1. Construction Begins at State’s 1st Maritime Training Center near Mobile
Gov. Bob Riley inaugurated construction this week on the $12 million Maritime Science Center, meant to train workers for shipyards in the Mobile area.
Riley broke a bottle of muscadine grape juice against a container in front of a group that included representatives from four nearby shipyards: Austal USA, Atlantic Marine, Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. and C&G Boat Works.
"Alabama is going to step up and we're going to do for you what we have done for so many industries in the past, and if we do that, we're all going to share in the success together," Riley said.
2. Business Park Sprouting near ThyssenKrupp
The first major commercial project near the ThyssenKrupp plant site is being developed by Tensaw Land & Timber Co., the group that sold 2,500 acres in Calvert for the German steelmaker's plant site — about two-thirds of the total acreage.
3. Birmingham’s Housing Market Shows Hopeful Signs
Metro Birmingham's real estate market is showing budding signs of life, with a sustained series of month-to-month upticks in home sales and two new reports that offer good news on pricing and foreclosure trends.
4. Huntsville Company Adds 100 Jobs to Work Force
Greenbelt, Md.-based ASRC Federal Holding plans a 27,000-square-foot building in Cummings Research Park. Construction will start in July with a target completion date of April.
The new building will be next to the 25,000-square-foot headquarters of Analytical Services Inc., which ASRC Federal acquired in 2007. The new building will expand ASI's campus and provide local offices for two other ASRC Federal subsidiaries, ASRC Aerospace and ASRC Research and Technology Solutions.
The facility will allow ASRC Federal and its subsidiaries to add about 100 jobs locally over the next two to three years. ASI currently employs about 200 here.
5. Three Birmingham Companies among Top 50 Places To Work
Three Birmingham firms were recently named to a national listing of 50 small- and medium-sized best places to work.
General contractor Hoar Construction LLC placed No. 8 on the list of best medium-sized companies to work for, compiled by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Great Place to Work Institute Inc., said a news release.
Robins & Morton, also a local general contractor, ranked No. 17 on the list of 25 best medium-sized places to work. Software development firm DAXKO said it ranked on the list for the second year in a row, coming in at No. 10 this year.
6. UAB to bring jobs, research through Stem Cell Institute
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has created a Stem Cell Institute that has the potential to be a major economic driver for the region, industry experts said.
The newly created institute could attract top national and international researchers, boost the region’s talent pool and entice biotech manufacturers to the area, according to Biotechnology Association of Alabama Executive Director Kathy Nugent.
7. Personal Income Levels Hold Steady in Alabama
Alabama's personal income level remained stable in the first quarter of 2009, following a decrease of 0.4 percent in the last quarter of 2008, according to a Thursday report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Nationally, personal income fell by 0.5 percent in the first quarter of this year and 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
8. Two Auburn Companies Plan Expansions
Two more Auburn industries are reporting the need to expand production and hire additional employees. Cumberland Plastic Systems LLC, an assembler of plastic components for automotive manufacturers, will add 51 new employees in the next two years, while Donaldson Company Inc., a producer of filtration solutions for various industries, will hire 25 new employees in the coming year.
9. Forbes Names Huntsville A Top Spot for Recession Recovery
Forbes recently named Huntsville the No. 4 Best Place for Recession Recovery in the Nation. The report highlights Huntsville’s economy being high-tech as well as the presence of Cummings Research Park and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
10. Huntsville Company selected as Finalist for Small Business Award
Dell and NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses) announced recently that Appleton Learning was one of only 10 companies nationally selected to be a finalist for the Small Business Excellence Award.
This prestigious award recognizes small businesses that innovatively use technology to improve their customer experience and overall operations.
The Huntsville company was selected out of more than 3,000 companies nationally for prestigious honor.