1. GE Aviation Selects Auburn as Site for New Coatings Facility
AUBURN -- GE Aviation announced last week that it has selected Auburn as the site for an environmental coatings facility for advanced military jet engine components. The company said it picked Auburn based on the area's access to a strong technical workforce, local government support, employee training opportunities and close proximity to Auburn University.
"We are deeply gratified by the tremendous support received from Gov. Bob Riley and his whole team at the ADO (Alabama Development Office)," David Joyce, president & CEO of GE Aviation, said in a statement.
"The F136 engine is a very long-term program, with production anticipated for decades. We are thrilled to make Alabama part of our advanced technology network and to commit to high-technology jobs for the state."
The new facility, which will provide between 300 and 400 jobs, will enhance components for the GE/Rolls-Royce F136 jet engine for the Joint Strike Fighter F-35 program. Initial F136 production will start in 2013.
The JSF F-35, the largest military procurement in U.S. history, is a multirole aircraft to replace numerous tactical fighter aircraft flying today. Potential F-35 production for the Air Force, Navy, Marines and international customers is expected to reach more than 5,000 aircraft over 30 years.
At a ceremony in August at the state Capitol, Riley and Joyce announced the facility was coming to Alabama.Construction of a 200,000 square-foot facility will begin in 2011 at Auburn Technology Park West. It is expected to open in 2012.
While Joyce said GE Aviation is committed to its first operation in Alabama, the larger GE already has a significant presence in the state. GE has 1,600 employees in Alabama through its GE Enterprise Solutions operation in Huntsville and GE appliance plant in Decatur.
GE Aviation, which generated revenues of $18.7 billion in 2009, employs roughly 38,000 employees and operates more than 50 manufacturing and service facilities around the world. The company, which is a subsidiary of General Electric, has headquarters in Evendale, Ohio.
2. SSAB Breaks Ground on Expansion of Axis Steel
AXIS -- SSAB marked the start of its steel mill expansion last week in Axis. David Britten, who leads the Swedish steel company's Western Hemisphere operations, said that the project at the Axis mill reinforces SSAB's emphasis on making high-strength steel used in specialty applications.
"Making our commitment to do this really says that SSAB is committed to its strategy." Britten said.
The $287 million expansion includes a 300,000-square-foot building to house an additional quenching and tempering line for steel plate. SSAB already has a smaller heat treating facility in Axis.
The hardened steel sells for higher prices, making it more profitable for the company. It's often used in heavy-duty applications like mining and construction equipment.
Adding capacity is supposed to mean 137 more jobs. The company has 400 employees at the site, while permanent contractors working for SSAB employ several hundred more people there.
SSAB and other steel companies suffered through a steep downturn in demand in 2008 and 2009. As a result, the firm cut its planned investment in Axis from an original figure of $460 million, and reduced the capacity of the new heat treating line from 330,000 metric tons to 200,000 metric tons.
As construction and equipment costs fell in the recession, Britten said the expansion became a better value. The overall project also includes two components other than the heat treating line. SSAB will add a vacuum tank degasser, which removes impurities as it melts scrap metal to make new steel. It will also add equipment to its steel rolling lines that allows it to roll steel plates with less tapering at the edges.
Linda Swann, director of the Alabama Development Office, said that state officials were pleased to be able to support the project, and see it go forward.
3. Magazine Ranks Alabama Business Climate 10th in Nation
Alabama is the 10th-best place in the nation to do business, according to a new ranking of states' business climates by Site Selection magazine.
Alabama beat out Kentucky, Florida and Mississippi. Linda Swann, director of the Alabama Development Office, said the state should be pleased with its performance. "It's always great to come in the top 10," she said.
Half of the basis for the overall ranking was data from the Conway Data New Plant Database, which tracks new and expanded business facilities, and half was from a survey that asked corporate real estate executives about red tape, financial assistance and government cooperation.
Alabama ranked ninth in the survey of site selectors and 20th among states for new plants attracted so far this year. But adjusted for population, the state ranked ninth for new plants, too. The state ranked 12th for "competitiveness."
The South did well in the rankings in general because new or expanding companies prefer the option of a union-free work force, Swann said, and because workers in the South are viewed as being especially productive.
Alabama, in particular, has a good reputation for productivity in part because of the Alabama Industrial Development Training agency, which provides one-stop shopping for businesses looking for employees and for workers looking for jobs, she said. The agency, part of the state's community college system, provides training -- free of charge -- to employees of many new and expanding businesses. "You get more for your money" in Alabama, Swann said.
Alabama is doing especially well in a handful of industries including aerospace, automotive, wood products and green energy, Swann said. States that outperformed Alabama in the rankings have been landing auto plants and high tech industries such as microchip manufacturers, she said.
4. Governor Riley Opens Maritime Training Center in Mobile
Gov. Bob Riley opened Alabama Industrial Development Training’s Maritime Training Center this month, declaring that it would aid the state’s chase for more shipbuilding jobs. "I’d like to welcome you to the newest weapons system in Alabama’s arsenal," Riley told the crowd at the $12 million facility on the Causeway.
Half of the building will serve as a dedicated training center for aluminum shipbuilder Austal USA, while the other half will train workers for the area’s smaller shipyards, including BAE Systems, C&G Boat Works and Signal Ship Repair.
After he cut the ribbon at the $12 million Maritime Training Center, Gov. Bob Riley toured the shipbuilder training facility on the Causeway built for Alabama Industrial Development Training.
The facility will teach courses including welding, ship fitting, crane operation, safety, and ship planning and shipyard supervision.
5. Dynetics Breaks Ground on Huntsville Prototyping Facility
HUNTSVILLE -- Dynetics held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for its $50 million, 226,500-square-foot design, development and prototyping facility. This will be the fourth building in Dynetics' campus on the northern edge of Cummings Research Park.
Dynetics CEO Dr. Marc Bendickson hopes the new building will be finished in another 16 months. "By the time we get it populated with projects," the building will house 300 to 350 engineers and technicians, he said. The prototyping facility will give the company room to expand its capabilities in its five focus areas of intelligence, missiles, aviation, cyber and space. "Dynetics thrives on solving complex engineering problems - the tougher, the better," Bendickson said. "This facility was designed to meet those needs by employees who are actually working the problems."
It took more than two years for a group of project managers to lay out requirements for the building, Bendickson said.
The architect for the project is Fuqua & Partners Architects in Huntsville and the general contractor is Birmingham-based B.L. Harbert International
Dynetics, whose corporate headquarters is at 1002 Explorer Blvd., now has more than 1,300 employees, and more than 1,100 of them are in Huntsville.
6. New Elantra Rolls Out of Montgomery Plant
Hyundai and its Alabama operations were in the industry spotlight last week, as the redesigned Elantra was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show and the Korean automaker's Montgomery factory starts mass production of the updated vehicle.
The new 2011 Elantra is the first compact sedan to join the state's auto assembly lines, which have long been dominated by SUVs and other light trucks. The arrival at Hyundai's Alabama plant comes as employees already are working overtime to produce the hot-selling Sonata, a midsize sedan and the subject of a recent redesign of its own.
Industry observers expect the Elantra to make a similar splash in the market, thanks to changes like those found on the updated Sonata, including a sleek new shape and improved fuel economy.
Hyundai has been on a roll lately, with new products, aggressive incentives and a value-oriented brand image that helped the company buck a widespread industry slump that started in 2008. Last year, the automaker's U.S. sales rose 8 percent over 2008.
"They pretty much dodged a bullet completely in a year when everybody declined in sales," said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for TrueCar.com. "They have the right kind of product for the type of demand we have now, which is, 'How can I get the most car for my money?'"
So far this year, Hyundai's U.S. sales are 21 percent ahead of last year, a boost that's largely due to the success of the Sonata.
The Sonata's year-to-date U.S. sales total 166,628, or about 65,000 more than Hyundai sold during all of 2009. As a result, Montgomery workers have been on the job 50 to 60 hours a week at times, including some Saturdays.
In another preparatory move, the plant has continued to build the Sonata at a wide-open pace. For example, Sonata production topped 25,000 in September and again in October, more than U.S. sales during each of those months.
The full economic impact of the Hyundai plant is being felt across the Montgomery area for the first time. That's because the facility is on target to reach its annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles this year, the first time the automaker has hit that milestone since setting up shop in 2005.
"The good times are rolling, everybody is enjoying the prosperity and we've got to take advantage of it," Burns said. "We feel confident that 2011 is going to be a very busy year."
7. Alabama-made Auto Sales up 23 Percent from 2009
U.S. sales of Alabama-built vehicles this year continue to climb over 2009. So far this year, combined sales of state-made models stand at 452,052 -- a 23 percent increase over those sold through October of last year.
Such numbers have the Alabama factories operated by Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai humming, a drastic change from the idled assembly lines in 2009.
Hyundai has had the biggest boost, fueled by the successful debut of its redesigned Sonata sedan, which is built at the Korean automaker's Montgomery plant. Through October, the Sonata's 2010 sales stand at 166,628, a 64 percent surge over 2009.
Meanwhile, combined sales of the Sonata and the Santa Fe SUV, which Hyundai moved out of Montgomery in September, total 223,738, a 35 percent improvement over last year.
The Santa Fe is now being built at a Kia plant in Georgia, and production of the Hyundai Elantra compact sedan will start this month in Montgomery.
Mercedes-Benz and Honda also have seen sales rise substantially for their Alabama-built products. Sales of the total output of Mercedes' Vance plant is up 20 percent, while sales of the total output of Honda's Lincoln plant has risen 13 percent.
Honda's numbers could be even higher, since the Accord V-6 sedan is among the Lincoln products but the automaker does not provide a sales breakdown for that model. Overall Accord sales are 6 percent ahead of last year.
Despite the rising numbers, total U.S. industry sales remain far below those seen earlier this decade, when annual totals ranged from 16 million to 17 million. For most of this year, the annual selling rate has hovered around 11 million.
But October was the strongest sales month of 2010 so far. According to Autodata Corp., the annual selling rate rose to 12.26 million, and nearly every major automaker, except for Toyota, posted overall sales gains compared to the year-ago period.
8. First ThyssenKrupp Steel Slabs from Brazil Unloaded in Mobile
The first steel slabs bound for Calvert from ThyssenKrupp AG’s mill in Brazil took another step toward their destination this month. Using magnetic cranes, workers at the Alabama State Port Authority’s Pinto Island terminal began unloading the 2,216 slabs, which average weighing close to 25 tons each. Crane operators stacked the slabs on the ground to await transfer to the barges that will carry them up the Mobile and Tombigbee rivers to ThyssenKrupp’s barge terminal.
The Hermann-S, operated by the U-SEA Bulk line, arrived in Mobile Sunday afternoon, 16 days after departing from ThyssenKrupp’s $5.7 billion mill at Santa Cruz, just west of Rio de Janeiro. The 623-foot-long ship carried 50,015 metric tons of steel slab. Unloading is expected to continue through Tuesday.
The Brazilian mill, a joint venture between ThyssenKrupp and iron ore mining firm Vale SA, is meant to supply 5 million metric tons of raw steel per year at full capacity. Of that, 3 million tons will go to ThyssenKrupp’s carbon steel operation in Alabama with 2 million tons directed to the firm’s European plants. The receiving mills will process and finish the steel.
The Brazilian mill made its first slab in September. State docks Director Jimmy Lyons said the second shipment is already en route from Brazil. ThyssenKrupp has already begun processing carbon steel in Calvert, using slabs from its blast furnace in Duisburg, Germany. Those slabs cost more than the ones from Brazil.
Because the economic recovery in Germany has been relatively strong, ThyssenKrupp has had to return to its historic practice of buying steel slabs from outside suppliers.
ThyssenKrupp managers have said they plan to fire up a second blast furnace in Brazil by the end of this year — a year earlier than planned — ensuring the company control of its own low-cost supply of raw steel.
9. Huntsville Ranks Seventh in Most Attractive Business Locations
Huntsville is in seventh place among 15 metro regions named prime business locations in a survey of site selection consultants by Area Development magazine. The magazine asked a group of consultants to name the metro areas they consider the most attractive investment locations. The metro rankings, which appear in the September issue, are part of Area Development's Top States for Doing Business series.
Obviously, a majority of the consultants surveyed remembered the Huntsville metro area and thought positively of it, said Brian Hilson, president/CEO of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. "That's what makes this especially meaningful for us."
Hilson noted that the six other metro areas ahead of Huntsville on the list are all significantly larger than Huntsville, with population bases large enough to support major league sports teams.
The consultants picked metros of varying sizes - from Dallas to Reno, the so-called "biggest little city in the world." Twelve of the 15 cities named, including Huntsville, are in states that are among the consultants' top-ranked for meeting eight site-selection criteria.
Alabama ranked fourth overall among the 10 states named most often by industry consultants in picking the best states for business. The respondents considered eight site-selection criteria: business costs, business friendliness, corporate taxes, overall labor climate, work force development programs, fast-track permitting, rail and highway accessibility and shovel-ready sites.
10. Forbes Ranks Birmingham Ninth Most Affordable City
Birmingham is the ninth most affordable city in the United States, according to a Forbes magazine ranking released last week.
The magazine ranked metropolitan statistical areas of at least 100,000 residents based on a combination of factors including unemployment, grocery bills, incomes and transportation. Birmingham ranked fifth for cost of living, 26th for unemployment and 14th for housing costs.
The ten most affordable cities in the United States, according to Forbes: (1) Oklahoma City; (2) Pittsburgh; (3) Buffalo, N.Y.; (4) Rochester, N.Y.; (5) Nashville, Tenn.; (6) San Antonio, Texas.; (7) Houston; (8) Louisville, Ky.; (9) Birmingham; (10) Austin, Texas.