Alabama economic developers, educators team for new workforce development strategies
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Top Alabama education officials and economic developers increasingly are on the same page when it comes to workforce development strategies, crafting initiatives that align classroom learning with critical workplace needs. At a forum sponsored by the Birmingham Business Alliance, Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield and high-ranking state education officials described how…
Governor Bentley Comments on 2012 New & Expanding Industries
MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Alabama Governor Robert Bentley today released details from the 2012 New and Expanding Industries Report, which showed a second year of steady growth for new jobs in Alabama and capital investment across the state. Companies establishing new operations in Alabama or expanding facilities already in the state announced capital investments exceeding $5.4…
AIDT training programs give Alabama advantage in industrial recruiting
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – In just about every corner of Alabama, AIDT, the state’s top-ranked job-training agency, is helping companies assemble workforces and upgrading worker skill sets. AIDT training programs are preparing workers to build “Made-in-Alabama” products such as next-generation warships for the U.S. Navy and luxury automobiles sold around the globe. The agency is teaching…
AIDT Maritime Training Center readies workers for jobs in Alabama shipyards
MOBILE, Alabama – An eight-week welding course at the AIDT Maritime Training Center gave Rodney Patrick a future he didn’t expect – a career in shipbuilding. Around three years ago, the Mobile County man was working as an investigator for a law firm when the economic downturn put him on the job-search trail. A friend suggested…
Alabama Aviation Center trains students for careers in growing aerospace industry
MOBILE, Alabama — It’s two years before Airbus begins producing airplanes in Mobile, but Alabama students have already taken flight through training at the Alabama Aviation Center. They are getting prepared for the jobs of the future in an industry that will alter the landscape of Alabama much like Mercedes-Benz did with its auto plant…
Expansions, new projects fuel growth of manufacturing jobs across Alabama
A manufacturing boom means Alabama is poised to produce more automobiles, engines, ships, railcars and airplane components. It also means thousands of new manufacturing jobs across a state whose economy continues to be reshaped by industrial projects. “Industrial development throughout the state remains in high gear with many companies announcing expansions to their existing operations or…
Industrial robots training center prepares Alabama workers for high-tech manufacturing jobs
TANNER, Alabama — Rick Maroney minds a flock of industrial robots in one of the world’s most innovative and futuristic training centers. Maroney is a project manager at Robotics Technology Park (RTP), where workers from manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda and Navistar have come for training on the latest equipment from the world’s top industrial…
Alabama workforce training programs gearing up for Airbus
MOBILE, Alabama – Before Airbus can deliver passenger jets made in Alabama to the world’s airlines, Alabama workforce training programs must first deliver workers who can assemble them. It’s not exactly new territory for a state that has landed mega-projects from Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai, Austal and other manufacturers in recent years. And the Airbus effort…