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Greetings!

 

Here is today's summary of economic development news, a free service of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, representing Alabama's private sector investment in economic development.  If you enjoy NewsFlash, thank an EDPA Partner

 

In this issue:
International Paper to close Courtland plant
SBA and Birmingham partner to spur entrepreneurship
State, national officials tour Carroll High School
A Birmingham company is helping solve cyber security problems
Royal Increase
Army Looks To Schools To Find The Next Cyberwarriors
Fairhope among four areas in Alabama named top retirement destinations
New Samford business school building plans move forward
Registration underway for Alabama's only Innovation Conference

 


International Paper to close Courtland plant

By Mike Goens Managing Editor  

September 12, 2013 

 

COURTLAND - International Paper's decision Wednesday to close its Lawrence County operation will leave a devastating mark on the 1,100 plant workers and a county that already is considered one of the poorest in Alabama, officials said.

 

"This is not something we will get over any time soon," said Tony Stockton, executive director of the Lawrence County Industrial Development Board. "We will feel this for a long, long time."

 

Workers gathered in small groups Wednesday morning to hear their jobs will be phased out during the next several months. Company officials said the plant will permanently close by late March, which is the end of the company's first quarter budget period.

 
more...

 

 


 

SBA and Birmingham partner to spur entrepreneurship
Antrenise Cole Reporter-Birmingham Business Journal
Sep 11, 2013

The U.S. Small Business Administration'sAlabama District Office will sign a strategic alliance memorandum with the city of Birmingham this week to spur entrepreneurship in the area.

 

The memorandum is part of theBirmingham Empowerment Week activitiesand reinforces the relationship between Birmingham and the SBA to support, strengthen and grow the city's small business community.

 

SBA Regional Administrator Cassius Butts, SBA Alabama District Director Tom Todt and Birmingham Mayor William Bell will participate in the signing of the memorandum 12:50 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex South Exhibition Hall.

 

more...

 

[Birmingham Business Journal]

 

 

 

 





State, national officials tour Carroll High School

by Ebony Horton

Sept. 11,2013

 

OZARK - Officials from both the state and national departments of education visited Carroll High School on Wednesday to tour its academy programs.

 

According to Philip Cleveland, who serves as director of the Alabama Department of Education's career and technical programs, CHS' academies serve as a model across the state.

 

Cleveland said Wednesday was an opportunity for state and national education officials to monitor how Carl D. Perkins federal funds were being used for career and technical education in Alabama. Cleveland said the state receives about $21 million a year in those funds for such programs.

 

"We do have some other school systems that are doing some things similar," Cleveland said.

 

more...

 

[Dothan Eagle]

 


 

A Birmingham company is helping solve cyber security problems
Yann Ranaivo Reporter-Birmingham Business Journal
Sept. 11, 2013

Malcovery Security has been awarded a patent for a process that identifies the common source and nature of email-based cyberattacks targeting multiple brands.

 

A news release this week said Malcovery's work is covered by three awarded patents and one pending patent exclusively licensed to the company which sprung out of technology developed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

 

"The technology portfolio can automatically identify a phishing website without human intervention, then use comparison and clustering technology to determine whether the phish is an already identified threat, (or) a new as of yet unidentified threat," the release said.

 

more...

 

[Birmingham Business Journal]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Royal Increase

TEXT BY NEDRA BLOOM

 

Birmingham-based Royal Cup Inc. has announced a $30 million expansion of its facilities on 16 acres adjacent to its present operations. They expect to add 40 employees.

 

So far, the expansion is still in the planning stages, with no timeline for groundbreaking, says Vice President Bill Smith, but it's a logical move as the company has experienced consistent growth with an expectation for more.

 

"The coffee and tea industry has been a wonderful industry for us to be in, particularly of late, with a lot of energy and growth," says Smith. "Consumers are very educated, asking for specialty coffees and teas."

 

 

more...

 

[Business Alabama]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Army Looks To Schools To Find The Next Cyberwarriors

by DAN CARSEN

 

more...

 

[NPR]

 

 

 

 

 


Fairhope among four areas in Alabama named top retirement destinations

By Marc D. Anderson | [email protected] 

on September 11, 2013 

FAIRHOPE, Alabama -- Fairhope has been named one of "America's 100 Best Places to Retire" in a new publication by the editors of "Where To Retire" magazine.

 

The coastal Alabama city joins three other areas in the state that are recognized in the Houston-based Vacation Publications' fifth-edition book and they are Auburn/Opelika, Florence/The Shoals, and Huntsville.

 

"We believe that retirement locale scouting is fun," Annette Fuller, managing editor of Where to Retire and co-editor of the book, said in a news release. "This volume helps the process with its well-researched profiles of 100 cities that retirees love. Where to Retire magazine has been dedicated solely to discovering these destinations since 1992, so the knowledge in the pages is deep and wide."

 


more...

 

[al.com]


 

 

 

 


 

New Samford business school building plans move forward
Yann Ranaivo Reporter-Birmingham Business Journal
Sept. 11, 2013

Samford University's board of trustees has given the school's administration the green light to move forward with design and construction plans for the new Brock School of Business building.

Samford said in an announcement that school officials asked for authorization to keep moving forward so the building could be ready by fall 2015. Groundbreaking on the project is tentatively slated for later this year.

 

As we've previously reported, the new building will be located north of Harwell G. Davis Library and east of Mamie Mell Smith Residence Hall. The facility will include a community resource forum that can hold up to 400 people, classrooms with interactive breakout rooms, the student business incubator and the Bulldog Investment Fund room.

 

more...

 

[Birmingham Business Journal]

 

 

 

 


 

             Registration underway for Alabama's only Innovation Conference

 

Join the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama on Sept. 26-27 for the third annual Alabama Launchpad Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference that strives to celebrate the entrepreneurs and job creators who launch startups that help drive economic growth in the Alabama. We have a great lineup of speakers, including Gov. Robert Bentley and Alabama native Ted Alling, one of the South's leading entrepreneurs and managing partner of the Lamp Post Group, where he actively recruits and mentors other entrepreneurs. 

 

                                 

 

For conference agenda and more details visit the main conference website:

 

 

 

Registration pageRegister Now

 

 

 

Samford University grad Ted Alling, CEO Access America Transport

 

Brad Feld, TechStars co-founder.

 
 
William C. Taylor, Editor Fast Company

 

Andrew Chang, UPS Marketing Director

 


 

 

 

    

 

 




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Enjoy the day, 

Val Walton
   
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