Jefferson County agrees to sell land for data center

Published: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 6:00 AM Updated: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 6:24 AM

By Michael Tomberlin -- The Birmingham News

Jefferson County officials agreed Wednesday to sell 4.5 acres to Community Health Systems for a $25 million data center in an industrial park on Lakeshore Parkway.

The company plans to create up to 15 jobs at the center in the Jefferson Metropolitan Park Lakeshore, or JeffMet Lakeshore as it is known.

The Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority Board agreed to sell the property to Franklin, Tenn.-based CHS for $360,000, or $80,000 per acre.

"This will be a nice addition to the park," Carma Jude, the authority's executive director, told the board members at a Wednesday meeting.

To make the deal possible, the authority will subdivide a 9-acre tract in the park. Authority officials will seek permission to divide the property from the city of Birmingham next week. JeffMet Lakeshore is in the Birmingham city limits.

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Birmingham News link

Thomasville, Ala., could get $100 million, 200-job Chinese copper tubing plant

Published: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 5:45 AM Updated: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 10:42 AM

By Jeff Amy, Press-Register

Thomasville is one of at least three locations in the running for a $100 million copper pipe plant that could create 200 jobs.

City officials last month hosted visitors from Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, China's largest maker of copper pipes for plumbing, air conditioners, refrigerators and automobiles.

Sheldon Day, Thomasville's mayor, said the firm is considering a site in a city industrial park. He said locations in Texas and Arkansas are still in the running.

Day said Thomasville is the only Alabama location being considered.

Golden Dragon, based in Xinxiang, a city of 5.5 million people in China's second-most populous province, would join the increasing number of Chinese companies investing in the U.S.

Last year, AVIC International Holding Corp., a Chinese government-owned firm, said it would buy Mobile-based Teledyne Continental Motors for $186 million from Teledyne Technologies.

Chinese companies invested $462 million in the United States in 2008, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. China's American investments remain tiny compared to leaders such as the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands and Germany, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. American companies owned assets almost 50 times as valuable in China as the assets Chinese firms owned in the United States in 2008.

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Press Register link

Vector expansion will mean 100 jobs

Published 12:04am Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Vector Aerospace has signed an agreement with local governments for an expansion to their facility in the South Alabama Regional Airport industrial park that will more than double its current working space, add additional offices, and mean at least 100 new jobs in coming months, Mayor Earl Johnson told council members Tuesday night.

Johnson said the construction is a joint project for Andalusia, Opp, Covington County and the South Alabama Airport Authority.

"We are very excited about this," Johnson said. "The money will be in place in two or three weeks and we'll be kicking off with in a month."

"This will mean at least 100 new jobs here," Johnson said, adding that Vector's parent corporation is very pleased with the quality of work done in its Covington County facility.

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Andalusia Star News

Tallassee NOW: A cutting-edge Industrial Development Board

Jeanna Kervin and Dale Segrest  

The Tallassee Industrial Development Board is right on top if its work. Its strong, professional competency was demonstrated again in January when the Alabama AdvantageSite program added Tallassee's Corporate Park to its designated list. Alabama AdvantageSite is a voluntary program that allows communities to demonstrate that "due diligence" has been done at the designated site. The organization confirms that documentation critical to the site selection process is ready for prospective industry. The program is sponsored by the State of Alabama, Power South Energy Cooperative, Alagasco, Alabama Power Company, EDPA (Economic Development Partnership of Alabama), and the North Alabama Industrial Development Association. The program was created to make the State more competitive to companies considering a location in Alabama.

Tallassee's Corporate Industrial Park is indeed ideally situated on the 229 corridor between Tallassee and I-85. Interstate 85 is recognized as the industrial and business corridor connecting Atlanta and Montgomery. The Park is also conveniently located close to the CSX Railroad.

In evaluating a site for approval, Alabama AdvantageSite considers the size of the park, accessibility, zoning, and support of local government. It also investigates availability of public water and waste water disposal, electric power, natural gas, and telecommunications. It investigates environmental and geo-technical information including wetlands assessment, geo-technical exploration, and information concerning rare or endangered species.

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Wetumka Herald

UAH hosting Model Based Enterprise (MBE) Supplier Education & Training Summit for DOD & NASA Suppliers

UAHuntsville has been chosen as the venue for a Model Based Enterprise (MBE) Supplier Education and Training Summit on February 22, 2011 in Huntsville, AL.

This MBE Summit is being organized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP), with coordination assistance from several affiliate MEP Centers in Alabama, the Gulf Coast Region, and elsewhere around the country. The Summit is being co-sponsored and led by the U.S. Army Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

UAHuntsville has been chosen as the venue for the Summit in conjunction with a meeting of the Manufacturing Division of the National Defense Industrial Association also being held at UAH on February 23-24, 2011.

The MBE Summit will be a daylong event to raise the MBE literacy of DOD and NASA suppliers. The Summit is designed to increase the awareness and understanding of MBE technology and operations among domestic defense suppliers, and it will communicate information about NASA supply strategies and future directions relating to MBE, including how NASA suppliers can use MBE to link to DOD supply opportunities. The agenda for the day will include presentation topics such as:

· MBE and its Benefits: Perspectives from both the Department of Defense and NASA

· Ongoing MBE Efforts within the DOD and Specifically Army Programs

· Ongoing NASA MBE Efforts

· MBE Technical Data Package Development

· The Implications and Opportunities of MBE for Small Business

· MBE-Related Resources and Assistance Available to Suppliers, including via MEP

· Certification As an Ultimate Goal

· Question and Answer Panels with Manufacturers and Government Experts in MBE

It is targeted that companies will leave the summit with a better understanding of what MBE is, why DOD and NASA are interested in MBE, and what their implementation plans look like. Suppliers also will be able to determine where they stand in the spectrum of MBE development and where they can go to get help developing their capabilities.

Early registration is strongly recommended! To register:

http://model-based-enterprise.org/MBE-Events

This MBE Summit is the third in a series of summits to raise suppliers' MBE literacy that will be held across the country and that began in 2010.

OESA - AAMA Joint Meeting

Keynote Dinner Speaker - James Tobin
Marketing Officer and President Magna Japan and Korea Magna International

Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

Automotive suppliers should take advantage of this opportunity to network with industry peers and hear thought leadership from industry experts.

GO TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES FOR DETAILS:

To register for Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association event click on: http://www.aama.to/programs.asp

To register for Original Equipment Supplier Association event click: http://oesa.org/events/eventdetail.php?eventId=962