EDPA NewsFlash - June 29, 2018

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:

EDPA sets imerge 2018 for July 12 with Henrique Dubugras

Governor Ivey Announces GE Appliances to create 255 jobs with expansion in Decatur

Auto supplier Unipres to add 70 jobs in $40 million Alabama expansion

Port Of Mobile Continues Legacy With Rapid Expansion

EDPA sets imerge 2018 for July 12 with Henrique Dubugras

By William Thornton

wthornton@al.com

June 29

Alabama's billion dollar entrepreneurs, and a 22-year-old tech co-founder, will be the headliners at the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama's imerge 2018 event July 12 in Birmingham.

The event will take place at EDPA headquarters, 1320 1 st Avenue South.

EDPA is transforming its campus into a pop-up venue for imerge 2018, with air-conditioning, a full audio/video soundstage, food trucks, beverages and more.

Gates open at 2 p.m., and the event begins at 3:30 p.m., with an address by Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on innovation in Birmingham and Alabama.

more...

[ al.com]

Governor Ivey Announces GE Appliances to create 255 jobs with expansion in Decatur

Jun 29, 2018

DECATUR, Ala. (Governor's Office) -- Governor Kay Ivey announced Friday that GE Appliances plans to invest $115 million in an expansion of its manufacturing facility in Decatur that will add 255 full-time jobs, bringing the plant's total employment to nearly 1,300.

The investment will help GE Appliances increase production to meet increasing demand for its top-mounted freezer refrigerators and represents the company's latest step toward fulfilling a strategic goal of becoming the leading major appliance business in the U.S.

"The expansion being announced today by GE Appliances reflects the company's deep commitment to its employees at the Decatur facility and to the state," Governor Ivey said. "We're proud that this great company calls Alabama home, and we look forward to supporting the continued growth of a manufacturing location that has a substantial economic impact on the area."

more...

[ WTVY]

Auto supplier Unipres to add 70 jobs in $40 million Alabama expansion

Words by Jerry Underwood

June 28, 2018

STEELE, Alabama - Unipres, an automotive supplier specializing in stamping technologies, plans to invest $40 million in an expansion that will create 70 jobs at its Alabama production facility, according to the St. Clair County Economic Development Council.

The expansion at the company's production center in Steele will include adding a new hot stamping process. The project will enhance production and allow the company to further support supplying quality parts for Nissan Motor Co.'s luxury mid-size vehicle.

In addition, Unipres Alabama has been a Tier One supplier to Honda Manufacturing of Alabamain Lincoln, and Honda's East Liberty Plant in Ohio for many years.

more...

[ Made in Alabama]

Port Of Mobile Continues Legacy With Rapid Expansion

BY FRANK MCCORMACK

JUNE 29, 2018

The Port of Mobile, located on Mobile Bay with the Gulf of Mexico to the south and the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers to the north, has for more than 300 years been an integral part of the culture and economy of the eastern Gulf Coast and Alabama.

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the brothers Le Moyne, founded the city of Mobile in 1702, recognizing the strategic connectivity of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mobile, Alabama and Tombigbee rivers.

That connectivity through the Port of Mobile linked Alabama's agriculture industry to the rest of the United States and the world beyond through the Civil War years in the 1860s.

more...

[ Waterways Journal]