01 — Local economy
Business in Huntsville, AL
Wernher von Braun's team developed the Saturn V rocket here, and Redstone Arsenal, home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the Army's aviation and missile commands and the Missile Defense Agency, still drives the economy. Cummings Research Park houses engineering contractors such as Dynetics and Leidos, Blue Origin builds rocket engines in the city, ULA assembles rockets in nearby Decatur, and the Mazda Toyota plant builds SUVs in Limestone County.
Also known as Rocket City.
Where software helps: Huntsville engineering-services firms on NASA and Army contracts must allocate labor across many contract line items, calculate fringe, overhead and G&A rates, and produce invoices that pass DCAA review.