communities across Alabama in 2020 as it did throughout the globe, leaving counties and municipalities scrambling to adapt to the unprecedented impacts.

RELATED POSTS

Software Development Company Geniusee Expands Its Sales Presence in California

Nection’s Networking Revolution: Try the AI-powered gifts and say bye to useless networking!

Not only are municipalities regaining that pre-pandemic footing, Alabama League of Municipalities executive director Greg Cochran said many municipalities are now working to provide a better quality of life than before.

“We came out of it as municipalities in the state very well compared to a lot of states that struggled opening businesses and resorts,” Cochran said. “Their revenue streams were slow to come back, ours came back pretty strong after nine months. What we have advised communities, as congress started debating ARPA money, is to put focus groups together within communities to look for opportunities to make generational changes to quality of life for those communities.”

The state so far has focused its ARPA funding on broadband expansion, water treatment, health care and, controversially, prison construction 

That funding has started to trickle down to municipalities to make those generational improvements, while federal money has also been trickling down to municipalities.

State officials have been cautioning municipalities and counties not to invest those funds in any recurring expenses as the federal funding will dry up.

“What I believe that 99 percent of the municipalities have been doing is talking with community leaders in evaluating how best we use these funds over the next two years to implement programs that have a lasting legacy for our communities,” Cochran said. “What we have reminded them repeatedly, as have state and federal officials, these are one-time monies … Put it into deployment of utilities to change the quality of life.”

While broadband had been becoming more and more important leading up to COVID-19, the pandemic both revealed how crucial broadband access is and amplified its necessity as people began working and learning remotely.

The ability to work from home creates opportunities for both Alabama Citizens and businesses, but creates challenges as well, particularly for sectors that have less ability to utilize remote working options.

“One of the things we’ve been pushing with broadband deployment is giving citizens the opportunity for remote work, whether it’s an Alabama company, Southeast company or one across the nation,” Cochran said. “It also creates unique challenges when looking for people to come into a workspace, when they may choose the lifestyle that they want.”

Cochran said municipalities are seeing rising wages, partly due to inflation, but also due to increased competitiveness for workers. Alabama announced a record-low unemployment rate of 2.6 percent in June.

“It creates wonderful opportunities for our Alabama citizens as long as they have the technology in place to take advantage of it,” Cochran said. “In some of our rural parts of our state, broadband is just inaccessible. If we could get that deployment of broadband for communities, it also enhances the opportunity for telemedicine and telelearning. It’s an exponential improvement for quality of life.

As citizens saw at the start of the pandemic, tourism and restaurants were hit particularly hard at the beginning of the pandemic as people stopped vacationing and restaurants had to close dining rooms.

Cochran said that began to bounce back after about nine months as people began taking vacations again and some of the restrictions relaxed or restaurants adapted through curbside pickup and delivery.

But the retail and healthcare industries are visibly still struggling to find workers. Many restaurants since the start of the pandemic have been short-staffed.

“We’re kind of in the same place we were before the pandemic where it’s hard to find employees,” said Nancy Dennis, director of public relations for the Alabama Retail Association. “The difference is that so many people left the retail and restaurant industries during the pandemic.”

ShareTweetPin
Nora Owens

Nora Owens

Related Posts

Software Development Company Geniusee Expands Its Sales Presence in California

Software Development Company Geniusee Expands Its Sales Presence in California

by Nora Owens
September 15, 2023
0

Geniusee, an AWS consulting partner known for developing custom software and providing expert support, is opening a new sales office...

Nection’s Networking Revolution: Try the AI-powered gifts and say bye to useless networking!

Nection’s Networking Revolution: Try the AI-powered gifts and say bye to useless networking!

by Doris Lewis
August 11, 2023
0

Skyrocket your networking with smart recommendations, AI messages, smart reminders, and now — GIFTS. Gifts that match the context. Meet...

Boosting Brand Buzz: Unleashing the Power of PR Agencies in Modern Marketing

Boosting Brand Buzz: Unleashing the Power of PR Agencies in Modern Marketing

by Alice Trout
August 7, 2023
0

In a world saturated with information, standing out from the crowd is an art, and Public Relations (PR) agencies have...

Digital Marketing Agency in Atlanta: Your Key to Online Success

Digital Marketing Agency in Atlanta: Your Key to Online Success

by Alice Trout
July 27, 2023
0

Hey there, Atlanta entrepreneurs and business-savvy folks! Ready to unlock the secrets to conquering the online world and skyrocketing your...

Virgin Galactic’s Successful Commercial Space Flight Marks a Milestone in Space Tourism

Virgin Galactic’s Successful Commercial Space Flight Marks a Milestone in Space Tourism

by Alice Trout
June 29, 2023
0

Virgin Galactic, the space company founded by Richard Branson, has achieved a significant milestone with its first successful commercial flight...

Next Post
Incarcerated man found unresponsive, pronounced dead at Donaldson Correctional Facility

Incarcerated man found unresponsive, pronounced dead at Donaldson Correctional Facility

Task force begins work to close pay gap for women

Task force begins work to close pay gap for women

RECOMMENDED

Software Development Company Geniusee Expands Its Sales Presence in California

Software Development Company Geniusee Expands Its Sales Presence in California

September 15, 2023
Nection’s Networking Revolution: Try the AI-powered gifts and say bye to useless networking!

Nection’s Networking Revolution: Try the AI-powered gifts and say bye to useless networking!

August 11, 2023

MOST VIEWED

  • More details emerge in politico Perry O. Hooper’s arrest

    More details emerge in politico Perry O. Hooper’s arrest

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ivey projects tourism to generate $24 billion in revenue by year’s end

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Danielle: meaning of a name

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Southern Cultural Center to host “national” neo-Confederate conference in Wetumpka

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Healthcare Advertising in Alabama: Ensuring Access to Accurate and Reliable Information

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
The Alabama Digest

CATEGORY

  • Main News

SITE LINKS

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
  • Main News
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

© 2022 thealabamadigest.com.

No Result
View All Result
  • Main News
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

© 2022 thealabamadigest.com.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In