1. Alabama Exports Surge to Record Levels, Make Impression Worldwide
Last year, the value of state exports reached $17.9 billion, up more than 15 percent over 2010 and a record high, according to the Alabama Development Office.
While vehicles produced at the state's auto factories have long represented the lion's share of export value, other businesses are finding their niche in international markets.
And some of their products are far beyond the norm when it comes to commodities that typically show up in trade data.
Other Alabama exports include playground equipment, exercise weights, fire extinguishers and weather radar equipment.
2. New Company Brings $90 Million Investment, 300 Jobs to Auburn
AUBURN -- SiO2 Medical Products will invest $90 million in a new facility that is expected to add up to 300 new jobs in Lee County.
The company will supply the medical industry with products for the biological drugs industry. The company’s products and related processes are protected by 37 patents worldwide.
SiO2 has had ties to Auburn since 1994. Auburn Mayor Bill Ham Jr. said the city is grateful for the job creation. “We are extremely proud that the company found in Auburn a place to assemble and grow a team that would lead to today’s announcement,” Ham said.
3. Auto Parts Supplier To Bring 200 New Jobs to Montgomery
MONTGOMERY -- An automotive parts supplier will begin manufacturing operations expected to eventually bring 200-plus jobs to the Montgomery area.
DAS North America, a Hyundai and Kia parts supplier, is building a manufacturing facility in Montgomery. The company will invest $50 million in the operations and create 210 jobs in the city.
"You have shown a lot of faith in us and we will not let you down. We welcome you to the Montgomery family and know that you will be successful here," Lee Ellis, Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce chairman of the board of directors, said in the announcement.
4. Lear Breaks Ground for $19.6 Million Brookwood Plant
TUSCALOOSA - Lear Corp., a global automotive supplier, announced last week that it will build a $19.6 million plant in Brookwood to make seats and seating frames for the Mercedes-Benz auto assembly plant in Vance.
Ray Scott, Lear’s senior vice president and president of its seating unit, said the plant will open next year and will have about 100 employees by the end of 2013 and about 150 employees by the end of 2014.
The 170,000-square-foot facility will make seating for Mercedes C-Class sedans, which the Mercedes plant in Vance will start making in 2014. Lear also will make metal seating frames for Mercedes’ M-Class and GL-Class sport utility vehicles, Scott said.
Lear will initially make about 77,000 seating units for the C-Class, “and we hope to increase this amount,” Scott said. The plant also will make about 150,000 seating frames for the Mercedes SUVs that have been the mainstay of its Vance production.
5. Golden Dragon Chooses Wilcox for $100 Million Plant
Golden Dragon Copper of China will build a $100 million copper tubing plant in Pine Hill in Wilcox County with the potential of creating up to 500 jobs.
Gov. Robert Bentley has signed an economic development agreement with the company to bring the plant to the Black Belt county.
The plant will operate as GD Copper (U.S.A) Inc. with initial plans to hire 300 workers and the possibility of adding 200 more in the years ahead. AIDT, the state's worker training program, will handle hiring and training for the company.
GD Copper will be an application center for the most modern copper tube mill in the world, employing a state-of-the-art "cast and roll" technology, processing methodology and equipment. The company will be the third Chinese manufacturer to locate in Alabama -- a country the state has focused on for foreign investment.
6. Film Productions Spent $22.5 Million in Alabama Last Year
BIRMINGHAM-- Film makers put in 112 requests to the Alabama Film Office in 2011, and production companies spent $22.5 million in the state the same year, according to the film office.
The Alabama Film Office said today that film productions made requests for assistance on projects ranging from big budget feature films, independent films, television and Internet-based productions.
The requests came from around the world as productions scouted locations in all parts of the state, the film office said.
As a result, 18 commercials, seven television series, five films and four music videos were shot in Alabama in 2011. Of the $22.5 million production companies spent in Alabama last year, the companies were able to get reimbursed more than $5.6 million through incentives approved in the 2009 Alabama Entertainment Act, according to the Alabama Film Office.
7. ElectricFil Could Add 200 Employees in Elkmont
Electricfil Corporation in Elkmont, Alabama, a manufacturer of sensors for automotive engines, plans a $9.5 million expansion that could eventually find 200 employees added to its workforce in the next five years.
Electricfil plans to hire in stages with upwards of 120 employees added during the next three years, and the potential for 80 more jobs to be created a few years after.
The French-based company, with US headquarters in this northern Alabama city of nearly 500 residents, plans a two-phase expansion. Company officials initially plan to expand the plant’s manufacturing facility by 24,000 square feet this summer, followed by an 18,000-square-foot office addition next year.
8. Birmingham’s Innovation Depot Posts Best Report Ever
BIRMINGHAM -- In a year when it launched a $1 million expansion and was named the nation's best technology incubator, Innovation Depot's real success stories were those of its 84 tenant companies.
"We had our best year ever in 2011," Susan Matlock, chief executive of Innovation Depot, said in an interview Thursday. "Our technology and IT companies closed more deals, and our biotech companies started getting more deals."
The business incubator released its annual progress report last week. It reveals that in 2011, Innovation Depot had 131 applicants for services, took on 19 new clients and graduated 10 companies. It ended the year with 83 companies with 450 employees, but has added one more company this year and employment now stands at 460.
According to the progress report, Innovation Depot companies posted $152 million in sales, giving them a sales impact of $294 million -- both record figures. Over the last four years, tenant companies at the incubator had an economic impact of $1.06 billion.
Even though it's called an incubator, Matlock said the companies at Innovation Depot are not completely green upstarts. Most of them have some level of business savvy and all of them have vetted business plans.
9. Opelika Auto Parts Investor Daewon Adding Investments, Jobs
Officials said auto parts supplier Daewon America will invest another $13 million in its Opelika operation, creating 32 jobs.
"It is important that our existing industries be nourished so that they grow in Alabama," Greg Canfield, director of the Alabama Development Office, said in a statement." We have made this one of our top priorities."
Daewon America is a division of Daewon Kang Up, one of the world's largest manufacturers of coil spring and stabilizer bars. From Opelika, it supplies Hyundai, Kia, GM and Chrysler.
The new capital will boost the company's total investment in Opelika to $65 million
10. Barber Motorsports Museum Named among Top in World
The Four Seasons magazine has listed the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum as one of the must-see private museums in the world. Barber is on the list along with spots in Miami, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand and Germany.
Here’s what the publication had to say about Barber:
“The spacious and utilitarian Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of motorcycles — nearly 1,300, including street bikes, dirt bikes and rarities, along with vintage and restored vehicles and racing machines from around the world. Founder George Barber may call his museum a “parking garage,” but the complex also has a 2.38-mile, 17-turn track, and it hosts sports-car rallies, a grand prix and the Porsche Driving School.”