Cummings Research Park is a model for transforming research into business success. Once the humble Huntsville Research Park with only one private company at its establishment in 1962, Cummings Research Park is now the nation’s second largest, second oldest research park and the world’s fourth. Comprising a successful blend of Fortune 500 companies, Cummings Research Park employs a staggering 29,000 workers — the highest concentration of engineers in the country and accounting for 1.3% of Alabama’s employment. These jobs amount to a $2 billion per year payroll, which generates $280 million annually in state and local taxes from direct and indirect employment.

Cummings Research Park houses reputable high-tech enterprises, U.S. space and defense agencies, a business incubator and competitive higher-education institutions. Together, these companies have helped Madison County lead its counterpart Alabama counties for new jobs created 20 of the past 26 years. New construction alone accounted for more than $1 billion of new investment in Alabama over the last decade.

The 285 companies here today are responsible for much of humanity’s advancement. They put man on the moon, satellites in space, worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, and are to thank for the drugs we use to treat cancer and central nervous conditions.