Huntsville, Alabama

The Army Contracting Command (ACC) at Redstone Arsenal is involved with some of the most advanced aerospace and missile-defense projects in the world. And the city of Huntsville is also home to high-tech medical and life-sciences industries that attract leading scientists and engineers to work in this scenic area with views of the mountains, an historical downtown and top-quality museums.

Ranked #1 in Kiplinger's "Best Cities 2009," Huntsville is featured with Redstone Arsenal in a two-minute video available on Kiplinger.com. Other accolades bestowed upon Huntsville include rankings as one of America's:

• Top 5 Cities for Job Opportunities (SmartMoney.com, 2008)
• Top 5 Technology Cities (Computerworld, 2007)
• Top Adventure Towns (National Geographic Adventure, 2007)
• Top 5 Cities for Professional Workers (Kiplinger's Personal Finance, 2007)
• Top 10 Metros for Scientists and Engineers (Expansion Management Magazine, 2007)

Huntsville and surrounding Madison County are home to major employers in aerospace, biotechnology, telecommunications, electronics, software and IT development. The Cummings Research Park (CRP) is the second largest research park in the nation and the fourth largest in the world. More than 220 companies in the CRP are pursuing work in over 40 areas of technology specialization. Twenty companies in the Fortune 500 are employers at CRP.

Huntsville schools provide excellent educational opportunities for students beginning in pre-elementary school through post-doctorate studies. And schools in Huntsville provide traditional educational opportunities as well as specialized programs that focus on scientific research and development. Excellent programs in mathematics, science and other disciplines are designed to teach children to develop critical thinking skills at early ages.