Annette Jones Watters
- Specialty Areas:
- Demographics, economic data, editing.
- Education:
- The University of Alabama (B.A., M.A., and M.L.S.).
- Honors, Achievements and Affiliations:
Ms. Watters is a Program Manager of the Center for Business and Economic Research, and the Associate Director of the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute of the College of Commerce and Business Administration, The University of Alabama. She is also the Manager of the Alabama State Data Center (ASDC) and Co-Director of the Alabama Entrepreneurial Research Network (AERN). She is a past National Chairperson of the U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, State Data Center Program; a past State President of the Alabama Association for Women in Education; and the 2008 recipient of The University of Alabama Minnie Miles Award, the highest award given to University of Alabama staff.
As a co-founder of the Alabama Entrepreneurial Research Network (AERN), she encourages and supports rural business development in low income counties across Alabama. The success of AERN is best characterized by its rapid growth from the 4 charter counties in 2001 to today’s 15 county service area. As the Manager of the Alabama State Data Center Program, Mrs. Watters coordinates 24 independent State Data Centers whose collective coverage reaches every county in the state. In this capacity, Mrs. Watters is widely recognized as one of the state’s leading authorities on U. S. Bureau of the Census data program and its economic and demographic statistics.
Projects and programs in research and service under Ms. Watters’ supervision over the past ten years have been awarded contract and grant support at the national, state, and local levels totaling over $1,000,000.