New steel tubing and pipe manufacturing plant will create 100 jobs in Lawrence County
TRINITY, Alabama – Governor Robert Bentley said today that IT-TRI LLC plans to invest up to $68 million to build a new steel tubing and pipe manufacturing plant in Lawrence County, creating 100 jobs in Trinity before 2016. “On the state and local levels, we are committed to attracting more jobs to Lawrence County and to…
Daimler executive: Alabama plant is ‘proud story of success for Mercedes-Benz’
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Economic development leaders, auto industry figures, corporate business executives and elected officials gathered in Tuscaloosa tonight, not to cheer on the national championship Crimson Tide team but to celebrate Alabama’s other claim to fame – Mercedes-Benz’s Alabama automotive assembly plant, which last year alone produced 180,379 vehicles. Mercedes-Benz’s 1993 decision to build its…
AIDT, Mercedes-Benz partnership going strong after two decades in Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – When the first production jobs at Mercedes-Benz’s new Alabama plant were advertised, an avalanche of applications followed – 63,000 to be precise. In stepped AIDT, the state’s workforce training agency, and a partnership was born. AIDT has been with Mercedes on every step of the automaker’s journey in Alabama over the past…
Industry reporter talks Mercedes impact, future of Alabama auto sector
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — For the past six years, Dawn Kent Azok, a reporter for the Alabama Media Group, has covered the twists and turns of the Alabama auto sector. Reporting on scores of events and interviewing people both in the drivers’ seat and the executive chair, she has told story after story of how one industry…
Alabama Mercedes worker: ‘This job has changed me as a person.’
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Tanya Cabiness was 22 when she stepped into the Mercedes-Benz plant back on July 7, 1997, not long after the first M-Class sport utility vehicle made in Alabama rolled off the factory’s assembly line. Cabiness had been to college and previously worked in a mobile home manufacturing facility. For her, this place…
Mercedes accelerating Alabama operation with two new models, workforce expansion
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – For Mercedes-Benz in Alabama, it all began with the M-Class, a groundbreaking automobile that’s credited with creating the premium SUV segment. Then the automaker added the GL-Class sport utility and the R-Class crossover to an Alabama line-up now being produced in record numbers. So it’s no surprise that Mercedes is accelerating its…
Mercedes decision lifted Alabama international business profile
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – When automaker Mercedes-Benz announced in 1993 that it had picked a 966-acre tract of land near Vance, Ala. – population 300 – to house its first assembly facility outside of Germany, the news instantly raised Alabama’s profile in the international business community, according to economic developers. “It was clearly Day One for…
Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield: Mercedes-Benz launched new era for Alabama
MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Twenty years ago, on Sept. 30, 1993, Mercedes-Benz announced plans to build its first U.S. factory in Vance, Ala. In just two decades, Alabama has transformed from a state with virtually no experience in auto production into the country’s fourth largest auto producer, churning out nearly 900,000 vehicles a year. Mercedes has done…
Mercedes-Benz set foundation for Alabama auto industry growth
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – The three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz is still casting a glow over Alabama 20 years after the global automotive giant picked the state for its first U.S. passenger car factory. Mercedes’ decision, announced in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 30, 1993, represents the moment the foundation was laid for an auto industry that continues to…
Alabama used teamwork, training and trust to win landmark Mercedes-Benz plant
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Alabama’s pursuit of Mercedes-Benz’s first U.S. auto plant featured code names, clandestine meetings and plenty of behind-the-scenes drama, but it was teamwork, training and trust that landed the groundbreaking project, according to leaders who were involved in the recruitment. Next week, Mercedes and Alabama will celebrate 20 years since the company announced…
