Giant Roars to Full Blast

After hibernating the recession, Alabama’s sleeping giant — a $4 billion industrial recruit trumpeted in 2007 — has slowly roared to life.

interview by Chris McFadyen • photo by Todd Douglas

Career Notes, March 2014

Who's moving up?

Text by Erica Joiner West

Alabama’s Showcase Rooms

State’s largest hotel company is also Alabama-centric. That could be seen as a disadvantage compared to the performance of gangbusters New York City. But it’s a big advantage in capital support and long-term investment in Alabama’s image.

interview by Chris McFadyen • photo by Todd Douglas

Movers & Shapers, March 2014

Spotlight on Coastal Gateway

The Road to Alabama’s Biggest Command Post

Growing up among millworkers in a textile town in western Virginia, Dennis Via didn’t have an inkling of his current command — overseeing 68,000 soldiers and civilian workers from his Army headquarters in Huntsville.

text by Nancy Mann Jackson • photo by David Higginbotham

Movers & Shapers, February 2014

Spotlight on Marion, Fayette and Lamar Counties

Currency Wars and Bursting Bubbles

Central bank policies are launching currency wars on a sea of market bubbles, says economist Mark Thornton.

Interview by Chris McFadyen

Savory Sensation

Auburn’s Stacy Brown cooked up her business “to keep my kids fed and the power on.” Now one of the fastest growing franchises in the country, her Chicken Salad Chick chain is sweeping the South, with 13 up and running and plans for 15 more this year.

text by Jessica Armstrong • photos by Cary Norton

Seven at the Top

Meet seven women who leveraged fierce determination and their gender’s own genius to break to the top of the competition (most of it male).

Text by Nancy Mann Jackson and Wendy Reeves

Career Notes, February 2014

Who's moving up?

Text by Erica Joiner West