Knauf Insulation CEO: Why we picked Alabama for our project
LANETT, Alabama – In commentary published on AL.com, Knauf Insulation CEO Mark Andrews outlined reasons the Indiana-based company recently decided to restart and upgrade operations at a mothballed Alabama factory. On Jan. 24, Andrews was on hand at a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the state-of-the-art plant in the Chambers County city of Lanett, where…
Elba: Small Alabama town sets sights on growth
ELBA, Alabama – In this small town in south Alabama’s Coffee County, companies and people are doing big things. Take INZI Controls, a South Korea-based manufacturer of injection and blow molded automotive parts that supplies the Hyundai automotive manufacturing facility in Montgomery. Since 2009, the company has grown to employ more than 220 people at…
Knauf Insulation re-opens Alabama plant, citing relationships, support
LANETT, Alabama – At a ceremony today to mark the re-opening of Knauf Insulation’s mothballed Chambers County plant, CEO Mark Andrews said relationships played a major role in the company’s decision to restart operations in Alabama rather than seek a new location. “At every single stage of this, we really felt we were wanted in…
Macon County industrial sites position area for economic development
SHORTER, Alabama – Officials in Macon County believe their county is poised for growth thanks to its strategic location along Interstate 85 and a roster of industrial sites that have strong logistical advantages including rail access. In fact, Macon County last year became the first in Alabama to receive a CSX Select Site designation. CSX says…
Central location, workforce pave way for Cullman expansion projects
CULLMAN, Alabama – The way Garlan Gudger Jr. sees it, Cullman’s vitality and business-friendly atmosphere make the city an ideal spot to live and work. A string of business expansions and new economic development projects in the community serves to confirm his belief. “Cullman feels like a large town in a smaller town setting,” said…
Rural Alabama economic development gets new push with team approach
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Job-creation efforts in rural Alabama are gaining momentum from an increased level of cooperation between economic developers at state and local levels and a regional approach that has helped sharpen strategic thinking and build alliances. Wayne Vardaman, executive director of the Selma & Dallas County Economic Development Authority, is directing a renewed…
Chambers County trades spindles for suppliers as Alabama auto industry rises
LANETT, Alabama – In East Alabama’s Chambers County, the textile industry facilities are all gone, many of the last survivors wiped away in one brutal year of rapid-fire plant closings. In their place have come a string of companies that use plastic injection molding machines to make automotive parts and firms that stamp out metal…
Auto supplier HTNA adds new Alabama production facility, 100 jobs
JASPER, Alabama – HTNA, a tier-one auto supplier that manufactures carpet and interior trim components for Honda, Toyota and other automakers, plans to hire 100 workers after constructing a new Alabama production facility. The company said its new, state-of-the-art plant is located in the Bevill Industrial Park in Jasper, less than two miles from the…
Interstate 22 boosts economic development opportunities in northwest Alabama, developers say
JASPER, Alabama – Segments of Corridor X – the roadway that will become Alabama’s next interstate – are so new they don’t show up on some GPS devices. But economic developers like David Knight and David Thornell believe that ribbon of asphalt will make Northwest Alabama appealing for new development. Corridor X, or Interstate 22, as…
