LONDON - It was an exceptional moment.

"Thank you," said Tom Enders, standing before a roomful of people from Mobile, Ala., in the magnificent, 18th century Spencer House.

Enders is the German chief executive of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of Airbus, which last week announced plans to build a $600 million aircraft assembly plant in Mobile.

Mobile officials traveled across the Atlantic to thank the company for its investment, and to begin the work of bringing the project to life.

But on a rainy Tuesday night in London, it was Enders who wanted to express his gratitude.

He spoke at a reception hosted by city and county officials at the historic, former residence of the first Earl Spencer, an ancestor of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

"Thank you for your loyalty and friendship over the last seven years," he said, addressing an audience of state and local officials.

Enders, a former paratrooper, said Mobile's steadfast support of EADS during the 7-year battle for the Air Force tanker contract made a deep impression on him. When the deal went to Boeing Co. in 2011, Enders said he wasn't ready to give up on a great partnership.

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[Press-Register]
 

 

A University of North Alabama study revealed the school's annual economic impact on the Shoals is nearly $280 million, according to figures announced Tuesday by UNA economics professors.

The study also looked into community service provided by the university and found UNA contributes 148,716 hours of community work in a year.

The economic impact in a year is $279,935,300, according to the study. UNA has 1,092 employees, but when the economic impact of the university is considered, there are 4,433 jobs in the Shoals as a result of the university's existence.

"That's all jobs at UNA, as well as jobs created by spending of employees and students," said Keith Malone, an associate economics professor who was among the three-man team that developed the study.

UNA produces nearly $40 million in direct payroll, according to the study.

University President William G. Cale Jr. said it's important for UNA to show the type of growth and development it provides the Shoals.

"This allows people to understand what they know intuitively: that UNA is a very important economic contributor to the region," Cale said.

The research team included Doug Barrett, chairman of UNA's Department of Economics and Finance, and economics professor Jim Couch. The team based its findings from 2011 data. Couch said the team made sure to stay conservative with the figures.

 

A new plant in Hale County will turn leftover catfish parts into a component of livestock feed using quick dehydration, rather than the conventional method of boiling the waste. The process was invented by Auburn grad and Birmingham businessman Ken Mosley and further developed by Auburn scientists. Auburn was awarded a patent on the process in 2010, and the Hale County plant will be the first to use it commercially.

The new system may "revolutionize how byproducts from catfish and other meat processing plants are handled, in Alabama and the world," Auburn Associate Professor Jesse Chappell said in a prepared statement.

Bill Kyser, the Hale County catfish farmer who bought the rights to use the process for catfish rendering, said in an interview Tuesday that a small plant under construction on his farm should be completed within a month, and will have the capacity to process 20 million pounds of offal a year.

He expects to hire five to 10 people to operate the plant, which will turn offal -- intestines and other waste -- into a protein-rich powder that will be sold to companies that make pet food and livestock feed.

The process, Kyser said, uses 700-degree air to dehydrate the offal. The dried material is then ground and pressed to remove oil, creating a powder with the consistency of cornmeal. The process, which takes about 60 seconds from start to finish, eliminates almost entirely the production of waste water as a byproduct, thus eliminating the smell commonly associated with such plants.

"Our end product is the same, but it will be more environmentally friendly," Kyser said.

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[The Birmingham News]