Calendar of Election Events

January 6, 2009 @5:00pm Qualifying Deadline
Primary Election, Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Primary Runoff, Tuesday, April 21, 2009
      (if needed)
General Election, Tuesday, April 21 2009
      (if no runoff needed)
General Election, Tuesday, June 9, 2009
      (If there is a primary runoff)

Committee to Elect Allan Rhodes

4092 South Memorial Parkway, Suite 1A
Huntsville, AL (256) 604-5923
Allan Rhodes, Chairman
Misty Kennedy, Treasurer
email: allanrhodes@allanrhodes.com

Campaign Manager

J. Holland
email: j.holland@thehdc.com

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About Allan Rhodes - Businessman / Entrepreneur

     As a young man my family knew that I would one day be in business for my self. At an early age I collected bugs in a bug catcher that my Dad gave me for a birthday. I, being very fascinated with the things that fly and crawl, began to catch various creatures like, roaches, centipedes, butterfly’s, to name a few. However, when I began to show those to the neighborhood kids, it became evident that they had value. My Dad began to wonder where I was getting all of the change that showed up in my pockets at night only to find out that I was not only catching bugs but selling them too. Since I did not have a business license he made me give the money back but, the entrepreneur spirit had been born.

     Over the years I have had the opportunity to start many small businesses some successful; some not, but all the while learning how to run a business from the ground up. I understand the needs of small businesses, I have made payroll, purchased insurance for employees, gone without while still meeting the needs of the customer and employees. As your Senator from the 7th District of the Great State of Alabama I want to work for those in business, reduce the State tax burden, make it easier for small business to afford insurance for it’s employees and family members, provide tax credits for businesses to expand and take on new work, create a work environment for companies to hire and train CoOps and interns to meet the employment needs of the district. Small business has lead the way in creating jobs across Alabama; it is time that our leadership recognizes this and provides tax credits for small business.

     I am currently the Executive Director and Partner for The HDC LLC a HUBZone small business doing business primarily with the Federal Government at Redstone Arsenal. Our primary customer is the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center or AMRDEC. I have been supporting the AMRDEC since 1993. I want to fight for you in the Alabama Senate for the infrastructure money that we need to accomplish a smooth transfer of the BRAC to Huntsville. I want to work with our local military officials to create a small business environment that will give small business more opportunity, as BRAC becomes a reality. We are critically short of scientist and engineers to fill the positions for the future at Redstone and NASA and a government, industry, academia approach to growing the work force must be explored that allows small business to hire more CoOps and Interns from throughout the country to train, and sell the area as a great place to live and work. Few if any contracts at Redstone allow for the hiring of CoOps and Interns when there are plenty of opportunities in all areas of research, development and engineering activities where CoOps and Interns make sense and offer a cost effective way to develop new technologies and to grow a workforce. Redstone has a great CoOp program, many large industries have CoOp and Intern programs that back fill their workforce however, it is hard for a small business to hire and train employees who are not bringing in some form of income to the business. As the Executive Director of the HDC we have been leading the way in developing such a program. The HDC hired 5 CoOps this fall that worked on a Hydrogen Generation program for our company that may have significant impact on small engines for the U.S. Army fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs. These students received experience and mentoring in writing a test plan, safety plan, doing research and development on a Hydrogen booster and testing it on a small engine. The testing will continue this spring with expected results showing that a booster can be built that is small enough and can extend the range of small gas engines resulting in a savings in fuel but more import an increase range.

     As your State Senator for District 7 I can bring results to the small business community and fight for your ability to grow and create new jobs for Alabama.