Director: State Port poised to ship automobiles within a couple of years 

on July 30, 2014 at 7:48 AM, updated July 30, 2014 at 8:17 AM 

POINT CLEAR, Alabama - The head of the Alabama State Port Authority said it has identified a site for a $54 million automotive shipping terminal and the port hopes to be ready to ship Alabama-made cars and SUVs in a year or two. 

Speaking to the Economic Development Association of Alabama's Summer 2014 Conference, Jimmy Lyons, director and chief executive of the Port Authority, said while most of the vehicles produced in Alabama and surrounding states are for the domestic market, some of those vehicles are bound for other countries.

Up until now, the Port has not been equipped to ship cars. That could change with the new terminal, which would allow for marshalling cars and roll-on, roll-off operations.Not only will a new terminal allow for shipping cars bound for foreign markets, but it opens the door to receive cars from those markets - particularly cars that are produced in Mexico or South America.

The $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal could also increase that potential as well as other shipping opportunities, Lyons said.

The old Brantley's Tire building on North Main Street in Atmore has been going through a lot of changes in recent days. The south side of the building has been torn down and changes in the north side of the building are paving the way for an expansion of Muskogee Technology into metal fabrication on a large scale.

According to Mal McGhee, Muskogee Director of Marketing, the Brantley building was the perfect place for several new lines of fabrication that could not be built in the Muskogee building located inside the old Vanity Fair.

more...[AtmoreNews.com]

on July 29, 2014 at 3:54 PM, updated July 29, 2014 at 4:05 PM 

Business leaders who call Alabama home know how much the state has to offer in terms of economic development potential. In the last five years, the state has attracted companies including Remington, Carpenter Technology and Golden Dragon Copper, among others. 

Thanks in part to those recent successes, Alabama is in a position to compete "very well" for future opportunities in manufacturing, explained William Hearn, senior vice president of strategic consulting at real estate firm CBRE at the Economic Development Association of Alabama's summer 2014 conference. 

more...[al.com]

 Registration is open for the 2014 

4th Annual Alabama Launchpad Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference to be held Sept. 25-26 in Birmingham!

Register here to attend the conference, the only kind in the state where entrepreneurs, startup founders, government leaders, economic developers, university leaders and small business owners gather in one place to network and to shine a spotlight on Alabama's innovation economy. 

Our speakers for this year include:

• Gov. Robert Bentley, who has made research and development, commercialization and entrepreneurship key elements of his Accelerate Alabama strategic plan.

• Peter H. Diamandis, an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, incentive competitions and commercial space.  In the field of Innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, best known for its $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight.  Today the X PRIZE leads the world in designing and operating large-scale global competitions to solve market failures. - See more at: http://www.diamandis.com/

• Brandon Byrne, Vice President of Finance for Curse, one of the world's largest video gaming information companies based in Huntsville. 

    We also are including:

• One-to-one consulting through appointments setup through an app with Alabama's most recognized CEOs, entrepreneurs, research university presidents, innovators and industry executives.  
•   An awards luncheon in which we recognize people, products and companies  that greatly impact the state's economy through showcasing innovative approaches to building the economy.
•   A panel discussion with our guest speaker, Peter Diamandis, and two of Alabama's top CEOs,  AT&T Alabama President Fred McCallum, and Mark Imig, Regional Vice President, commercial banking, Wells Fargo.
• A Start-Up Village where more than 15 startups and innovators will demonstrate their products and innovations.

The conference begins on Thursday, Sept. 25, with the Alabama Launchpad Start-Up Competition Finale, where six startup teams will pitch their businesses in hopes of winning a share of $300,000. There also will be a kickoff reception and an awards luncheon. The event continues with a full-day agenda on Friday, Sept. 26.

Our deadline is almost here! 

Nominations end tomorrow for the 2014 Alabama Launchpad Innovation Awards.  

The awards will recognize companies, businesses and people doing innovative things for the state. Winners will be honored on Sept. 25 at an Awards Ceremony Dinner at WorkPlay, Birmingham.

  Visit the Alabama Launchpad website to make your nomination