1. Indy Racing Contract Means Economic Impact for Birmingham
The Barber Motorsports Park has landed a three-year contract with the Indy Racing League for races that could attract as many as 100,000 fans per event and deliver a hefty economic impact to the Birmingham metro area.
The first of the races, called the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, will be April 9-11, 2010. The park will hold the event around the same time in 2011 and 2012. Each of the races will have an estimated economic impact topping $30 million, according to a study prepared by the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The races will put Birmingham on an Indy car circuit that includes North American cities such as Miami, Dallas and Toronto. Alabama's largest city beat out Cleveland, Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Portland, Ore., for the event, according to the sources.
2. Production Ramping Up at Honda’s Lincoln Plant
Honda is ramping up production at its Alabama auto assembly plant, the result of strengthening sales for its flagship vehicles: the Odyssey minivan and Pilot sport utility. The Japanese automaker's Lincoln factory will add three upcoming Saturdays to its production schedule, work that will count as overtime for employees. The plant's daily output also will be ratcheted up.
In addition, Honda recently added about 100 temporary workers at the plant and may double that number in the coming months. The moves were announced Monday to the plant's 4,000-plus workers and are some of the most hopeful signs yet of a recovery in Alabama's auto industry.
3. Mercedes Expands Body Shop in Vance
Construction has slowed significantly nationally because of the recession. But in Vance, it is moving ahead. Fairly dry weather has allowed crews building a 225,000-square-foot expansion of the body shop at the Mercedes-Benz assembly plant to get about two to three weeks ahead of schedule.
Mercedes has pegged the cost of the overall project at $290 million. That figure includes not only the new addition and the upgrading of the existing body shop but also new high-technology machinery, equipment, robotics and tooling that will be added to the plant, said Mercedes spokeswoman Felycia Jerald.
Installation of the new equipment, machines and robotics in the new addition will not start until after the construction is completed, she said. Mercedes has said the expanded body shop will be ready for operation in October 2011. It has not set a date for when the new facility will go online.
4. Company To Bring 75 Jobs to Chambers County
Canadian firm Commercial Spring and Tool Company Limited has announced plans to expand operations into the United States. The State of Alabama, City of LaFayette, Chambers County Commission and Chambers County Development Authority finalized the agreement between all parties July 10.
The company will manufacture metal stamped parts, and tool and die assemblies for a variety of customers and plans to hire 75 full-time team members within the first 36 months of operation.
Employment information is available on the Chambers County Development Authority Web site at http://www.chambersida.com. Hiring is expected to begin in late 2009 or early 2010.
5. ThyssenKrupp Foundation Work To Begin in Alabama
ThyssenKrupp AG plans to start pouring the foundation of the stainless steel melt shop next month at its $4.65 billion complex in Calvert, Ala., says Peter Elliott, who manages construction for the stainless side of the operation. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel operations will share the Calvert site with a larger carbon steel mill, but the two are separately managed.
6. Study Shows Alabama Has Balanced Migration Rate
In the first half of this year, more people are moving into Alabama than are moving out, according to a report released this month.A migration study conducted by United Van Lines said the company had 1,642 interstate household moves in and out of Alabama in the first six months of 2009.
Nearly 55 percent of those shipments were inbound, while more than 45 percent were outbound, said the study.Alabama was classified as a balanced state, while high outbound states included Michigan (70 percent outbound), North Dakota (nearly 60 percent), Illinois (more than 58 percent) and Indiana (more than 57 percent), with 55 percent or more of moves going out of state.
High inbound states included the District of Columbia (63.6 percent inbound), Oregon (more than 59 percent), Arkansas (58.3 percent), Nevada (nearly 58 percent) and Wyoming (nearly 58 percent). United Van Lines said the study’s findings were based on 60,520 interstate household moves from January to June 2009 in 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.
7. Two Alabama Vehicles Earn Top Rankings by J.D. Power & Associates
Two Alabama-built vehicles have earned top rankings in a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The Hyundai Genesis ranked number one atop the group's Vehicle Launch Index and the Honda Pilot ranked sixth.
The index ranks new or redesigned vehicles for their financial success on factors such as revenue, dealer gross profit, incentive spending and residual value.
Also in the survey, the Alabama-built 2009 Honda Pilot sport utility ranked high for its performance. In early 2008, Honda unveiled the redesigned 2009 Pilot, which is built at the Japanese automaker's factory in Lincoln. The Pilot ranked sixth out of 28 new vehicle launches on the J.D. Power and Associates list.
8. Alabama Home Sales Rise 15 Percent in June
Alabama home sales rose nearly 15 percent in June. According to the Alabama Center for Real Estate, 3,911 homes sold in the state last month, compared to 3,409 in May.
In June, median selling price was $127,993, up more than 2 percent from May, and average selling price was $156,852, up nearly 7 percent from the previous month. Inventory increased by half a percent over May, but decreased more than 8 percent over June 2008.
9. Virtual Alabama Called National Model for Disaster Response
Alabama is leading the nation in its use of new imaging technology to prepare for disasters, federal and state homeland security officials said last week. The state is so far ahead of the pack, they said, that it is even helping other hurricane-prone states get their own programs off the ground.
Jim Walker, director of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security, said he and his staff have given the demonstration to other state governments and even abroad.
Virtual Alabama, as the system is called, is essentially Google Earth taken to the extreme. In its most basic form, Google Earth -- available to anyone with a powerful enough computer -- lets users explore the globe from a street-level view, to a bird's-eye view, to a space-station's view and everything in between.
Technologists with the Alabama Department of Homeland Security have taken those same capabilities and added thousands more layers of data and information for counties across the state.
10. EADS To Deliver Helicopters To Fort Rucker, Birmingham
EADS North America is delivering six UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters in July and August to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in Fort Rucker. Four additional helicopters will be delivered to the Alabama Army National Guard in Birmingham in November and December.
The UH-72A is the most modern aircraft being fielded to the Army and Army National Guard and is used primarily within the U.S. for homeland security operations, medical evacuation, passenger/logistics transportation and counter drug missions.