Made (and tested) in Alabama: State-built cars first get test track workouts
Before Alabama-made vehicles hit city streets and neighborhood roads, they get a workout on the test tracks at the state’s three auto assembly plants. Banked curves, bumpy asphalt, smooth straightaways and skid pads are just some of the features that help put the models through paces that are designed to simulate all kinds of driving…
Alabama auto industry adds jobs, investment in communities big and small
Alabama’s auto industry continues to power new investment and jobs across the state. Over the past year, auto suppliers have announced new facilities and expansions worth at least $924 million and more than 2,500 new jobs in activities ranging from precision machining to engineering. Among the companies growing in Alabama is Lear Operations Corp., which…
Commerce chief Canfield: Alabama team building on 2015 successes
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama – While Alabama’s economic development team registered a record-setting year in 2015, the state’s leading industrial recruiter says the team continues to target game-changing projects. Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, spoke to the Alabama NewsCenter after a Monday address at the Economic Development Association of Alabama summer conference…
Buckle Up: Alabama auto industry accelerates growth (Video)
Alabama’s auto industry is on a hot streak, with record production numbers, rising investment, expanded hiring, and redesigned models rolling off the assembly lines. Last year alone, the auto industry added around 6,500 jobs and $3 billion in new investment in the state, according to a preliminary analysis of data in the Alabama Department of…
Alabama plant stars in Mercedes Brand Experience
Alabama isn’t just the center of manufacturing for Mercedes-Benz in the U.S., it’s also become the destination for thousands of the company’s employees on a mission to learn more about the brand. The Mercedes-Benz Brand Immersion Experience kicked off in September 2014, and since then, nearly 9,000 employees of the German automaker’s dealer network have…
World Stage: 2015 foreign investment reaches $3.4 billion
Foreign direct investment in Alabama topped $3.4 billion in 2015, as companies based in 18 different countries extended their reach into the state. The vast majority of the 95 FDI projects were expansions, including a major addition to the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County. Other auto industry investments were growth at Hyundai’s Montgomery factory and…
Alabama 2015 scorecard: Project investment tops $7 billion
Alabama attracted more than $7 billion in capital investment in 2015, along with nearly 20,000 new and future jobs, as the state’s economic development team secured high-caliber projects in key growth sectors such as technology, aerospace and automotive. At a press conference at the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facility in Vance today, Governor Robert Bentley released the…
Game-changing Alabama projects claim investment awards
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – A national trade publication selected three 2015 Alabama economic development projects, valued at a combined $2 billion, for its elite investment awards, reflecting the powerful impact of these collaborative recruitment efforts. Editors at Trade & Industry Development magazine evaluated hundreds of projects from across the U.S. before selecting the 30 winners of…
Alabama 2015 auto production tops 1 million, setting record
Alabama’s three global automakers combined to produce more than 1 million vehicles in 2015, the first time the state’s annual output has reached that big-league milestone. Mercedes-Benz, Honda and Hyundai produced a total of at least 1,033,095 vehicles last year, according to the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, a key player in the growth of…
Business Facilities names Alabama ‘State of the Year’ for 2015
Business Facilities magazine said today it has selected Alabama as its 2015 “State of the Year” after landing a string of coveted economic development projects from Polaris Industries, Google and other companies. This is the first time Alabama has claimed the site-selection publication’s highest award. Business Facilities singled out Alabama’s successful recruitment of Polaris’ $127…
