By Dawn Kent Azok | dazok@al.com 

The coming year will be a busy one for Honda's Alabama auto manufacturing operations.

First up, the company will launch a redesign of the Ridgeline pickup, which will debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January and enter mass production at the Talladega County plant in early 2016.

Later in the year, another redesign is expected. This time it's the Odyssey minivan, the flagship product of Honda's Alabama assembly lines.

 Dec 01, 2015

Sumter County, Ala. Industrial Maintenance Technology, it is a job that is in growing demand across the country, and the University of West Alabama is offering classes to train people to work on electrical and mechanical aspects of machines in the manufacturing industry through a free certificate program, and all of this is a way to help improve the quality of workforce in one of the poorest counties in Alabama.

"UWA is in Sumter County which is one of the poorest counties and we are offering this training for the individuals there and also the surrounding areas and it gives them an opportunity for them to come in, become job ready, have employability skills and go to work," explained James Gray, Employment Specialist and Counselor at The University of West Alabama.

In order to be placed in the 16 week Industrial Maintenance Level One certification program for the spring semester, people must register before December 4th, have a GED or High School Diploma and be at least 18 years old, they must also complete an Assessment Test.