Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology. Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park (CRP), and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center comprise the main hubs for the area's technology-driven economy. CRP is the second largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world, and is over 38 years old. Huntsville is also home for commercial technology companies such as the network access company ADTRAN, computer graphics company Intergraph and software switch manufacturer Avocent. Telecommunications provider Deltacom, Inc. and copper tube manufacturer and distributor Wolverine Tube are also based in Huntsville. Sanmina-SCI also has a large presence in the area. Forty-two Fortune 500 companies have operations in Huntsville.  In 2005, Forbes Magazine named the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area as 6th best place in the nation for doing business.  

Huntsville is fast becoming a regional retail center. There are many strip malls and "power centers" throughout the city. Huntsville has two malls- Madison Square Mall, built in 1984, and Parkway Place, built in 2002 on the site of the former Parkway City Mall. An upscale lifestyle center, Bridge Street Town Centre, is under construction in Cummings Research Park and is scheduled to be complete in 2007. Another "live, work, and play" center is being constructed on the former site of the Heart of Huntsville Mall. It is to be called Constellation with ground breaking in Fall 2007 and scheduled completion by 2010.