1. Mercedes Benz Plant Shifting into Overdrive with Expansion
August was a whirlwind month of activity for Alabama's Mercedes Benz plant, with the rollout of the redesigned M-Class SUV, an announcement that the company will invest an additional $2 billion there and growing anticipation of a fifth model joining the assembly lines.
Work on the redesigned GL-Class full-sized SUV ramps up this fall. Production trials are slated to begin in early 2012, with a market launch following later in the year.
All in all, it's a busy time for the Tuscaloosa County factory, where some employees are working overtime and Saturdays to help meet growing demand for the German automaker's luxury products.
Earlier this month, parent company Daimler AG said Mercedes set a record in the SUV segment in July, with global sales that rose 26.5 percent over the year-ago period. All models saw a substantial increase, including the M-Class, which was up 22.4 percent.
The Alabama plant, in Vance, now employs 2,800 full-time workers who build the M-Class, GL-Class and R-Class crossover. A breakdown of the latest announcements shows how far the operation has come since it was selected as the site of Mercedes' first U.S. factory in 1993.
At the formal rollout of the redesigned M-Class in late July, Mercedes and Daimler officials announced the additional $2 billion investment at the plant. Such an investment would double the current investment there, bringing the total value to more than $4 billion.
2. Alabama’s HudsonAlpha Institute Leading Biotechnology Innovation
Alabama's HudsonAlpha Institute is among those leading a wave of biotechnology innovation that could rival the information technology wave of the past several decades, an institute official said.
Just as sequences of ones and zeros were the basis of a wave of computer and information technology innovation, genes and DNA will form the foundation of the coming wave, said O'Neal Smitherman, executive vice president of HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville.
"This is our opportunity to be in on the next new wave of knowledge revolution for humanity," Smitherman said.
It's already happening at HudsonAlpha. Built just three years ago, the biotechnology research and commercialization center is home to 20 associated companies, including 16 for-profit biotechnology companies, Smitherman said. He said two companies have been bought out by larger ones and a third one has been bought out twice. HudsonAlpha even has a patent pending for a prostate cancer screening process using human genome mapping.
Smitherman said HudsonAlpha scientists have isolated 63 markers on prostate cancer genes that help differentiate the prostate cancer that requires immediate treatment from the 80 percent of prostate cancer cases that may not need any treatment. '
Smitherman said that is exactly what makes the genome mapping research being done at HudsonAlpha so important: Future treatment for disease can be tailored to the form of the disease a person has with the medicines known to target that form. It's already being done in breast cancer patients and a company at HudsonAlpha is working on matching drugs with diseases based on the genome.
3. Topre Announces Cullman Expansion, 250 New Jobs for Area
Cullman officials are excited about a decision by Topre America to invest $109 million in an expansion at its Cullman plant, a project that will create 250 jobs.
Peggy Smith, executive director of the Cullman Economic Development Agency, said the investment makes it the largest single expansion project in Cullman's history. Topre said it is the largest in the Japanese auto supplier's history.
Gov. Robert Bentley and Greg Canfield, director of the Alabama Development Office, were in Cullman to announce the expansion.
Topre's Cullman plant produces stamped metal parts that are shipped directly to Nissan, Toyota and Honda auto plants. An 180,000-square-foot expansion will enlarge Topre's plant to a total of 620,000 square feet. The expansion will house seven stamping machines ranging between 200 and 2,500 tons.
Topre has invested more than $332 million and has 350 employees at the Cullman operation.
4. Grand Opening Held for Phase II of Robotics Park
The second phase of a one-of-a-kind technology facility opened in August on the campus of Calhoun Community College in Limestone County.
The Advanced Technology Research and Development Center is part of the three-phase Alabama Robotics Technology Park. Part I, the 52,000-square-foot Robotic Maintenance Training Center, opened last November. Currently, short-term, non-credit training classes are being taught in the facility by instructors from Alabama Industrial Development Training. Credit courses for students from Calhoun are scheduled to be taught there soon.
Gov. Robert Bentley cut the ribbon Wednesday at the newest center. He was accompanied by officials from Calhoun Community College, AIDT, the Alabama state Board of Education and the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. Attending were: Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Postsecondary Chancellor Freida Hill; Dr. Charles Elliott and Mary Scott Hunter, members of the Alabama state Board of Education; members of the center’s executive board; Calhoun College President Marilyn Beck; AIDT Executive Director Ed Castile; and elected officials and business leaders from across the region.
The RTP’s second phase is a 35,000-square-foot, $8.3 million building featuring a test facility for companies currently in the robotics manufacturing industry. The building will be used for the research, development and testing of leading edge robotics used for military projects, space exploration, and other applications. The center will have appropriate infrastructure to support these activities with substantial outdoor areas for testing in a variety of environments.
5. Program Has More Than Doubled Pass Rate for Alabama Students
The A+ College Ready program has resulted in a 108 percent jump in passing scores on the AP tests in math, science and English, among schools that use the program statewide. The program provides training and support for teachers, special Saturday study sessions for students, incentives to teachers and a $100 bonus to students if they pass the AP exam at the end of the year.
"Amazing. We are astounded by the results," A+ College Ready President Mary Boehm said. "We have proven that, when kids are willing to step up to the rigor with teachers that are willing to support them, they can absolutely succeed at AP," Boehm said.
AP classes are college-caliber classes that students take in high school. An exam taken at the end of the year gives students the opportunity to earn college credit. Students can earn a score of 1 to 5 on the exam and typically can earn college credit, depending upon the university they attend, if they score a 3 or above.
There are 43 high schools in 17 school districts participating in the program.
6. Task Force: Use Trinity Site for Federal Research Facility
BIRMINGHAM -- Trinity Hospital's 120-acre Montclair Road campus should be turned into a federal medical and research facility, if Trinity succeeds in its effort to relocate to U.S. 280, a task force has recommended.
In a report to Mayor William Bell, the Montclair Redevelopment Task Force outlined its work between November 2010 and May 2011, settling on two main recommendations.
In its most ambitious recommendation, the task force encouraged the city to pursue possible government uses, saying "the property is ideal for a multitude of federal uses, including, but not limited to, federal medical and research facilities."
Members of the task force met with representatives of the offices of the congressional delegation to push the Montclair campus for specific uses, according to the report, by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense -- possibly as a Southern branch of a military medical center -- as well as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other agencies.
Dave Hofstetter, head of real estate acquisition for the General Services Administration's Southeast office, said the Montclair campus appears able to meet the general requirements necessary for federal government use, though minor changes would be needed depending on which agencies are looking for space, he said.
7. Troy Gets Top Ranking from Princeton Review
Troy University was recently named as one of the best universities in the Southeast by The Princeton Review. This marks the seventh year in a row that Troy’s been on The Princeton Review’s list, which consists of 135 colleges and universities in the Southeast, and 629 colleges and universities nationwide.
The designation is based on a student survey conducted by The Princeton Review online. Students are asked questions about academics/administration, school life, themselves and their fellow students.
“The most important thing we do at Troy University is serve students,” Troy Chancellor Jack Hawkins, said in a press release. “The fact that we have earned this ranking for seven straight years is a reflection of this commitment to students.
The Princeton Review is primarily a standardized testing preparation material provider, and also publishes “Best of” publications for colleges and universities.
Troy University has earned praise from a number of magazines and publications in recent years. In 2010, the university was ranked among the 65 best regional universities in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Money magazine recently named Troy University as one of the best values in the nation for a college education.
8. Mobile’s BAE To Add 150 Jobs To Build Dredge
BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards has announced its first contract to build a new ship from scratch at its Mobile River facility.
Weeks Marine Inc. hired BAE to build a 356-foot-long, 79-foot-wide dredging vessel for use in the U.S., according to BAE. The twin screw trailing suction hopper will have a capacity of 8,500 cubic yards. The contract is worth $85 million, according to BAE.
BAE officials said they will immediately begin engineering work and buying materials. The first steel for the ship will be cut in early 2012, and it will be delivered in January 2014.
The work will require the shipyard to add about 150 employees to its 800-person workforce during the life of the contract, according to Vic Rhoades, the general manager of BAE's Mobile operation.
9. UAH Recognized as Elite Research School by Carnegie Foundation
The Carnegie Foundation has named the University of Alabama in Huntsville one of the top research schools in the country.
According to UAH, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has announced that UAHuntsville has been classified in the "very high" research category, placing it among an elite group of only 73 public universities in the United States.
Achieving the "very high" rating is the top level in the Carnegie Foundation rankings. UAH's new classification was based on data from 2008, according to the Carnegie Foundation.
The latest Carnegie rating is a step up for UAH. The school had previously been rated a "high" research institution.The ranking is noteworthy, UAH said, in that it recognizes the high level of cutting-edge research being conducted by faculty and researchers as well as the quality of the doctoral students, and will bring additional acclaim to the campus and could provide momentum in recruiting higher quality students and faculty, according to Provost Vistasp Karbhari.
UAHuntsville excels in numerous research areas that include: Earth system science and climate research, severe weather research, computer science and information technology, information assurance and security, astrophysics and space plasma physics, aerospace and systems engineering, electrical and computer engineering, optics, modeling and simulation, business, logistics and supply chain management, biotechnology and nursing.
Major research funding at UAHuntsville comes from NASA, the Department of Defense, NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and the state of Alabama.
10. New Industry Coming To Fort Payne, Bringing 120 Jobs
A new industry locating in Fort Payne is expected to bring a total of 120 new jobs, according to Jimmy Durham, director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Authority.
Axiom Business Strategies, which Durham said manufactures and retrofits ATMs, would make an initial investment of $357,000 in building and equipment and initially create 70 jobs.
Joshua Saucier, vice-president of Axiom, said the plant should be fully operational in about a month. He said there are plans to expand during the first year of operation, creating an additional 50 jobs. He said the industry manufactures handicap accessible ATMs.