1. Thyssenkrupp Starts Stainless Steel Production in Calvert
ThyssenKrupp AG’s stainless unit at Calvert has started production. The company has using one of its three cold-rolling mills, as well as additional processing and finishing lines, the firm said in a statement.
The sister carbon steel unit at the $5 billion complex began operation July 31. Though both sides of the sprawling complex are now processing steel, significant construction remains at the site on the Mobile-Washington county line.
"For our customers, it represents an important signal," Ulrich Albrecht-Frueh, chief executive officer of ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA, said in a statement. "They can now source their material directly from our new state-of-the-art mill and can find people here who can deal with their specific requirements."
Unlike the carbon steel unit, the stainless unit already has a large, established customer base, commanding 12 percent of the U.S. stainless market. ThyssenKrupp has sold into the U.S. from Mexican and Europeans mills until now.
Calvert's stainless operation has 321 employees, while its carbon steel unit has 1,250. The total of 1,571 is almost 60 percent of the 2,700 employees ThyssenKrupp plans to hire.
A rolling mill take stainless steel made in Europe and presses it to a customer's desired thinness. Also running is a cold annealing and pickling line, which reheats the rolled steel to soften it, allowing it to be worked more easily. Finally, the stainless unit is running finishing equipment that polishes and cuts the steel.
ThyssenKrupp is building a hot annealing and pickling line, which will allow further processing of stainless steel when it is complete in fall 2011. It plans a melt shop, which would turn scrap into new steel, with operation planned to start between 2012 and 2014. Melt shop construction is largely on hold, pending the go-ahead from corporate leaders in Germany.
2. Marshall Space Flight Center’s Future Includes Many Vital Missions
HUNTSVILLE, AL. -- Huntsville's role in developing a heavy-payload space launch system, with a target date of a 2016 launch, is only one of the key roles Marshall Space Flight Center will play in the immediate future of NASA, according to Robert Lightfoot, director of the center.
"That's a pretty challenging mission for us and one we're excited about and certainly ready to meet the challenge," Lightfoot said Tuesday in a press briefing. "It very much pulls on the capabilities and strengths that we have here at Marshall."
Along with the heavy-lift program, Marshall will continue its integral role in the space shuttle program, for which a Nov. 1 launch is scheduled, and as the primary payload operations center for the International Space Center, a program set to run through 2020.
Marshall is the home for a new program for robotics to build on what has already been developed there and its earth science efforts are "stable, with maybe a little increase," Lightfoot said.
"A lot of things we're trying to stay focused on the next three months, not the least of which is the space shuttle," he said. "The teams are very focused and we feel very positive about moving forward from here."
3. 100 New High-paying Jobs Coming to Andalusia
The Andalusia City Council and Andalusia Industrial Board have approved an agreement to build a 42,000 square foot expansion for Vector Aerospace that will mean 100 new local jobs averaging over the next two years.
When the new jobs are added, he said, Vector will have well over 200 local jobs averaging approximately $25 per hour. Vector moved in to its existing facility at South Alabama Regional Airport about 18 months ago and has already.
4. Vance Auto Supplier Brose To Expand, Add 112 Jobs
Brose Tuscaloosa Inc., an automotive parts supplier, says it plans a 100,000-square-foot expansion at its production plant in Vance that will add 112 employees. The expansion is the plant's second within a year and will double the plant's size.
Johannes Carl, general manager of the Tuscaloosa plant, says the expansion will cost about $26.4 million. Carl says the plant now has 82 workers and makes automotive parts for four automakers. Carl says Brose will make seat adjusters with cushion pads for an undisclosed automaker when the expansion is completed.
5. Sixty New Jobs Coming to Covington County
A $50 million U.S. military contract for American Apparel will allow the Opp branch of the company to increase its workforce by an estimated 60 employees. The company has been awarded three U.S. military contracts to provide uniforms and uniform pieces for troops serving in combat operations.
Jim Hodo, the company’s chief operations officer, said “American Apparel is fortunate to receive these contracts,” Hodo said. “These could not have come at a better time for us. This will allow us to prevent any future layoffs.”
In Opp, General Manager Peggy Henderson said this is good news for her plant.“It’s going to bring all the people back that we laid off since March, which is about 45 people, and we’ll hire some more,” she said. “It will take my employment from 160 back to around 220.”
In addition, Henderson said the contracts will increase the production. The contracts are for combat and military uniforms for the United States Marine Corps and United States Army.
For the Marines, American Apparel will produce a fire-resistant combat shirt and trouser to be used in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.For the Army, the company will continue to manufacture combat coats with the Afghanistan-specific multi-cam camouflage pattern as well as a field coat liner.
In order to meet the demands of the new contracts, the company, in addition to hiring staff, will invest in building expansions and upgrades at the Selma site.
6. Innovation Depot Gets $800,000 Federal Grant To Expand
Innovation Depot is getting an $800,000 government grant to make improvements and expand the downtown Birmingham business incubator.
The U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration said the project is expected to create 200 jobs and generate $200,000 in private investment, based on estimates in the grant proposal.
"The build out and development of the Innovation Depot business incubation center increases the capacity of the facility to 80-85 companies, employing 550-600 people at any one time, and will spur entrepreneurial economic development in the Birmingham region," Susan Matlock, the incubator's CEO, said in a statement. Innovation Depot now has space for around 60 start-up companies.
7. Alabama Auto Production Nearly Two Thirds Ahead of 2009 Pace
Alabama's auto production is up by two thirds this year, as demand for the vehicles built by Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai surges over the industry's sickly state in 2009.
Through August, the automakers' state factories had built 465,529 vehicles, according to estimates by the Automotive News Data Center. That's compared to 280,718 vehicles built during the same time last year.
To put it in even sharper perspective, auto production for all of 2009 totaled about 480,000, just 15,000 fewer than the current total, and there's still another quarter left in this year.
8. Alabama Unemployment Rate Drops for Four Straight Months
MONTGOMERY – Governor Bob Riley commented on the September announcement that Alabama’s unemployment rate has dropped for four consecutive months and is below the national rate for the first time in almost two years. “A trend is developing that’s clear, positive and very good. From April to August, Alabama’s unemployment rate has fallen from 11 percent to 9.2 percent -- almost two full percentage points. To see such a significant drop in just four months is incredible. During the past few weeks, we’ve had several major announcements of new industries coming to our state and we’re working to win others before the end of the year. For so long, Alabama had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Then this devastating recession hit. Then the oil disaster in the Gulf. Considering all the people on our coast who are hurting and still unemployed, it’s remarkable that our statewide jobless rate has fallen.”
9. National Ranking Says Three Alabama Areas Bright Spots for Youth
America's Promise Alliance has announced Huntsville/Madison County, Tuscaloosa County, and Sylacauga are three of the nation's 100 best communities for young people. The list praises towns and cities for "reducing high school dropout rates and creating brighter futures for young people," according to a news release.
"100 Best recognizes extraordinary community-wide efforts to improve the well-being of youth through programs that help keep children in school and prepare them for college and the 21st century workforce," the release said. America's Promise Alliance aims to reduce high school dropout rates. According to its figures, more than 7,000 students drop out of school each year.
"To help decrease these numbers, the alliance is committed to recognizing communities - regardless of size, location or history - that are working across sectors and taking real action to help young people stay in school, graduate and prepare for the workforce," the release said.
10. Hyundai Gets Government’s Highest Crash Test Rating
Hyundai's 2011 Alabama-made Sonata earned the highest government crash test rating. Hyundai's Alabama-built 2011 Sonata sedan has been awarded an overall five-star crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The rating is the highest government ranking under the agency's New Car Assessment Program, which includes testing and individual ratings for side, rollover and frontal crashes. The Sonata, which is built at Hyundai's Montgomery factory, was redesigned for the 2011 model year.
The Sonata was one of two 2011 models that received the overall five-star rating in a list of 32 announced today. The other was the BMW 5 Series. Those were the first vehicles tested under an upgraded rating system with more vigorous standards. For model year 2011, NHTSA will rate 24 passenger cars, 20 SUVs, two vans and nine pickups under the new system.
Honda's 2011 Pilot SUV, which is built at the automaker's Lincoln factory, earned an overall four-star rating. Early testing on the Sonata resulted in an overall four-star rating, but in later testing the sedan earned the overall five stars.