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Here is today's summary of economic development news, presented by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama.
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Governor, local leaders see vision for economic future in new Raytheon missile plantPublished: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 8:27 AM Updated: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 8:27 AM
Kenneth Kesner, The Huntsville Times
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Raytheon's decision to build a missile plant on Redstone Arsenal is both recognition of the talent and resources in this area and harbinger of a major new economic base for Alabama, said Gov. Bob Riley.
"More and more people are beginning to recognize what we have there. I think you're going to see Alabama become a part of an aviation/aerospace corridor that is developing all across the Gulf Coast," he said.
"We have the capability today to build another economic foundation in aviation and aerospace very, very similar to what we've developed in the automotive industry," Riley said.
On Monday, at the Farnborough International Airshow in England, Riley and Dr. Taylor Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems, announced the company will break ground later this year for a 70,000-square-foot facility on the south end of Redstone Arsenal, at the former Morton Thiokol site. It will employ about 300 people and is to be built in two phases, each tied to production contracts for the Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6.
SM-3 is part of the Missile Defense Agency's sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, deployed on U.S. and allied ships to defend against short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. MDA Director Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly has said the agency is considering a land-based version of the SM-3 and would locate that project office in Huntsville.
SM-6, also known as the Extended Range Active Missile, is being developed for the Navy to use against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-ship cruise missiles in flight, both over sea and land.
"This is a great day for Huntsville," said Mayor Tommy Battle on Monday, adding that the plant should also benefit other Tennessee Valley communities.
The area is well known for what he called "laptop" work: software development, research, engineering and the like. The Raytheon plant will bring more highly-trained manufacturing positions. more...
Huntsville Times link
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Positive signs in second quarter for Birmingham office, industrial leasing
Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 5:30 AM
Michael Tomberlin -- The Birmingham News
Birmingham's office and industrial buildings finished the second quarter with more space being leased than vacated, a positive sign that an economic recovery could be hitting home in commercial real estate. However, sublease space remained a drag on the metro area's industrial and office space in the second quarter, slowing the recovery in the two important real estate sectors.
Still, industry observers are taking note of the 20,580 square feet net gain in office occupancy and 24,970 square feet net gain in industrial occupancy for the quarter as a significant sign.
"For the first time, there was some positive absorption," said Bill Pradat, president at EGS. "While it wasn't a large amount of square footage, it was positive."
more... Birmingham News link |
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Oil spill could cost Gulf Coast 17,000 jobs, according to report
Monday, July 19, 2010, 3:28 PM
BP Plc's oil spill may cost the U.S. Gulf Coast region 17,000 jobs and about $1.2 billion in lost economic growth by year-end even if the flow is stanched permanently next month, Moody's Analytics said in a report.
Under a more pessimistic scenario in which the oil spill continues through December and President Barack Obama's six- month moratorium on deepwater drilling is extended, economic losses may reach $7.4 billion, and more than 100,000 jobs would be lost, Moody's said today in a report written by Marisa Di Natale, a director based in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Louisiana, with its heavy dependence on fishing, aquaculture and oil extraction, and Florida, which relies on tourism, are likely to be hardest hit by the spill, the report said. Outside the five-state Gulf region, which also includes Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, the spill's impact is likely to be negligible, according to the report.
"We're talking about a very localized impact," Di Natale said in a conference call after the release of the report. "We don't think there's going to be a major impact when we look at the national economy." more...
Bloomberg via al.com link
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Governor: New Raytheon plant in Huntsville could signal another economic base for Alabama
Published: Monday, July 19, 2010, 11:26 AM Updated: Monday, July 19, 2010, 11:33 AM
Kenneth Kesner, The Huntsville Times
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Raytheon's decision to build a missile facility on Redstone Arsenal is both recognition of the talent and resources in this area and harbinger of a major new economic base for Alabama, said Gov. Bob Riley.
"More and more people are beginning to recognize what we have there. I think you're going to see Alabama become a part of an aviation/aerospace corridor that is developing all across the Gulf Coast," he said.
"We have the capability today to build another economic foundation in aviation and aerospace very, very similar to what we've developed in the automotive industry," Riley said.
In a phone interview this morning from the Farnborough International Air Show in England, the governor said he had spoken again with EADS officials about their competition with Boeing to provide refueling tankers to the Air Force. If they win, EADS plans to build the big KC-45 tankers at a $700 million, 1,500-job factory to be constructed in Mobile.
Riley pointed out there are presently only two places in the world where wide-bodied jets are built: The EADS plant in Toulouse, France, and the Boeing facility in Seattle, Washington.
"I think we've got a great chance to win the project in Mobile, so that would be the third place," he said. That, combined with the growing Army Aviation, unmanned aircraft, helicopter, missile, NASA and other aerospace activity already here, should make Alabama even more attractive to manufacturers.
more... Huntsville Times link |
Oil spill creates a mini job boom in Mobile
Published: Monday, July 19, 2010, 5:00 AM
Robert McClendon, Press-Register
The Deepwater Horizon disaster has emptied condos in Gulf Shores and shuttered seafood processing plants in Bayou La Batre, but anecdotal evidence and a local economist suggest it fueled something of a mini oil boom in Mobile, at least for some business owners.
Mobile added 1,000 new jobs in May, reversing a months-long downward trend in the city's business activity, according to a report published by Don Epley, a professor at the University of South Alabama and an expert in real-estate markets.
Epley said the new jobs were evenly distributed across all employment sectors.
Sales tax figures for May, which would give a snap shot of the city's economy, have not yet been tallied, according to city officials.
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, unleashing a gusher of oil and flooding Mobile with hundreds of contractors and BP officials who came to deal with the unfolding disaster.
The economic activity created by that influx of money sparked the job creation, according to Epley.
Apart from some government hires related to the census, there's no other explanation for the growth in May, he said.
The boost in activity caused by the oil-spill response may actually be larger than the numbers show because oil-related gains were partially offset by losses elsewhere.
"Manufacturing has been down and construction continues to fall, and that's really what's been driving the economy here recently," Epley said. "Those losses were swamped out by (May's) gains."
More recent numbers are not yet available, Epley said, but he expects the growth to continue as long as the oil response keeps generating activity.
more... Press Register link |
ThyssenKrupp plant plans to start production this month Published: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 8:00 AM
Jeff Amy, Press-Register
CALVERT, Ala. -- Barge dock unloading steel slabs -- check.
Slab storage yard working -- check.
Cooling system flushed -- check.
Power hooked up to machines -- check.
Pilot lights in slab furnace lit -- check.
Roll maintenance shop ready to go -- check.
The carbon steel unit at ThyssenKrupp's plant is running through final preparations at its hot strip mill, with the goal of feeding the first steel slabs into the furnace in the last week of July.
It will be the first major part of the $5 billion complex on the Mobile-Washington county line to begin operation, as Germany's largest steelmaker works to expand sales in North America.
Workers are putting the finishing touches on the hot strip mill, which will heat up raw slabs and squeeze them through rollers to make thin coils of steel. Before commercial production can start, though, the machinery has to be put through its paces and workers have to get comfortable with their jobs.
"There will be a lot of adjustments that need to be made," spokesman Scott Posey said.
He warned that if any problems are found, the first coil might not be rolled until early August.
For example, the first of three furnaces has to be heated up to its 2,200-degree operating temperature, and then cooled back down to check the inside.
more...
Press Register link |
Air quality standards could choke development in several Alabama counties
Published: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 5:30 AM
Michael Tomberlin -- The Birmingham News
POINT CLEAR -- New air quality standards the Environmental Protection Agency is considering for next year could choke economic development in several key counties in the state. Ron Gore, head of air quality at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, told economic developers at the Economic Development Association of Alabama summer conference they should be very concerned about what is expected to take place as soon as late 2011.
Most suffocating would be EPA's lowering of the allowable levels of ground-level ozone from its current 75 parts per billion to 65 parts per billion.
Once the EPA deems a county is in non-attainment of ground level ozone standards, it prevents any new heavy industry that would emit air pollutants from coming into that county unless it can find an existing company willing to give up its allowed emissions at an exchange ratio of 1.2-to-1 to offset the new company's emissions. Such exchanges are often impossible to find and never happen, Gore said.
Ozone non-attainment is an economic development handicap the Birmingham area knows all too well.
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Alabama officials tour EADS facilities, preparing for tanker jobs
Published: Saturday, July 17, 2010, 7:58 AM
George Talbot
EADS has yet to land the big U.S. Air Force tanker contract that could bring an aircraft assembly plant to Mobile. But Alabama officials are proceeding with preparations for the $700 million project as if the deal is won.
A group of state business and education leaders spent three days in Spain and France this week meeting with EADS to gain insight into the company's training needs for its proposed 1,500-worker factory.
The delegation arrived Tuesday in Madrid and toured EADS aircraft operations and met with company executives during the next two days.
On Friday, the group was at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, and will depart today for London to attend the Farnborough International Airshow.
EADS, the parent company of Airbus, is battling Boeing Co. for the potential $40 billion tanker contract. A decision is expected by Nov. 12.
"Our objective here is to get a full understanding of the kind of training and workforce development programs they'll need when EADS wins," Neal Wade, director of the Alabama Development Office, said Friday in a telephone interview from Toulouse.
more...
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Alabama's Riley to woo potential air-tanker suppliers
Published: Saturday, July 17, 2010, 6:30 AM David White -- The Birmingham News
MONTGOMERY -- Gov. Bob Riley on Friday said he plans to fly to England for an air show next week in part to urge supplier companies to move to Alabama in the event the European defense contractor EADS wins a $35 billion Air Force contract later this year. EADS, the parent company of Airbus, plans to assemble its KC-45 aerial-refueling tanker in Mobile at a $600 million plant if it wins the contract over rival Boeing. Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson said EADS would employ roughly 1,500 people in Mobile if it wins the contract. He added that companies that would build parts of the aircraft to be assembled in Mobile would employ thousands of additional people, so Riley wants to recruit those companies to Alabama, too. Riley said, "I honestly believe that we're going to win the EADS tanker project. I think the announcement will happen in November. And I think they (EADS) will break ground shortly thereafter. If that happens, then this is our last opportunity to go over and talk to all of the suppliers that we're going to try to bring into the state." "They'll have an opportunity to locate in Mississippi or Florida, all across the Gulf coast," Riley said. "We want to make sure that they understand how aggressive we are going to be in making sure that those suppliers stay in the state of Alabama."
more...
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Dalton Smith to depart Birmingham Business Alliance
Published: Friday, July 16, 2010, 4:44 PM Updated: Friday, July 16, 2010, 5:13 PM
The Birmingham News
Dalton Smith, president of the Birmingham Business Alliance, is resigning, the BBA announced.
Smith plans to create an organization that will be an advocate for ethics reform in Alabama, he said in a prepared statement.
He has managed the group, created by the merger of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Board, since April of last year.
BBA board member Johnny Johns praised Smith, saying he was responsible for building the organization's foundation.
"He is a talented individual with a track record of success and I am confident he will do well in his new venture," Johns said in a prepared statement.
more...
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Recruiting recruiters: Alabama needs new economic development experts due to deaths and retirements
Published: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 11:16 AM
Michael Tomberlin -- The Birmingham News
Economic developers in Alabama have recruited some of the biggest global names in industry and won some of the most competitive projects in the world. But when it comes to filling their own professional ranks, officials say some major recruitment is needed.
Some recent deaths, some future retirements and a large number of the ranks getting long in the tooth have combined to create a crisis to try to replenish what may be the state's greatest weapon when it comes to its economic development success in recent years: The expertise of economic developers across Alabama.
It is a problem getting the attention of the top economic developers in the state.
Neal Wade, executive director of the Alabama Development Office, is concerned about both the number of young developers and the level of their experience.
Wade wants to create an economic development "boot camp" to train about 15 economic developers at a time in the brashness and the refinement and the minutia that goes into winning high-stakes projects.
"You really have to have a trial by fire into this job," Wade said. "You can't do it all by books. You can't do it all by theory."
more...
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Area anticipates production at National Alabama
By Russ Corey
Staff Writer Times Daily
BARTON -- The vision was clear.
By this summer, National Alabama Corp. was scheduled to be producing as many as 10,000 railcars a year at its huge manufacturing plant in western Colbert County. There was to be at least 1,500 workers involved in the process, making an average annual salary of more than $30,000 along with top-of-the-line benefits. Operations were to be active 24 hours a day.
It was billed as the "big one" by local government leaders and economic development officials.
When that vision was articulated in July 2007 during the announcement of a $350 million project, there were discussions about fast tracks - getting the nearly mile-long building constructed and equipped as quickly as possible to handle expected orders. And local officials committed to infrastructure improvements at Barton Riverfront Industrial Park.
The infrastructure is there. Unfortunately, there are only 120 workers on site and National Alabama is still waiting for its first contract.
Things have not turned out as company officials had hoped, but no one could have predicted a recession the caliber of the one that hit the United States and other world economies in late 2007 and continues today.
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Prattville sees gain despite hard timesBy Marty Roney · July 19, 2010
PRATTVILLE -- The expanding local job market shows the economy is gaining strength, according to Prattville Mayor Jim Byard Jr. He pointed to the promise of about 150 new jobs for Prattville along with about 500 jobs Hyundai Heavy Industries is bringing to Montgomery as examples of that. "For the economy to fully recover, we need jobs, good-paying jobs," Byard said. "The job growth we see on the horizon is just what the River Region needs. Good jobs means people can buy that new home. Good jobs means people have more expendable income." Earlier this month, Medline announced it would build a 350,000-square-foot medical supply distribution center in Prattville. The company will bring about 40 jobs to the city. Byard said he expects an announcement to be made in the next few weeks about a "call center"-type expansion for Prattville that should bring about 50 jobs. The city also is in the final negotiations with a light-industrial client that would bring a like number of jobs.
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