1. Ryla To Bring 1,200 Jobs To Mobile
Governor Bob Riley announced that Ryla, Inc. has selected the Mobile County community of Saraland as the site for its Gulf Coast Expansion plans, bringing 1,200 jobs to the area.
2. Biodiesel Catalyst Plant Starts Production in Alabama
Evonik Degussa Corp. held a plant dedication ceremony to celebrate the commissioning of its new sodium methylate plant in Mobile. The 60,000 metric ton (16.5 million gallon) per year facility was built to serve North American biodiesel producers.
3. Birmingham, Huntsville Scientists Work on Faster Swine Flu Tests
Scientists in both Birmingham and Huntsville are working on new tests that can diagnose swine flu quicker and more efficiently. A shipment of live swine flu virus arrived Friday at Birmingham's Southern Research Institute so scientists there can quickly develop tests for new, critically needed vaccines and antiviral drugs, officials said.
HudsonAlpha is also developing a test that should reveal within four hours whether a patient has swine flu or something else. The test will check for 26 viruses and bacteria, including the swine-flu strain now racing around the globe.
4. UAB Planning $48 Million Medical Imaging Center
University of Alabama at Birmingham is planning a $48 million center for medical imaging that university officials say could make the school a leader in the field.
The proposed center would house a 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging machine, the most powerful MRI used for human research. There are only 20 of the machines in the world and 10 in the United States
5. Red Diamond Hopes To Brew Success at New Plant
Bill Bowron reveres the history of Red Diamond Inc.'s facility on Vanderbilt Road in Birmingham, but the chief of the century-old company is looking to the future with a multimillion-dollar, 65-acre corporate campus in Moody.
The coffee and tea maker is counting on the plant to help it become the second largest producer of tea in North America by 2011.
6. Alabama Pre-k Program Ranked Best in Nation
Alabama’s pre-kindergarten program has been named the nation’s best for the third-consecutive year. The National Institute for Early Education Research rated Alabama and North Carolina as the top programs nationally by meeting all quality standards in pre-k.
7. Alabama Tourism Up Three Percent in 2008
Alabama attracted 22 million tourists who spent $9.6 billion in the state in 2008, a 3 percent improvement in 2008 over 2007 totals. Those visitors also paid $702 million in state and local lodging and sales taxes, according to a state report released Tuesday.
8. Americatel To Bring New Jobs to Atmore
Americatel, a Rockville, MD-based provider of international telecom services, announced the location of the company’s customer operations to Matrix Telecom's highly efficient customer center in Atmore. The company will be moving dozens of well-paying call center and management positions presently staffed offshore to the Atmore facility operated by Matrix.
Officials gathered at the Escambia County Industrial Development office in Atmore to hear the good news that 60 new jobs would be created. Representatives from the Alabama Development Office, Alabama Industrial Development Training, Alabama Career Center and Jefferson Davis Community were in attendance to discuss potential training.
9. Unique Tool Can Accurately Forecast Freight & Truck Traffic
A first-of-its-kind tool that highway planners can use to accurately forecast freight and truck traffic has been unveiled by researchers from The University of Alabama in Huntsville. The tool could augment passenger car-based traffic forecasting models that have under estimated both the volume and the growth of truck traffic by more than 100 percent. "We're trying to figure out how to plan for freight transportation needs," said researcher Greg Harris. "We are studying infrastructure and freight, and how they work together to support economic growth."
10. Intermodal Center Targets Asia with New Cargo Facility
Officials with the Port of Huntsville's International Intermodal Center hope that the drumbeats that accompanied the Chinese dragon ceremony will call air cargo carriers to the center's new air cargo building. More than 250 invited guests attended the grand opening of the 92,000-square-foot cargo facility.