ST Aerospace posts higher profit but lower revenue for 2Q

Published: Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 1:30 PM 

By Ellen Mitchell, Press-Register

MOBILE, Alabama -- Despite a challenging economic environment, Singapore Technologies Aerospace on Tuesday reported a 3 percent earnings increase in its second quarter.

The aircraft maintenance company in Mobile said earnings before interest and tax were 65.2 million Singapore dollars ($52.2 million), up 3 percent from 63 million in 2011.

Also on Tuesday, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd., the parent company of Mobile's ST Aerospace and Pascagoula's VT Halter Marine, reported a 9.7 percent rise in second quarter profit.

The defense contractor reported a net profit of 143.1 million Singapore dollars ($114.9 million) compared with 130.5 million Singapore dollars a year earlier. The company said its gains were due to higher contributions from its electronics, marine and land systems business.

Bill could save jobs at Maxwell

1:14 AM, Aug. 16, 2012

By Brad Harper

Seven airplanes and up to 800 jobs could remain at Maxwell Air Force Base thanks to defense budget language crafted by Alabama's congressional delegation.

A proposed cost-cutting plan by the Air Force is targeting seven C-130 aircraft used by the Montgomery-based 908th Airlift Wing. The plan is part of a cost-cutting initiative meant to trim $487 billion from the defense budget during the next decade.

But U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, said Wednesday that the push to move the planes didn't make financial sense and the state delegation's work to find out why has led to new amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act.

"We were told by the Air Force that these seven C-130s were going to be retired due to their age," Roby said. "Shortly thereafter, we hear that these aircraft are not going to be retired, they're going to be moved somewhere else."

Roby arranged a meeting with military leaders "to find out exactly what was going on." Every member of the state's delegation attended the May 17 summit with Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. James Jackson. Roby said the delegation asked to be shown "on paper" how the move would save money.

"You're going to move these aircraft to Montana where they don't have the people trained to support these aircraft," she said. "You don't even have the hangars, the infrastructure."

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[Montgomery Advertiser] 

アラバマ日米協会 主催

貿易および輸送に関するサミット及びゴルフコンペ

2012年9月27日、28日

アラバマ州モービル市

You are invited by the Japan-America Society of Alabama, the Alabama State Port Authority and APM Terminals to join the JASA Trade & Logistics Summit next month, an event specifically targeted for Japanese and international manufacturing companies in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.

September 27^th Summit (with Japanese interpretation)

This event will feature updates and panel discussions at the Alabama State Port Authority building from:

• South Alabama Economic Development Recruitment, Retention and Expansion
  Foreign Trade Zones
• APM Terminals Mobile, Global Containerized Freight Gateway
• Port of Mobile/Alabama State Port Authority, Servicing Alabama Industry

The event will be followed by a walking tour of Mitsubishi Polysilicon America Corporation, with working lunch and chartered bus tour of APM Terminals State-of-the-Art Container Terminal. In the evening, a dinner and closing reception will be hosted by the Alabama State Port Authority at the Alabama Delta Resource Center.  

September 28^th JASA South Alabama Summit Golf Tournament and Lunch

8:30 a.m. tee time at TimberCreek Golf Club

Tour of Charles Wood Japanese Garden available as an alternate option for non-golfers.

For registration information, please contact Tamara Moriya at jasa@mindspring.com or 205.943.4730. 

Austal graduates 15 from four-year apprenticeship program

Published: Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 10:21 AM 

By Ellen Mitchell, Press-Register

MOBILE, Alabama -- Austal USA honored 15 graduates of the shipbuilder's four-year apprenticeship program on Tuesday, several hours after Gov. Robert Bentley announced a $5 million worker training agreement between the state and Austal that will help the company as it adds up to1,000 full-time jobs in Mobile over the next five years.

The ceremony was held in the new Office Complex Multi-Use Room, completed last month as part of a three-building, $200 million expansion.

The graduates, designated as Department of Labor Class A Journeymen, consist of six electrical journeymen, four pipe-fitting journeymen, and five fabrication journeymen. Each graduate completed a minimum of 576 hours of classroom time and 8,000 hours of on-the-job-learning over a four-year apprenticeship. 

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[Press-Register]