Huntsville named a Secret Sauce Community with the right mix for growth
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Huntsville's mix of economic engine and quality of life investments earned it the Secret Sauce city designation. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Huntsville has the secret sauce.
Why it matters: The Rocket City is earning another economic development accolade, but this time it's for what sets it apart: defying assumptions about what a growing American city looks like.
Zoom in: Huntsville has been named, along with Grand Rapids, Michigan and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as a Secret Sauce Community by "think-and-do-tank" Heartland Forward, which aims to change the narrative about the middle of America.
- Heartland cites Huntsville's economic anchors in aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing, and notes that it ranks among the country's fastest-growing metro areas.
- "The city's pipeline is fed by strong engineering programs and steady in-migration, giving it one of the highest concentrations of engineering per capita," an announcement says, noting billions in investment flowing into the city.
How it works: Each community, per Heartland Forward, has its own "distinct and innovative approach to economic growth, community development and cultural vitality," and "the right ingredients to thrive."
- Heartland Forward focuses on 20 states, stretching the length of the country from roughly Ohio to Nebraska, that together make up the world's third-largest economy, per president Angie Cooper.
What they're saying: "It's not necessarily the size or the direct number of investment," Cooper told Axios.
- "It's the secret sauce, it's the key ingredients: the people, the quality of life, the outdoor opportunities, sort of why people come to visit and why people choose to stay."
Context: That's summed up in a comment from Mayor Tommy Battle, she said, when he talks about the last thing visitors say when leaving Huntsville: "Wow, I had no idea."
- "That's the magic that happens," Cooper said.
- Common denominators among Secret Sauce cities are collaboration, strategy and a drive to get things done, she said, while also understanding their pasts and where they're headed.
Driving the news: Heartland Forward is announcing its 2026 Secret Sauce cities today at the Heartland Summit, "an opportunity to bring key policymakers, business leaders, philanthropic leaders … together that want to accelerate the middle of the country," Cooper said.
- "We're bringing key leaders together to not sit and admire the problems, but go do something about it," she told Axios.