1. Honda Plans $97 Million Alabama Expansion, Fourth Product Line
LINCOLN -- Honda plans to invest $97 million and create 20 jobs at its Alabama auto factory in Lincoln, as the company prepares to add the Acura MDX luxury sport utility vehicle to its assembly lines.
Construction, installation and testing are expected to be completed in late 2012. Last week, Honda told employees that production of the MDX would be shifted to Lincoln from a plant in Canada in 2013. The move will give the Japanese automaker more room in Canada to build the popular CR-V SUV.
The $1.5 billion, 4,000-worker Alabama factory now produces the Odyssey minivan, Pilot SUV and Ridgeline pickup, as well as the engines that power them.Acura is Honda's luxury vehicle division, and the MDX will be the first Acura product built in the state.
Mark Morrison, a spokesman for the Lincoln plant, said the new investment will increase production capacity and improve manufacturing flexibility, as well as support the MDX move.
The project follows another one announced and also approved for tax abatements in March. Honda did not pinpoint the reason behind that project -- in which the automaker is investing $94 million and adding 20 jobs in Lincoln -- but said it also involves new equipment.
2. Johnson Controls Named First Supplier for Mercedes C-Class
Johnson Controls in Cottondale is the first Alabama auto supplier to land a contract to provide component parts for the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan, which will be made at the automaker's Vance factory. The company has produced a number of interior systems and components for both the M-Class SUV and the R-Class crossover, which are currently built in Vance.
The C-Class will join the plant's lineup in time for a 2013 launch. The additional work will add 185 jobs at Johnson Controls.
3. Big Day for DNA at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
HUNTSVILLE - Add this to the evidence Huntsville isn't your typical Southern city. It's time to celebrate International DNA Day. HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology led the commemoration of the discovery of DNA's now-famous double helix structure.
HudsonAlpha is a nonprofit educational and research center and biotech business incubator located at 601 Genome Way in Cummings Research Park. The event was held behind HudsonAlpha in McMillian Park, a green space linked by mile-long double-helix sidewalks and named for HudsonAlpha co-founder Lonnie McMillian.. The outer, paved loop makes a 1.2 mile course while the complete circuit on the double-helix path is 1.32 miles. The institute has planted more than 500 maple, cedar, dogwood, beech, tulip, oak, elm, cypress, ginkgo and linden trees in the park.
The double-helix sidewalks and park will eventually form a campus linking businesses and research laboratories spun off from HudsonAlpha. "DNA day celebrates the discovery of DNA's double-helix structure and the sequencing of the human genome," HudsonAlpha educational coordinator Dr. Neil Lamb said Monday. "This year, we brought both those concepts together with the creation of the Genome Walk, overlaying a set of genes from the human genome onto the double-helical paths of McMillian Park. It was a wonderful way to explore some of the genetic players that regulate our growth, health and disease, all while enjoying the beauty of the park's setting."
4. Goodrich Adds 20 Jobs at Its Foley Facility
MOBILE -- Goodrich Corp. plans to hire about 20 people at its Foley operation as it gears up to make more aircraft parts for Airbus and Boeing Co.
Alabama Industrial Development Training is advertising for people who want to be trained as sheet metal assemblers. The new employees would help make new thrust reversers and exhaust systems that cover aircraft engines in a unit called a nacelle, company spokesman Patrick Palmer said.
Goodrich, based in Charlotte, N.C., has 730 employees in Foley. That includes 430 who build new parts and 300 who repair and overhaul parts.
Palmer said Airbus and Boeing plan to ramp up production of the A320 and 737, respectively, in the coming year, meaning they will need more nacelles. AIDT is accepting application through April 24. The six-week pretraining would begin in late May and finish in July, Palmer said. After that Goodrich would choose who to hire. Wages would start at $13.65 and up, AIDT said. Applications are accepted at www.aidt.edu/jobs/.
5. Ground Broken on New Alabama Intermodal Center
McCALLA — Officials broke ground recently on a new transportation hub near Birmingham that may bring about 8,600 jobs over the next decade. Gov. Robert Bentley and other leaders marked the start of work on the Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility. It's the second of four similar complexes that will be built over the next two years along Norfolk Southern's 2,500-mile Crescent corridor, which links the Gulf Coast with the Northeast.
The intermodal center is a place for trains and truck to swap cargo. It will occupy a 316-acre site in Jefferson County west of Birmingham and is expected to open in 2012. Construction will cost more than $97 million.
6. Huntsville, Mobile Chambers Have Best Foreign Investment Strategies
The City of Huntsville was named the number five Small City of the Future and the community’s foreign direct investment strategy as managed by the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County and its partners was named number one. The rankings come from fDI’s Intelligence first-ever Americas Cities of the Future.
Mobile also ranked highly in the survey, holding the number five spot for the rankings for best foreign direct investment strategy. Mobile was ranked tenth.as a best Small City of the Future.
fDi Intelligence, from The Financial Times Ltd, is the leading provider of foreign direct investment intelligence. The portfolio encompasses world class products, services and business tools that allow companies to make informed decisions regarding foreign direct investment.
7. BAE To Add up to 400 Employees at Mobile Shipyard
MOBILE -- The Mobile facility of BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards will add as many as 400 workers to complete construction of an oil tanker, a company official said.
The shipyard on the east bank of Mobile River employs 600 workers and another 200 to 250 contractors, BAE spokesman Joe Chopek said. They do mostly repair and standard upkeep work, Chopek said. The company plans to hire another 150 to 200 employees and another 200 contractors, he said.
The extra workforce is needed to finish a tanker for Mid-Ocean Tanker Co. LLC of South Norwalk, Conn., a joint venture between private equity firm Alterna Capital Partners and Mid-Ocean Marine, a shipping company also based in South Norwalk.
The tanker is partially finished. Construction began in 2007 by Atlantic Marine, the previous owner of BAE's Mobile shipyard. Mid-Ocean bought the tanker in January for $12.65 million through a New Orleans-based bankruptcy court.
8. Austal Breaks Ground on Expansion in Mobile Area
MOBILE -- Austal USA officials and elected leaders broke ground recently on a $116 million project to build three new facilities at the shipbuilder's Mobile River complex. The construction should be finished within 15 months, and will enable the Australia-based shipbuilder to hire another 2,000 workers and complete contracts to build both joint high-speed vessels and littoral combat ships for the U.S. military, Austal USA President and Chief Operating Officer Joe Rella said.
Austal currently employs about 2,000 people, with that number expected to rise to at least 3,800 over the next few years. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley keyed in on that employment increase in a speech he gave before the groundbreaking. "Once we get people working again, many problems we face will be solved," Bentley said.
9. Lockheed Martin in Troy Wins $789 Million Contract
Lockheed Martin-Pike County Operations will benefit from a $789.8 million contract recently awarded to the company. The defense contractor received the contract to continue production on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) production contract.
The contract will allow Lockheed Martin to produce the THAAD weapon system, which will be utilized by the Missile Defense Agency. The contract includes $694.9 million for the production of 48 THAAD interceptors, six THAAD launchers, four fire control units and additional support equipment. The interceptors are produced at Lockheed Martin’s Pike County facility in Troy. An option for additional launchers in the amount of $94.8 million was also awarded to Lockheed.
10. Steel Center To Create up to 40 Jobs in West Alabama
SET Enterprises said this month that it would build a steel processing service center in Jackson, creating up to 40 jobs. The Warren, Mich., company said it would invest $12 million to construct and equip two steel-slitting lines, with plans to open early next year. The company will cut steel coils into smaller pieces for users and wholesalers.
SET said it would be able to process up to 360,000 tons of steel per year. It said that it could eventually build a second phase, doubling what would initially be a 65,000-square-foot facility.
Sid E. Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of SET Enterprises, said that the expansion is part of the company’s plan to diversify "beyond our Midwest-based automotive roots."
"We’re just excited that they chose Jackson," said Mayor Richard Long. He said jobs would pay $18 to $20 an hour, on average. The plant is good news for Clarke and surrounding counties, which have been plagued with particularly high unemployment during the recession, in part because of a depressed wood products industry.
SET plans to locate on 17.5 acres that the city of Jackson owns on Clolinger Road, east of its downtown. The property borders the Norfolk Southern Railway, and Long said the city expects that a state grant would pay to build a rail spur. Long said that other incentives, including whether the city would donate the land, have yet to be finalized.
The company cited the proximity to the $5 billion ThyssenKrupp AG steel complex in Calvert. The German steelmaker has repeatedly stated that it believes steel users will cluster nearby because steel is so heavy that it is expensive to ship.
SET is at least the third steel-related business that has located in southwest Alabama since ThyssenKrupp announced its plans. Long said that rail access was key to the project, and that the company also expressed interest in using the city’s Tombigbee River barge slip.
Officials with Lakeside Steel, a Canadian firm building a pipe mill in Thomasville, have said that they expect a slitter to locate nearby to service them. But Antoinette Turner, an SET spokeswoman, said that the company mainly focuses on automotive users, and wanted to supply car plants and auto parts makers in the Southeast.