Airbus growth forecast bodes well for coastal aerospace corridor

By Kelli Dugan, Press-Register 

MOBILE, Alabama -- Opportunity and transformation are the words on the lips of both local and regional economic development officials in the wake of Airbus revised global aircraft forecast through 2031.

"We're already the fourth-largest aerospace corridor in the world, and this is just going to make it stronger," said Neal Wade, chairman of the Aerospace Alliance and Alabama's former secretary of commerce.

The European plane maker released today a revised 20-year forecast for aircraft demand, indicating some 28,200 planes will be needed to offset rising fuel costs and capitalize fully on servicing emerging markets.

But what exactly does an estimated $4 trillion global investment mean for the city and region selected in July to house Airbus first aircraft assembly plant in the United States?

Troy Wayman, vice president of economic development for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, said the $600 million facility expected to generate more than 3,000 direct and indirect jobs by the time production begins in 2016 certainly means far more than planes in the air and jobs on the ground.

"I think Airbus has seen the writing on the wall for a while that the aircraft market is right on the cusp of immense growth and I think its one of the things that helped them make the decision to build here in Mobile," he said. "And when you're talking about $100 million per aircraft, that's a lot of money."

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[Press-Register] 

Business incubator will open in town next month

TUSCALOOSA | Regions Bank gave the building. The University of Alabama gave money to help spruce it up. And volunteers gave much of the sweat to ready Tuscaloosa community's first business incubator - something that has been talked about for years, but was finished in just a few months.

Known as The Edge - Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the incubator was unveiled Thursday by local officials. The Edge is a place where very small, young businesses can get help and share resources that can help them grow.

Its goal is to help the businesses grow enough so they leave the incubator for a facility of their own, said Jim Page, president of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, which is partnering with UA and the city of Tuscaloosa on the endeavor.

The incubator is in an 8,700-square-foot white-brick building at 800 22nd Ave. in downtown Tuscaloosa. It is behind the downtown Regions Bank. The building, which was used as a Federal Emergency Management Agency center after the April 27, 2011, tornado, is owned by Regions, which is letting The Edge use the building for two years.

Page said he thinks there could be enough interest from budding entrepreneurs to fill The Edge quickly, and that it might need a larger facility within two years.

"We already have one tenant already lined up," he said. "But we have had interest expressed by several other potential tenants" as word got out.

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[Tuscaloosa News] 

USA Foundation hopes to move forward with developing Brookley property

MOBILE, Alabama -- Before Airbus announced its new assembly plant at Brookley, the University of South Alabama Foundation was already discussing how to develop its new property in that same complex.

With Airbus coming to the Brookley Aeroplex, developing a plan for the foundation's Brookley property becomes more "immediate," director Maxey Roberts said Thursday.

"We want the property to reflect positively on the foundation and the university," Roberts told foundation members during their meeting Thursday.

Roberts said the foundation wants to "capitalize on the Brookley site assets."

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[Press-Register] 

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