TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — The state of Alabama is preparing to welcome the United States Space Command to Huntsville.
Under the new plan, Space Command will be moved from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Huntsville, bringing with it an estimated 30,000 jobs to the area. One Troy University professor believes that the move will create not only direct reactions, but also ripple effects on a broader scale.
“These individuals moving into the Huntsville and surrounding area, that’s going to increase demand on housing, stimulate economic activity in the in the construction industry,” said Dr. John Dove. “Obviously, those individuals also need all the other services that come along with just living in an area. That’ll stimulate additional demand for those resources and those services.
Then obviously, right, that has secondary and ripple effects. Those individuals that are involved in providing those services tend to see increased incomes as well.”
Despite the opportunities for economic growth that housing Space Command will provide for Huntsville and its surrounding area, Dove said it is unlikely that the rest of the state will see any changes.
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“Best sort of comparison that you could make is when the FBI expanded to Huntsville as well,” Dove explained. “We saw a lot of job creation and a lot of opportunity there. As a result of that, we really didn’t see anything down our way. It really was mostly just concentrated in the Huntsville area.”
On the other side of the move, some are worried about some of the possible negative effects for Colorado Springs, Space Command’s original home. Dove believes the area will be able to weather the blow.
“Typically, when you see shifts like that occur, especially an area probably as large and diverse as Colorado Springs, it’s probably a situation that they’ll rebound from in the medium term.”
Although the decision to relocate has been made, there is no clear timeline that states when Space Command move will officially happen or how long the transition will take.
