Jackson County could see at least 100 new jobs between now and 2011 with the expansion of the Redstone Arsenal as part of the BRAC 2005 plan, according to officials during the Tennessee Valley Regional Growth Coordination Plan's (TVRGCP) Sub-Regional Visioning meeting held Thursday at First Southern Bank in Scottsboro.

"Your community will see significant growth from the BRAC moves into Redstone Arsenal," an official told the gathering Thursday.

In addition to the new jobs, CEO and President of the Greater Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Rick Roden said the economic impact will be great for Jackson County.

The meeting, hosted by the local chamber, in partnership with Madison County Commission and Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, is to help prepare the region for the impact on infrastructure and services associated with BRAC 2005 at Redstone Arsenal.

Funding to develop TVRGCP came from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) to the Madison County Commission for the project.

Madison, Morgan and Limestone Counties are the primary study area for the project. However, a regional visioning process also includes Jackson County, along with Marshall and Cullman counties and The Shoals in Alabama, and Lincoln, Giles, Franklin and Lawrence counties in Tennessee.

Roden said BRAC will bring 10,000-12,000 jobs to Redstone Arsenal by 2011. He added that, with the jobs, 30,000-50,000 people will be moving to North Alabama in the next four years.

"Not all of those people will live in Huntsville and Madison County," he said. "Some will move here and commute. That's going to put a lot of money in the bank in Jackson County."

Roden said the purpose of Thursday's meeting was to give the local community a chance to have input.

"We have one chance to do it right," he said. "The growth is coming. We need to manage this growth and get the most benefits we can from the growth. When you grow the community, everybody benefits. This is nothing but a positive, a huge economic impact for us."

The vision meetings have been taking place all over the North Alabama, Roden said.

"We want to make sure we are all working together," he said. "We want to make sure we do the right thing for the whole valley."

With BRAC coming and the possibility of Bellefonte a reality, Roden said the future looks bright in Jackson County.

"The next five years could be phenomenal," he said. "BRAC is just a part of it."