Aladdin Light Lift announces plans to relocate to Huntsville, build facility in Chase Industrial Park

 

Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 1:29 PM Updated: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 2:13 PM
By Marian Accardi, The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Aladdin Light Lift, a Memphis-based company that manufactures motorized systems used to lower and raise chandeliers for cleaning and changing bulbs, is relocating to Huntsville and plans to build a 22,500-square-foot building in Chase Industrial Park.

All 15 full-time employees will move to the Huntsville area later this year, said John Falls, the company's president and founder. The company also has 50 independent sales representatives in the United States and Canada and about 1,000 distributors nationwide.

Site preparation is now being done at the 10-acre site on Shields Road next to the CF Flag building.

"The goal is to finish our building by Aug. 15," Falls said today after the company announcement at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

Falls had been looking at several cities before choosing the Huntsville area, he said, citing the low crime rate, good public schools and positive business climate.

Huntsville, he said, is a "great city with positive, can-do people who know how to get things done."  

  

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Broadband project to create jobs

 

12:31 AM, Mar. 17, 2011 |
Markeshia Ricks

A new broadband project is expected to bring not only high-speed Internet access to Alabama's Black Belt region, but also more than 1,200 jobs.

The more than 100 Alabama contractors who met at Alabama State University on Wednesday to find out how to become part of that project learned they might not get rich doing it, but they could enrich one of the state's most economically distressed areas and change the lives of those who live in it.

Alabama contractors with experience building communications infrastructure would accomplish this by putting broadband access in reach of thousands of homes and businesses in that region by 2013.

Thanks to millions in federal grant money, the first phase of a project that would install more than 2,200 miles of fiber-optic lines to provide broadband access in Butler, Crenshaw, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Lowndes, Macon and Wilcox counties is set to begin in April.

The South Central Alabama Broadband Commission, a consortium of government and nonprofit organizations, with the help of the Bessemer-based Trillion Communications Corp. secured the money to build out a network that would provide community-funded Internet services. The project also will build out wireless capabilities to support access for public safety and government agencies.

The first phase of the project will extend from Montgomery to Selma, along U.S. 80. Ultimately, the network would extend to Escambia County. But Antwon Alsobrook, president and CEO of Atlanta-based A2D Inc., said the network could expand west to Mississippi and east to Georgia. A2D Inc. is a network systems integration firm that specializes in broadband-based infrastructure development. The company is facilitating the rollout of the project.

  

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Baldwin County Job Fair To Be Held At Baldwin County Coliseum in Robertsdale

 

The Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance is teaming with the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce, North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce, and the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce to host the Baldwin County Job Fair.

The job fair will be held Friday, April 1st, 2011 in Robertsdale at the Baldwin County Coliseum located .8 miles east of Hwy 59 behind Robertsdale High School on Fairgrounds Road. The job fair will be open from 9 am to 2 pm. and is free to job seekers.

A wide variety of employers from Baldwin County will be present at the fair, such as manufacturers, service employers, real estate, communications and banks. They will be hiring for full-time, part-time and seasonal workers. Career counseling, job interviewing information, and resume assistance seminars will be presented free of charge to attendees throughout the day. Small business agencies that assist job seekers will be on hand to offer advice and counseling.

For information contact Amanda Selph at the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance at (251) 947-2445 or aselph@baldwineda.com. Please visit the Job Fair website at www.baldwineda.com for information.

NAITA 28th Annual World Trade Day Celebration

 

Tuesday · April 12, 2011 · 11:30 a.m.
Tomorrow's Trade & Investment Opportunities
featuring
Courtney Fingar · Editor of fDi Magazine · London

NAITA is pleased to welcome keynote speaker Courtney Fingar, Editor of fDi Magazine, The Financial Times, in London, to present Tomorrow's Trade & Investment Opportunities. Ms. Fingar oversees all elements of editorial content for the specialist bimonthly publication and its online portal, www.fdiintelligence.com. fDi Magazine is the flagship publication for fDi Intelligence, The Financial Times Ltd's dedicated unit specializing in greenfield crossborder investment, and is read by senior executives at multinational corporations responsible for global expansion decisions. fDi Magazine recognized Huntsville in 2007 as the #1 Small City of the Future based on its high scores in development and investment promotion categories, as well as for its infrastructure and quality of life.

Before joining fDi in 2004, Ms. Fingar served as editor of Trade & Forfaiting Review, a monthly magazine produced in London focusing on trade, export and commodities finance. Prior to relocating to the United Kingdom in 2001, she worked in Washington, DC, as a reporter and editor for Global Business magazine, a 90,000-circulation monthly that reported on international trade and investment for US executives. Ms Fingar has a BA in journalism from the University of Alabama and an MSc in International and European Politics, with a special focus on political economy and trade issues, from the University of Edinburgh.

World Trade Day recognizes the significance of international trade in the growth and economic well being of our region. NAITA and the Madison County Commission co-sponsor this luncheon, which focuses on the importance of international trade and what it means in our local communities. Exports and foreign investment equal jobs, business opportunities, and economic prosperity for North Alabama. The 2011 NAITA Global Trade Award will also be presented.

Contact NAITA at 256.532.3505 or naita@naita.org now to reserve your Corporate Table, make individual reservations, or click here to Register Online and pay by credit card.