August | 2020
ALDI plans regional HQ, distribution hub in Baldwin County, AL
By Made in Alabama
ALDI, a German family-owned discount supermarket chain, announced plans today to construct a new regional headquarters and distribution center in Loxley, Alabama, to support the company’s g rowing footprint along the Gulf Coast. The plans will create 200 new jobs.

ALDI plans to open 70 new stores by the end of the year across its entire footprint, which puts the company on pace to become the third-largest U.S. grocer by store count by the end of 2022.


Dankeschön to our PATRON Members:
Mercedes-Benz C-Class ends production in US
By Sean Szumkowski, CNET.com
Production of the C-Class in the US started back in 2014 - Daimler.

Mercedes-Benz’s parent automaker, Daimler, said the US will no longer be home to C-Class production on Friday. As the automaker looks to cut losses, the sedan will exit production at the automaker's assembly plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Instead, the US plant will exclusively build SUVs for Mercedes-Benz. A Daimler spokesperson confirmed the decision with Roadshow and added, "A major factor behind this measure is that the Tuscaloosa plant is preparing to integrate the upcoming electric SUV models from the EQ product and technology brand into its operations. This will require certain construction projects."


Siemens to let staff ‘Work From Anywhere’ permanently
By SightsIn Plus
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with branch offices abroad said its board had approved a new working model that will allow employees to work from where they are most productive, including at home or from a co-working space.

“The aim is to enable employees worldwide to work on a mobile basis for an average of two or three days a week, whenever reasonable and feasible,” Siemens said in a statement. “These changes will also be associated with a different leadership style, one that focuses on outcomes rather than on time spent at the office,” said incoming Chief Executive Roland Busch.


Airbus CEO: Production recovery could take until 2025
By Lawrence Specker, AL.com
Airbus CEO: Production recovery could take until 2025 before aircraft production rates return to 2019 levels. The company remains committed to its internationally distributed manufacturing process, specifically mentioning its Final Assembly Line in Mobile.

Alabama's immigrants pay more than 1 billion in annual taxes
By Micah Danney, Alabama Political Reporter
Alabama's immigrants pay more than 1 billion in annual taxes study says.

Of Alabama’s 4.9 million residents, 162,567 of them, or 3 percent, were foreign-born as of 2018, according to statistics compiled by the  American Immigration Council , which advocates for immigration reform.

Mexico is the most common country of origin at 27 percent of immigrants. China and India each account for 6 percent, followed by Guatemala and Germany with 5 percent each.

Clarifications for nonimmigrant students taking online courses during fall 2020 semester

There has been much confusion for our foreign exchange students in regards to remaining in the US while possible taking online classes in the Fall. The Student and Exchange Visitor Program have updated the guidelines in order to clarify questions for Fall 2020 based on March 9 Spring Guidance Broadcast.


Dankeschön to our SUSTAINING Members:
New AGP Members
Please help us welcome our new members:


CORPORATE/ASSOCIATE

Stacey Bonnetti
Account Executive
Maersk

A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated container logistics company. Connecting and simplifying trade to help our customers grow and thrive. With a dedicated team of over 80.000, operating in 130 countries; we go all the way to enable global trade for a growing world.
Learn more at   www.maersk.com.



CORPORATE/ASSOCIATE

Thomas Harthun
Senior Manager
ConMoto Consulting Group GmbH

ConMoto Consulting is a management consultancy that drives to get things done. They co-create innovative solutions and work with you step by step to make them real. They spur change in structures and processes, inspiring you to transform your business. The success of a project comes down to approach. Getting things moving, pragmatism on the ground, and seeing projects through: these have been ConMoto hallmarks – for thirty years. Learn more at  www.conmoto.de



CORPORATE/ASSOCIATE

Jennifer Koon
Director of Strategic Accounts
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Inc.

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Inc. was founded i n 1871, their company started with one man, Carl Heinrich Hellmann, using a horse-drawn cart to deliver parcels in and around the town of Osnabrueck, northern Germany. Four generations later, Carl’s great-grandchildren, Jost and Klaus, own and run the company with a worldwide network of 19,300 people in 443 branches in 157 countries. Learn more at: www.hellmann.com


EDUCATIONAL/STUDENT

Matthew Steiger 
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH)


EDUCATIONAL/PROFESSIONAL

Brad Burckel



Let's welcome you as a new member next month! Join TODAY!

"Fernweh"
By David Farley for BBC.com
For all of us trapped inside our homes during coronavirus who long to travel, the Germans have a word for that: fernweh. 'Fernweh' describes a deep inner urge to travel. It combines 'fern' ('far') with 'weh' ('pain', 'suffering'). So 'Fernweh' is the pain of not being far away.   

Every time I feel like I’ve reached the most remote place I’ve ever traveled, I hear “Guten tag”, and see a German rounding the corner, nonchalantly strolling by like he or she went for a walk around in their Munich or Hamburg neighborhood, got pleasantly lost, and somehow ended up here in the wilds of western Ethiopia or below the peaks the Bolivian Andes. The more I traverse the globe, the more I realize that the Germans are the great travelers of the modern world.

And they have several words that reflect their love of exploration. They gave us the word “wanderlust”, after all, which combines the German words wandern, meaning to “wander”, and lust, or “desire”. It’s a word so provocative to English speakers with a yen to see the world that we’ve borrowed it from the German and have taken it as our own.


AGP Members in the News
Renato Gross, SWIGRO Additive Manufacturing

Our AGP members Alabama Department of Commerce, City of Auburn , and SWIGRO Additive Manufacturing made the news last month; seed money was awarded to OraSecure, a company that has developed a rapid COVID-19 test kit.


German Consulate General in Atlanta - New Phone Number
Please note that the German Consulate General in Atlanta
has a new phone number: (404) 905-0000.
COVID-19 RELATED NEWS AND RESOURCES
NEWS:

Germany 'greatly concerned' as coronavirus clusters grow
The rapid rise in Germany's coronavirus numbers is very worrying, the country's Robert Koch Institute for disease control said Tuesday, urging citizens to keep their distance and wear face masks. Read The Local DE's full story here.

Coronavirus and entry restrictions: 6 things travelers to Germany need to know
Due to the coronavirus outbreak many countries have imposed travel restrictions or taken other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Travelers can find useful and important information for trips to Germany here. Read Federal Foreign Office's information here.


RESOURCES

We have collected a list of resources that can provide information and assistance during these challenging times. You can find them on our website under Helpful Resources.



AlabamaGermany Partnership:

You can continue to reach us by phone: (205) 341-7880 or email:  director@alabamagermany.org . We are NOT open for appointments.



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