Sign Alabama Banking RFP Now

Industry sign banking alabama rfp now

now it's my um great honor to to welcome my dear friend um and president of the park aboard betsy holloway she's vice president of marketing and communication for samford university hi betsy hi kathy thank you good afternoon everyone i am honored to serve this year as the board chair for the public affairs research council of alabama alongside an outstanding group of fellow board members from around the state you can find a complete list of our board at the parka website and in the documents section of the hoova platform i want to thank all of the sponsors who have generously supported our annual forum this year they include the a plus education partnership aarp of alabama alabama power company att of alabama bank independent birmingham bound blue cross blue shield of alabama caldwell banker commercial mclean real estate council for leaders in alabama schools hand erindale harrison sale harper technologies huntsville committee of 100 jefferson state community college landscape workshop regions bank shipt spire tech birmingham and vulcan materials company thanks to each of these organizations for your investment in parka and in this event i also want to ask each of you to consider how you can support the work of parka to inform and improve the decision-making of our state and local leaders in alabama through objective research and data analysis over the last five days we've covered a lot of ground we have talked about how lack of broadband connection affects people in every demographic across every stage of life and every area of our state we have been reminded how much of our daily life from education to work to health care to banking to leisure to family connections occur online and how 23 percent of alabamians are not connected we learned that alabama ranks 47th in the country in the percent of households with high-speed broadband and we are likely to be passed by both arkansas and mississippi we heard that the current broadband definition of 25 megabits per second should probably be raised and that was considered good enough broadband before the pandemic so it's probably not enough anymore we've heard about the challenge of mapping who has access this and state and federal efforts to fix the problem we were reminded that there are many kinds of providers working to provide various solutions to the different problems no one provider can meet every need our for-profit providers are challenged to serve the less densely populated areas of the state and areas where demand is lower public investment is critical and public private partnerships may be the best way forward and we must ensure that people have not only the access to broadband but the means to pay for it the devices to use it and the knowledge necessary we were challenged to prioritize afford affordability digital equity and digital inclusion broadband goals goals have been offered this week that all students who qualify for free lunch be connected and online that all public housing be connected in 18 months that 100 percent of alabamian households be connected one gig speed for all alabamians by the year 2030 and a state-level broadband czar to help communities navigate the laws regulations and various options and i am encouraged to see the level of bipartisan dialogue and cooperation from washington on these issues we know that broadband is the future i don't believe it is impossible that alabama could be a leader in addressing the digital divide if we choose to do so it would be a hard task but a noble one the mission of parka is to inform and improve the decision making of state and local gov leaders at all levels in our state throughout through objective research and quality reporting we are alabama's first and only non-profit nonpartisan good government research center we pursue this mission with projects important to the general quality of life in alabama with a particular focus on government structure public education public finance and workforce development you will see examples of recent research projects in the documents section of the huva platform as we have learned this week broadband is a very complicated issue that affects all alabamians and cuts across all areas of our life robust broadband policies would improve our education health care workforce development economic competitiveness and overall quality of life this issue is a good example of the priorities parka has sought to address since its founding in 1988 it's also a good example of the kinds of issues that were important to parka founder and long-time chairman government governor albert brewer it is in his honor that this final session of our forum is named i had the privilege of knowing and working with governor brewer both through parka and through my service at samford university where the governor served on the faculty of our cumberland school of law for more than two decades and is a member of our board of trustees 32 years ago governor brewer joined then samford president tom courts and a group of supporters to establish parka and and governor brewer then went on to serve as parka's first executive director and later as his board chairman retiring in 2013. governor brewer was one of my heroes and we all know what a difference he made for our great state of alabama he was a wise kind principled fair courageous man of great strength and great character these qualities continue to prevail as his legacy through the public affairs research council of alabama it is now my honor to welcome and introduce another great governor and our final speaker for the week governor kay ivey growing up in the small town of camden in wilcox camp county and working on her father's farm taught kiv to value hard work and living within one's means her parents instilled the core values of faith family and community after graduating from auburn university in 1967 she worked as a high school teacher and a bank officer she served as reading clerk of the alabama house of representatives and as assistant director of the alabama development office she has served our state as treasurer lieutenant governor and since april 2017 as our governor governor ivey on behalf of the board of directors of parka we thank you for your service to alabama your leadership during the pandemic and for joining with us today thank you well good afternoon everyone thank you betsy for your kind words for your service with parker and for being an active member of other initiatives that helped move alabama forward i look forward to joining you all in person soon we are hopeful that the copenhagen pandemic is easing off as folks continue wearing masks practicing good judgment and voluntarily getting vaccinated i cannot say thank you enough to the people of our great state as well as the leadership that participates in parker's annual meeting for doing their part during this hard year thank you ron for the hard work from you and your team to plan a great week focused on one of the greatest challenges in our state broadband in fact the expansion of broadband internet is one of the greatest infrastructure challenges in 21st century of america and has quickly become a necessity in many areas of life health care education and economic development are just a few of the areas in which broadband is becoming vital however i'm happy to report that our state is making progress in addressing this challenge by working together i supported the legislation in 2018 and what was submitted in 2019 that created the alabama broadband accessibility fund managed by the alabama department of economic and community affairs the fund was to jumpstart state efforts with providers to expand this vital service in the rural areas of our state these grants help internet service providers expand service to unserved areas of our state as of may 2020 19.8 million dollars in grants have been awarded to support 55 projects these projects represent approximately 25 134 new services to households businesses and community institutions across alabama at an average grant cost of 788 dollars per service the grand applications for the next round of funding through the farm were due on february 8 and occurring under review in the challenge period these grants are expected to be announced in late spring endeca is also supporting internet service providers who apply for federal grant funds like the u.s department of agriculture's reconnect program endeca developed a process for the isps to request a letter from the governor's office and other requirements on the state end for the federal application the kovit 19 pandemic strongly reinforced the need for broadband a need that will continue to require dedicated group efforts and innovative solutions one prime example of a successful effort was the first of a kind alabama broadband connectivity for students programmed this past fall we made it a priority to use some of the state's cares act dollars to help low-income children who qualify for the national school lunch program to access the internet for virtual learning and homework during some of the most trying times of the pandemic this large-scale program to provide vouchers for internet service was organized within a matter of weeks and represented a true partnership led by a deca with the participation of the alabama department of education local school systems and 42 broadband providers the majority of which were based in alabama this partnership successfully connected almost 200 000 children to the broadband internet since its start in late august to put that in perspective that is more than than the full capacities of bryant denny's stadium in tuscaloosa and jordan hare stadium in auburn combined on a phone game day in late december we extended this successful program to continue to benefit participating students for the rest of the current school year a decade is working directly with ctc technology and energy to assist with future broadband planning a big piece of this is developing a map of broadband coverage that will more accurately assess coverage gaps with more accurate data than what is currently available from the federal communications commission this map is scheduled to be complete in december consistent support from both the executive branch the legislative branch has enabled alabama to become a leader for state broadband infrastructure grants it's one of the largest programs of its kind based on the number of students and providers in the mix the abc for students program is being cited as a model for states across the nation to follow filling all gaps in alabama is likely to cost four to six billion dollars with a b in 20 21 according to ctc estimates folks we have our challenges ahead but we also have a roadmap i remain committed to ensuring we do our part to provide equity through broadband in our state while i have your attention i'd like to shift gears and speak on a few issues that are also a priority lost i launched the uh the strong start strong finish education initiative early four years ago in july 2017 to integrate alabama's early childhood education k-12 education and workforce development efforts into an educational continuum designed to support all alabamians since i spoke to you all last year several key initiatives linked to the strong start strong finish initiative have come to fruition i established the alabama stem council by executive order in september and the u.s department of labor approved the alabama office of apprenticeships application for recognition as a state apprenticeship agency last march alabama's 2020 we owe a combined plan was approved by the u.s departments of education and labor and the alabama campaign for grade level reading released its final report and recommendations in july clearly we have many critical items in the works in education alabama is focusing on providing the supportive services needed to help folks persist in the workforce i want to thank dr joe morton of the business education alliance mr ron hankins of parker and chairman tim mccartney of the alabama workforce council for their visionary work and established the alabama community e directory the community e directory will extend the reach of our public workforce system by matching job seekers with resources provided by community-based organizations a major component of alabama's workforce response to will be assisting individuals who have been displaced by covert 19 from the most effective industry sectors re-enter the workforce in an in-demand job in 1965 80 of our workforce needed only a high school education to reach self-sufficiency today that number is only 35 moreover 95 of the jobs created since the last recession require at least some post-secondary education alabama is creating stackable pathways that allow the credentials earned to transfer into an associate or bachelor's degree implementing new workforce programs that connect non-degree training with traditional post-secondary learning will provide the right mixture of skills for the alabamians who will reskilling for the work of the future and for alabama's pre-k to 12 students who are preparing for the future of work since the start of the legislative session on february 4th i'm proud to say there's been much progress in great cooperation the legislature passed three priority bills to ensure that businesses would not be previously sued during copay 19. folks who received federal stimulus would not have to pay taxes on that needed help and our state has the tools needed to recruit good paying jobs and help our state recover from the pandemic as the legislature moves further into session there are several key items that i look forward to partnering on within our state budgets i'm pleased to announce that uh despite a hard yield our financial aid will is strong and we've seen a six percent increase in our education budget perhaps the silver lining of the year is we've all taken advantage of online sales while there are too many priorities failing within my proposed budget i'd like to highlight a few that would be of note first off we want to acknowledge the hard-working teachers and provide a cost of living adjustment of two percent it was something we hoped would have happened last year but due to the climate at the time we had to postpone this will deserve thank you i think we can all agree that it is most appropriate to acknowledge the sacrifices of our public servants in these challenging days circumstances we're also proposing a continued investment of 93 million dollars to ensure that no teachers are laid off due to the challenges placed on our school systems and we can bring our students back into the buildings next school year we also want to extend any necessary support to systems across our state to allow them to feel they can safely stay open or reopen we're committed to doing what is necessary to ensure that students regain remain engaged and learning the outlook of our general fund is strong but it's about 31 million less than the previous yield however due to the sound budget measures we've put in place over the last 10 years we're able to extend the 2 pay rates to our state employees there was also a hundred million dollars of one-time expenditures proposed in an effort to fund necessary projects and not grow the operations of our state government if budgets get tight in the future you may recall in partnership with the legislature we announced three new crisis diversion settlements to keep folks who have mental health issues out of our crowded prisons and hospitals these three facilities spanned the i-65 car in mobile montgomery and huntsville during the state of the state i was pleased to announce that we were beginning the rfp process with a goal to place a fourth center in the birmingham tuscaloosa region i know these facilities will have an extraordinary impact on our families and communities and it's never more timely for us to not only focus on our physical but mental health these are just a few of the items my team and i engaged on this year moving forward this session there are other key items such as funding proven education policies such as stem the reading initiative and after school programs ensuring we complete the alabama prison program focus on criminal justice reform and a whole small another issue t at you'll be hearing a lot about in the coming weeks is the expansion of gambling and the establishment of a state lottery in alabama senator morris recently proposed a bill that i think deserves our attention i've never been an out front champion on this issue but i've always believed that this was something alabamians had the right to decide on for themselves as we move forward on this i encourage the legislature and alabama's private partners to work for the benefit of our state and avoid issues that have hindered our progress in the past my goal here is simple and that is to give alabamians the opportunity to make an informed decision folks i just ask that you continue to partner with us as we move our state forward we have many challenges to tackle but i'm convinced there are brighter days ahead thank you all for having me here today thank you all again and may god continue to bless each of you and the great state of alabama thank you for those words governor ivy we always appreciate your involvement in the annual parka meeting my last task today is to invite each of you to join us on thursday september 23rd when parka welcomes washington post columnist and pulitzer prize-winning author george will for the second parka speaker series i hope you all will mark your calendars and plan to join us one final thank you to the sponsors who have generously supported our annual forum this year and if you had to miss one of the sessions this week or if you want to review any of the session content videos of all forum sessions will be available on the parka youtube channel and in the huva app thanks to each of you for taking part in the 2021 parka annual forum alabama online failure to connect we look forward to seeing you again next year hopefully in person thank you you