1. Viper Powersports To Build Motorcycles, Move Headquarters to Auburn
Construction has started on the new motorcycle factory that is projected to have an Alabama-made bike on the nation's highways later this year.
Viper Powersports Inc. said Wednesday it has signed a 10-year lease to occupy a building owned by the Auburn Industrial Development Board. The board has begun converting the 68,000 square-foot space into a motorcycle assembly plant for the company.
Last year, the Minnesota-based company agreed to move its headquarters and motorcycle manufacturing to Auburn, creating about 100 jobs in the long run.
Viper manufactures heavy American-style cruiser motorcycles that sell for about $35,000. Company officials said the move to Auburn is to escape the wintry north, allowing year-round road testing.
"Yep, we really are coming," said Chief Executive John Silseth. "We are looking at completing the move to Auburn in the second quarter, and you should be seeing the first Alabama-made Viper motorcycles on the roads within 60 days of that."
Silseth said the assembly plant should be finished sometime in March. Viper has been in business since 2002, and has spent $32 million developing a V-Twin engine that can run at 170 miles per hour. The company has hired a Michigan-based engine maker to build the components, which will be assembled into finished bikes by Viper workers in Auburn.
Auburn Industrial Development Board director T. Phillip Dunlap said Viper is the kind of high-tech manufacturing company the region is courting, and that it is a perfect fit for the building the authority built before it had a tenant, figuring someone would need it someday and fill it with high paying jobs.
2. Layoffs in Alabama Plummet as Economy Picks Up
It's just a snapshot of the state's economy, but it's encouraging nonetheless. The number of layoffs reported to the state last year plummeted compared to previous years. Alabama businesses in 2010 reported 6,511 jobs lost to layoffs, compared to 16,150 in 2009. That's a 60 percent improvement, and last year's total was the lowest in at least the past decade, according to state records.
Ricky Jordan, with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, cautioned that the numbers aren't all-inclusive. They include only layoffs that were big enough to trigger federal reporting requirements, and smaller layoffs that were reported voluntarily. But Jordan said he thinks it's not just a case of businesses having already cut to the bone.
"I think the economy has started improving," he said. "They're not laying off. They're not hiring much either. But they're not laying off."
The state typically averages between 10,000 and 14,000 reported layoffs a year. Jordan said 2009 was the worst year on record and he doesn't expect businesses to return to pre-recession staffing levels any time soon.
3. HudsonAlpha Looks to 2011 as Year Biotech Campus Takes Root
Passengers flying into and out of Huntsville's International Airport last year couldn't miss the big, curving excavations in Cummings Research Park.
The giant connected loops were eye-catchers, but the real "wow" moment came with recognition that the design is one of the world's largest - if not the largest - models of the DNA double-helix.
The paved double-helix will be the garden path backbone of a 150-acre biotechnology campus anchored by the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and this could be the year companies start calling the campus home.
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/01/hudsonalpha_looks_to_2011_as_t.html
4. Scottsboro Expansion Brings Jobs to Area
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley officially welcomed Heat Transfer Products Group to Scottsboro in ceremonies at the company's facility in the Scottsboro Industrial Park.
In August, shortly after Witt Heat Transfer Products (a part of the Carrier Corporation) was purchased by Monomoy Capital Partners, L.P., the company announced that it would consolidate its Yuma, Az. operations with the local plant. Part of the company’s corporate offices is housed locally with the remainder located in Brea, Ca. The company is now known as HTPG.
HTPG is a manufacturer of commercial and industrial refrigeration equipment. It provides products for retail food vendors and food service industries. The company's workforce has grown from 319 employees to approximately 400 since its August announcement. It anticipates additional growth within the next two years.
"We're really excited about the opportunities of this company," HTPG CEO John May said. "We're seeing job growth and since our consolidation business has really taken off. We're the second largest provider of refrigeration products in the U.S."
"This may very well be our last announcement before I go out," Gov. Bob Riley said. "I promise you it's not going to be the last for Alabama and it's not going to be the last for Scottsboro. We've got a (economic development) team together that is known internationally."
5. Plasman To Begin Hiring in Fort Payne
Plastics manufacturer AP Plasman has started the process of hiring for its facility in Fort Payne. The firm expects to hire 150 employees in the Fort Payne area before its June opening.
To assist in the hiring process, the Fort Payne Career Center of the Alabama Career Center System has employed its mobile unit to aid job seekers interested in submitting an application to Plasman. The mobile unit has additional computers connected to the Internet. The mobile unit is at the Fort Payne Career Center, 2100 Jordan Road.
The Fort Payne Career Center has begun helping applicants with the AIDT online application process for potential job placement with Plasman, a Canada-based company known for its automobile partnerships with Honda, GM, Chrysler and Toyota.
6. Etowah County Growth Better than Expected, Says McCain
Industrial recruitment for Etowah County in 2010 was better than expected, according to Mike McCain, executive director of the Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority, and he is optimistic about 2011.
Etowah County tied for second in the state in new industries, tied for fourth in new jobs announced and ranked fifth in total capital investment by new industries, McCain said.
The rankings were based on industrial announcements made through mid-November, according to the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations.
Two new industries announced in 2010 that they would locate in the county. Fehrer Automotive, which will be housed in the former Advance Automotive distribution center and eventually will employ 170 people, represented a $14 million investment. United Casework purchased the former Custom Panel/Expressions Cabinetry building. It is beginning with 25 to 30 employees and eventually will employ 80 people.
Fehrer will produce automotive seating pads for the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., and for Mercedes-Benz in Vance. United Casework will produce flat-panel products.
One existing company, Prince Metal Stamping, announced a $25 million expansion that will create 30 jobs in the next three years.
7. Economic Forecaster Predicts Moderate Job Growth for Alabama
Alabama will see jobs grow by an average of 1.78 percent a year from 2010 through 2016 economic forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicts. That ranks Alabama 18th among states, above the 50-state median rate of 1.64 percent.
Utah, with its fast growing population, is expected to see jobs grow the fastest -- 2.68 percent a year. Connecticut is expected to see the slowest growth at 0.97 percent, the only state where growth lower than 1 percent is predicted.
For more of the story: http://blog.al.com/press-register business/2011/01/economic_forecaster_predicts_m.html
8. Shoals Leaders Optimistic for Economic Development in Area
Forrest Wright uses an automobile sales analogy to describe what he believes is the direction of the Shoals economy.” We are beginning to see renewed interest from industry consultants asking about what the Shoals has,” said Wright, executive director of the Shoals Economic Development Authority. “For the last year or so, they’ve been driving by, looking at the car lot. Now they’re pulling in, looking around asking about new vehicles.
“They’re not buying yet, but are showing more interest.”
Local officials have expressed guarded optimism about the Shoals economy for the New Year. The area, like the nation, has felt effects of a national recession.
They stress, however, a recovery will not happen overnight. Kerry Gatlin, dean of the University of North Alabama’s College of Business, expects it to be more methodical. “The economy is going to continue to improve, but it’ll be a slow improvement,” Gatlin said. He said a major unknown this year is what types of actions a newly Republican-majority Congress will take.
“Are they going to continue to manage and stimulate the economy, or let the economy find its own course of action?” Gatlin asks. “What are they going to do with matters such as taxes, spending and fiscal policy — there’s just a tremendous amount of uncertainty out there.
“We need a Congress that will work together on both sides to improve the business climate.”
National recovery translates into businesses and industries finding renewed interest and bravery in pursuing projects.
Wright said the Shoals has infrastructure in place when that happens.” We’re poised to take advantage of new economic-development growth in 2011 when private business develops the confidence to start making new investments,” he said. “Most construction companies tell me most of their work is government-related. So there’s still some money being spent in those sectors, but private business continues watching dollars closely at this point.
“Unless they can have some confidence that they can make more than they spend, they’re not going to spend it.”
Wright also anticipates an increase in nontraditional economic-development projects in manufacturing and nonmanufacturing segments.
The Shoals Unemployment rate is 8.3 percent, according to November figures from the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. That is below the state average of 9 percent and national average of 9.8 percent.
9. Alabama Ranks Third in Industrial Construction
Alabama had the third-highest amount of planned industrial construction spending in December among the states. The $2.69 billion total trailed only the $9.35 billion in California and $7.35 billion in Texas, according to Industrial Reports, a firm that researches construction plans for potential suppliers.
Alabama had eight announced projects, led by the Tennessee Valley Authority's $1.89 billion planned completion of the Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station in far northeastern Alabama. Second was the $600 million military tanker assembly facility in Mobile put out to bid by European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
Overall planned investment in the United States rose to $28.2 billion in December, up 39 percent from $20.3 billion in November. Industrial Reports said $22.2 billion of that spending was planned by the energy industry.
Industrial Reports listed only two projects worth $190 million in Alabama in November.
A total of five projects worth $38.5 million were planned for Mississippi in December, up from two projects worth $9 million in November.
10. Honda Ends 2010 on a High Note
LINCOLN — Associates at the Honda plant in Lincoln turned out a total of 272,057 vehicles during calendar year 2010.
“For the calendar year 2010, (Honda Manufacturing of Alabama turned out 119,573 Odyssey minivans; 121,331 Pilot (sports utility vehicles); 20,174 Ridgeline pickups; and 10,979 Accord V-6 Sedans at the Lincoln facility, according to preliminary calculations,” according to a press release. “Final and official production numbers will be verified in January 2011. HMA is the exclusive global production source for the Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline.”