News
Alabama-Japan partnership grows with new investment, jobs
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Alabama is attracting new investment and job-creating projects from Japanese manufacturers as the relationship between the Asian economic powerhouse and the state continues to grow. This week, Japan-based Asahi Kasei, which operates manufacturing facilities around the globe, held a groundbreaking ceremonyfor a $30 million plant in Athens that will produce plastic pellets…
Alabama Launchpad awards $250,000 to promising startups
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Five promising Alabama startups will split $250,000 in Alabama Launchpad funding after impressing judges in a “Shark Tank”-style contest staged this week by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA). Gov. Robert Bentley was on hand to help pass out checks to the winners at today’s Alabama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference at…
Intermodal hub positions Alabama in Norfolk Southern’s future
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — You can almost gauge the state of the economy by watching the train and truck traffic at Norfolk Southern Corp.’s Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility (BRIMF). Shipping containers packed with everything from retail goods bound for stores to auto parts bound for factories move in and out of the $97.5 million, 316-acre facility in…
Curse Inc. CEO: Why our tech firm moved its headquarters to Alabama
By Hubert Thieblot, CEO of online game portal Curse Inc. HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Things at Curse Inc. have never been better. As an organization, we have several rapidly growing products, we have just obtained the funding needed to take our company to the next level and we have created a technical infrastructure that will scale…
Consultants rank Alabama a top state for business, Area Development says
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Site selection consultants surveyed by national economic development publication Area Development ranked Alabama a top state for doing business and gave high marks to the state for its labor climate and business environment. Alabama placed No. 4 in Area Development’s 2014 survey of the “Top States for Doing Business,” the fifth consecutive…
SharkBite maker to expand Alabama manufacturing base, create 130 jobs
CULLMAN, Alabama – Reliance Worldwide Corp., a leading maker of products for the plumbing and heating industries, announced plans today to open a new manufacturing facility in Cullman to launch U.S. production of its innovative SharkBite plumbing connection system, creating 130 jobs over five years. Atlanta-based Reliance Worldwide (RWC), operating in Cullman as Cash Acme,…
Mercedes-Benz to boost annual Alabama output to 300,000 vehicles
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – Mercedes-Benz, which launched Alabama’s auto industry nearly two decades ago, plans to sharply increase production at its Tuscaloosa County plant over the next two years, boosting annual capacity to 300,000 vehicles from the 185,000 produced there in 2013. Daimler AG and Mercedes executives said at the Vance plant today that the automaker…
Baxter International will add 200 jobs at Alabama facility
OPELIKA, Alabama – Healthcare giant Baxter International said today that it will invest nearly $300 million to expand its plant in Lee County to produce dialyzers, a critical component in the treatment of advanced kidney disease. The 230,000-square-foot expansion at the company’s state-of-the-art Alabama manufacturing facility will add 200 jobs, along with several production lines.…
Alabama couple finds recipe for success in sprouted wheat
FITZPATRICK, Alabama — Peggy Sutton’s business may have started out as a hobby in this rural Alabama hamlet, but today her fast-growing To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co. sells its whole grain products to big-name food industry players and health-conscious customers around the world. In a Bullock County base just off U.S. Highway 82, the…
Firms in Airbus project form non-profit to revitalize Mobile’s Doyle Park
MOBILE, Alabama — Several firms involved in the Airbus construction project at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, the Mobile Airport Authority, and several community residents are spearheading an effort to rejuvenate a downtrodden, 24-acre city park in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood adjacent to the industrial complex. Doyle Park, located at 1728 Rosedale Road, was originally…