Daniel Sparkman Speech Writing Sample

Keynote Address to Homewood Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting

December 16, 2015
OPENING:
Good afternoon! It is an honor to speak to this great group today. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of
your annual meeting. It is a great time to be in Alabama, our economy is on the rise, more companies are
opening their doors and more Alabamians are finding jobs. My top priority as Governor is working to bring
new jobs to our state. And there are three main parts to that: a strong educational foundation, a solid
infrastructure across the state and a highly skilled workforce; all areas in which we excel in Alabama.
PRE-K EDUCATION:
The cornerstone for a child being able to grow up and become successful in life is that his or her education
starts with Pre-Kindergarten. For the past nine years, Alabama has been ranked as having the #1
High-Quality, Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program in the nation. All of Alabamas children, regardless of
their background, deserve the chance to be successful in life and thats why I have taken this on as one of
my priorities.
There is no better investment that we can make as a state than in the education of our children. When a
child has a strong educational foundation they are less likely to end up committing crimes, less likely to be
unemployed and less likely to end up on welfare. When a child has a strong educational foundation they
are more likely to seek higher education, more likely to find a high-paying job and more likely to become
an active member in the community.
Thanks to a significant federal grant Alabama received last year and coupled with a continued increase in
state funding by the Alabama Legislature, I believe by the time I complete my 2nd term as Governor, every
parent who wants their child to attend a pre-k program will have access to one.
In this years budget I fought to increase spending for early childhood education by $10 million and I want
to thank the Legislature for including my recommendation in the budget. In next years, legislative session
I want to see that number doubled.
When we invest in education, we are investing in the future of Alabama. The money that we spend today
on education we wont have to spend on prisons, unemployment or reforming students in the future.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS:
The second thing a company looks for when they are scouting a place to open a business is the
infrastructure. They look at how well can their employees get to work and how well can their product get to
their consumers. Since taking office in 2011, I have placed a special emphasis on improving the states
infrastructure. In that time ALDOT has completed several large, long-term projects and is working on
several others.
A large part of my plan to improve the states infrastructure is ATRIP which invested $1 billion into road
& bridge projects across the state. It is the largest road and bridge project ever attempted in the state of

Alabama. So far 1,121 projects have received some portion of ATRIP funding. There are 737 roadway
improvement projects and 384 bridge replacement/bridge rehabilitation projects. As of this month, 584
projects are underway and of that amount 552 contracts were awarded to Alabama-based contractors.
ALDOT estimates it will take another three years to complete all the ATRIP projects providing the local
sponsors are committed to completing the projects. The great thing about ATRIP is that it is making the
lives of every Alabamian better because there is a project in every county in our state. These improvements
are vital to all other things. Having accessible roads makes it easier for children to get to school, they make
it easier for you to get to work and they make it easier for your products to get to the consumer. And it
makes it easier for you to travel to your favorite Alabama vacation destination.
Most importantly, these improvements are a vital part of attracting new business to Alabama and a big
factor on existing companies deciding to expand in our state.
JOBS/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Just this week Wells Fargo announced they are adding 300 new jobs are their center right here in
Homewood! We have been seeing and making these kinds of announcements all over Alabama this year. I,
myself have participated in announcing more than 6,000 new and future jobs, just this year. Since 2011, we
have recruited over 70,000 new and future jobs to Alabama.
When I took office in 2011, our state unemployment rate was nearly 10 percent, today we have it down to
5.9 percent and I plan to see that number continue to drop over my last three years in office.
As we make Alabama more attractive to companies, they will continue to invest in Alabama and we will
continue to expand job opportunities for our citizens! The final key factor to having a strong economy is
having a trained and educated workforce.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT:
In 2012, we developed the Accelerate Alabama plan to increase the development of the workforce and
having a more educated and skilled workforce. We are working to strengthen our workforce development
training efforts to ensure that education is equipping students for career success. We are working directly
with companies to cater our training efforts to their needs. We have involved our Community College
System and our Alabama Industrial Development Training program is one of the best. And were not just
relying on new companies; we are encouraging and helping existing companies to be innovative in their
future growth.
As companies plan their growth and expansion into new technologies, we work with them to make sure
their employees are trained for their new tasks. Thanks to the implementation of Accelerate Alabama, we
are able to provide what many state cannot, a highly-skilled, well-educated workforce that is ready for the
job on day one.
FUTURE INIATIVES:
We have done so much over the past five years but there is so much more to be accomplished. My next big
project is Rural Alabama. Alabamas rural communities have been ignored for too long and I plan to work

to improve life for those citizens too. More than half of Alabamas counties are considered rural and that
accounts for nearly a quarter of the states population.
Over the past few months I have spent time in these communities awarding some much need grants for
infrastructure and other vitals needs. These people are the backbone of Alabama and when they are
successful we can all be successful. And thats why I am committed to ensuring they get the resources they
need. Access to telemedicine, transportation improvements and broadband expansion are three critical
areas that I will be working on in the next three years.
CLOSING:
As you can see there are some key areas that we can work on to make Alabama an even better place to live.
If we all continue to work together, from government to business to education, we can continue to see
Alabamas economy grow. My top priority remains creating more jobs for the hardworking and deserving
people of this state and I will continue to do everything in my power to see that happen.
There are bright days ahead and Alabama is on the cusp of being a national leader. We just need to all
combine our efforts for a common goal and we will see Alabama as THE place to do business in the U.S.
I want to thank you all again for inviting me to speak today. I appreciate your efforts and look forward to
more economic growth with the help of organizations like yours. May God bless you.