EDPA NewsFlash

 

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Greetings!
 
Here is today's summary of economic development news, presented by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. 
 
in this issue:
Lockheed Martin's Huntsville operations partners with UAH, Auburn, Tuskegee to support DOD - Huntsville Times
BBA makes another economic development hire - Birmingham Business Journal
Baldwin beach revenue sees another spike - Press Register
ASU awarded $1.75 million grant - Montgomery Advertiser

        
Lockheed Martin's Huntsville operations partners with UAH, Auburn, Tuskegee to support DOD small business, academic programs
Published: Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 4:17 PM     Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 4:24 PM  
 
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Emphasizing the words "for our country," John Holly, vice president of Missile Systems for Lockheed Martin, announced a partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Tuskegee University and Auburn University to establish a center to help small businesses and universities take part in federal technology programs.

 

"We are proud and privileged to enter into a relationship with these three leading research universities for our country," said Holly, a retired Army major general.

 

Holly said Lockheed officials worked on the program - called the Lockheed Martin Innovation Marketplace - for several months as a way to reach out to the community and find ways to find solutions to problems.  The marketplace will focus on supporting emerging technology for missile defense applications.

 

"Working together, Lockheed Martin and our university partners will further increase our active support of Department of Defense programs for small business and academic technology research," he said. "This local-level initiative will provide national-level benefits by helping bring more cutting-edge technologies into the systems our war fighters rely upon to defend our country."

 

Joining Holly at the signing this afternoon were Dr. Rodney Robertson, executive director of Auburn's Huntsville Research Center; Dr. Shaik Jeelani, vice president of Tuskegee's division of research and sponsored programs; and Dr. John Horack, UAH vice president for research.


more...

 Huntsville Times 

 


 

        
BBA makes another economic development hire
Birmingham Business Journal Date: Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 3:47pm CDT

The Birmingham Business Alliance has hired Rick Davis as vice president of economic development.

 

Davis currently serves as director of Cummings Research Park in Huntsville. He will join the BBA on Sept. 6 and will report to Patrick Murphy, who is the BBA's senior vice president of economic development.

 

"Rick Davis is one of the top economic development professionals in the field," said Brian Hilson, president and CEO of the BBA. "The Huntsville region has consistently led the state in job creation. For the past eight years, Rick has managed more of those projects than any other individual."

 

Cummings Research Park is managed and marketed by the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, which is where Hilson worked before coming to lead the BBA.


 

 

 
 
 

        
Baldwin beach revenue sees another spike
Published: Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 12:13 PM     Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 12:16 PM        

 

GULF SHORES, Alabama -- Just a year after the BP oil spill devastated Baldwin County's beach tourism industry, the coast is encountering a breakout year.

 

Today, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach tourism reported a record $54.7 million in lodging revenue in June. That's an 8.4 percent jump over June 2007, the previous banner year, which saw revenue of $50.4 million, according to a news release from the tourism group.

 

June's retail sales also peaked at $82.2 million, a 6.8 percent increase over June 2007.

 

Since the beginning of the year, lodging revenue is 12.2 percent higher than it was in the same period during 2007, the tourism group said.

 

"This tax data confirms what our our entire island saw during the summer," president and CEO Herb Malone said in a prepared statement. "These positive numbers are a return to the level of growth that was expected in 2010, and early indicators based on July occupancy reports suggest that this positive trend will continue into other summer figures."

July lodging and retail tax figures are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

more...

 Press Register

 

 

        
ASU awarded $1.75 million grant
11:22 AM, Aug. 17, 2011 

The National Science Foundation-Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology has awarded Alabama State University a five-year, $1.75 million grant to continue its Historically Black College and Universities Undergraduate Program, according to a news release from ASU.

 

The major goal of the grant is to help ASU strengthen the undergraduate curricula, research, recruitment and retention activities in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), with an emphasis in the areas of computational biology and nanobiotechnology, the release states.

 

The grant also will support the newly proposed Computational Biology and NanoBiotechnology Undergraduate Research and Education program, which will provide research experience to undergraduates through academic and summer research opportunities at major institutions, private companies, international institutions and federal laboratories, according to ASU.

more...

 Montgomery Advertiser

 

 




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