alabama economic development guide - EZ

Transcription

ALABAMA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
PRIME INDUSTRIAL SITES
REGIONAL ECONOMIES
EMERGING INDUSTRY CLUSTERS
TECHNOLOGY CENTERS
WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS
DEFENSE CONTRACTING
RELOCATION SUPPORT
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
DIRECT FOREIGN INVESTORS
TRADE EXPEDITERS
2 0 10
Alabama Economic Development Guide
A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE FOR SITE SELECTION
View this
publicationECONOMIC
online at: alabamaeconomicdevelopmentguide.com
2010
ALABAMA
DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
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2010
2010
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ALABAMA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 2010
Table of Contents
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STATEWIDE PERSPECTIVE: Economic Overview
Region by Region
12
TENNESSEE VALLEY
14
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
16
CAPITAL HEARTLAND
18
SOUTHWEST WIREGRASS
20
GULF COAST
Features
31
DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
33
TECHNOLOGY/DEFENSE CLUSTER: Missile Command and Cummings
35
NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER: Cummings Research Park
37
BIRMINGHAM’S BIOTECH CATALYSTS
39
REGIONAL HUB FOR SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
41
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN ALABAMA
43
APPLIED LIFE SCIENCE: The HudsonAlpha Institute
45
PERSONALIZED CANCER RESEARCH: The Mitchell Cancer Institute
47
EDUCATION WITH GLOBAL REACH
48
PILLAR OF REGIONAL MEDICAL RESEARCH:
Southern Research Institute
Industry by Industry
22
BIOTECHNOLOGY
24
AEROSPACE
26
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
28
AUTOMOTIVE
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International Trade
51
INTERNATIONAL PORTS, RECORD EXPORTS
53
ALABAMA’S GULF GATEWAY
55
PORTS OF OPPORTUNITY: Foreign Trade Zones
Transportation
56
AIRPORTS, HIGHWAYS
57
RAILWAYS
58
WATERWAYS
59
THE TENNESSEE-TOMBIGBEE WATERWAY
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63
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC
AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
ALABAMA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING
64
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
OF ALABAMA
65
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
OF ALABAMA
66
BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS ALLIANCE
67
NORTH ALABAMA INTERNATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATION
69
ALABAMA TECHNOLOGY NETWORK
Development Resources
Economic Development Agencies
49
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT
61
ALABAMA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
68
ALABAMA DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES
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ALABAMA’S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SITES
2010
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Governor’s Letter
Alabama Industrial
Development Guide 2010
PUBLISHER
T.J. Potts
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Walker Sorrell
EDITOR
Chris McFadyen
December 10, 2009
SENIOR WRITER
Nedra Bloom
Our nation has faced many economic
challenges throughout the last year. Though
Alabama’s economy has been proven to be
one of the nation’s most diverse, it certainly
isn’t immune to the world-wide recession.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Kelli Dugan
Cary Estes
Bill Gerdes
Tara Hulen
Neal Wade
In these difficult economic times,
Alabama hasn’t simply waited and hoped
for things to get better. We’ve gone to
work…
ART DIRECTOR
Rebecca Reeves
• We’re
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Rachel McMurray
TRAFFIC & ADMINISTRATION
Alexis Pickens
aggressively recruiting new
industry to our state as well as working with existing industry to foster
expansion.
• We’ve retooled our workforce development strategy to target high-growth
sectors of the economy.
• We’ve revamped our laws allowing us to use economic incentives to
attract high-tech, information-driven companies and the green industry to
Alabama
• We’re investing in proven education programs that will prepare the next
generation of Alabamians for the careers of tomorrow.
Many global companies in aerospace, biotechnology, automotive and
other sectors have already discovered that Alabama is the best place in the
nation to live and do business. Alabama’s diverse and growing industrial base
proves that with an ideal business climate and our reputation for becoming
a partner with industry, we have the perfect combination for new business
success stories.
We have laid the foundation for economic success in Alabama. We invite
you to do business in Alabama and discover how we can grow and prosper
together.
Sincerely,
ACCOUNTING
Carolyn H. Jones
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Tammy Hawk-Bridges, ext. 104
Lee Mills, ext. 102
Page Stabler, 114
ADVERTISING SALES OFFICE
529 Beacon Parkway West, Suite 110
Birmingham, AL 35209
(205) 941-1425
[email protected]
Alabama Economic Development Guide is
published annually by PMT Publishing Co.,
Inc. Copyright 2010 by PMT Publishing
Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part without written
permission is prohibited.
Address all correspondence to Alabama
Economic Development Guide, 3729
Cottage Hill Road, Suite H, Mobile, AL
36609 or 529 Beacon Parkway West,
Suite 110, Birmingham, AL 35209, (251)
473-6269 in Mobile or (205) 941-1425 in
Birmingham. FAX in Birmingham is (205)
941-1494 and e-mail address is info@
pmtpublishing.com. Letters to the editor
are welcome. Please query the editor
before sending unsolicited articles or
photographs.
Bob Riley
Governor
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CIRCULATION
Anita Miller
2010
2010
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Statewide Economic Overview
Primed for
RE-IGNITION
Port of Mobile
Energen Corp gas well, San Juan Basin
Shelby Engineering Center, Auburn University
Mercedes-Benz USA
C
reative thinking is the centerpiece of Alabama’s plan for revving up the
engine of renewed prosperity.
Before the nation’s economic downturn, Alabama was booming, and
state economic development officials consider the slowdowns here as more of
a lull than a slump.
Ever since 1993, when Mercedes-Benz picked Alabama for its American
auto plant, state officials have worked to make sure the it was just as inviting
for the next big project. State and local governments helped identify potential
industrial sites, made sure the news of Alabama’s business-friendly tax
structure and incentives was headlined in discussions with potential businesses
and beefed up education programs to train workers for jobs in new, highertech industries.
Since 1993, two more automakers — Hyundai and Honda — built major
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Economic developers
across the state have been
busy with trade missions,
regional alliances and site
investments that put the
state in the forefront of the
emerging economic recovery.
A backlog of mammoth
projects under construction
will lead the momentum.
By Nedra Bloom
Statewide Economic Overview
auto assembly plants here. And just as the
global economy slowed, two huge industrial
developments were in progress — National
Alabama’s railcar plant in the northern tier
of the state and ThyssenKrupp’s new steel
mills in the southern tier. The steel plant,
representing an investment of $4.65 billion,
is considered to be the largest private
industrial development in U.S. history.
During 2009, both the new plants slowed
down and automakers trimmed shifts. But as
the year closes, the economic horizon looks
brighter.
All across the state, economic
development leaders are working on the
upturn. It’s more than just spin; it’s an
honest effort to move forward even when
the climate is at best stagnant, to be ready
when things improve.
State officials traveled to the Paris
Air Show as they do every year. “We’re
continuing to sell the state. so when the
economy does rebound, we’re ready to take
advantage of wherever the growth is going
to come from,” said Neal Wade, director of
the Alabama Development Office.
Also on the trip to Paris, Brian Hilson
of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber
of Commerce, said “We want to make
sure that they understand that as they
have opportunities to grow, we’re there to
respond.” His next stops after Paris were
slated for Japan and Korea.
Trips to Cali and Bogota, Colombia,
headlined the fall agenda for economic
developers.
Using the Downtime
Alabama and its industries are not just
slipping backwards, but actually taking
advantage of the down time, Wade believes.
While auto-related companies, particularly,
are feeling the pinch, Wade is confident
they’ll rebound. “These companies are
really retooling and coming up with more
advanced, more energy-efficient models.
You’re going to see pent-up consumer
demand. It’s going to hit. And there’s going
to be a need for steel.”
Steel is important since Alabama is
home to five plants for Nucor, the nation’s
premier firm making steel from recycled
scrap, and SSAB, also a mini-mill, as well
as US Steel and Alabama’s up and coming
giant ThyssenKrupp.
ThyssenKrupp was ahead of schedule
on construction of its new mills when the
worldwide demand for steel plummeted.
Progress has been slower than originally
scheduled, but the target remains the same.
“The fundamental reasons for our strategic
investments in Duisburg (Germany), Brazil
and the U.S.A. have not change in light of the
crisis,” said ThyssenKrupp Executive Board
Chairman Ekkehard Schulz. “They are right
for the long term. We are not cutting back
on the scale of the projects, but the startup
of the production equipment of the stainless
steel plant in Alabama will be delayed.”
“We were three months ahead,” said
Ulrich Albrecht-Frueh, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA. “Construction-wise we
were doing very well,” he said, adding, “But
we don’t want to begin operation in 2009
when there’s no market.”
Even with a delay in start-up, at
midsummer, some 2,000 contractors and
sub-contractors were at work on the complex
along the Tombigbee River near Calvert.
About 220 permanent workers, nearly 10
percent of the anticipated 2,700 workers,
had been hired.
Up at The Shoals, National Alabama has
delayed the production start date for its rail
car plant. Originally expecting the first freight
cars to roll onto the tracks at the end of last
year, the company now plans to complete
some trial cars in July. The fabrication shop
at the front of the plant is virtually ready, as
is the finishing shop, where cars are blasted,
painted and equipped with wheels and axles
just before they roll out. But only one of
the projected four construction lines will be
open for business.
“It all goes back to the economy,” said
National Alabama spokesman Peter Earle.
“The demand is poor, but we’ve kept on
with construction.” Process equipment
should be in place by mid-summer. “We’ve
tried to take advantage of the delay by being
efficient and getting ready,” he said.
So far, demand has not returned. As of
August, rail freight traffic was down 16
percent and some half a million freight cars
were standing idle in North America.
Rail is very responsive to the overall
marketplace, Earle said. As soon as the
economy rebounds, the demand should
grow rapidly. So far, he’s seen only modest
improvement, but he hopes that U.S. and
Canadian stimulus packages will help.
Neither National Alabama nor its Canadian
parent has received any direct stimulus
money, but both expect to benefit if the
stimulus results in an overall economic
boost.
Some industrial development delays are
based more on politics and economy.
At this point last year, Mobile was
RECENT SUCCESS STORIES
• Norfolk Southern announced plans for a $112 million
intermodal cargo terminal near Birmingham that will employ
600 workers. Construction is set to begin early in 2010, with the
cargo-loading terminal ready for operation in 2012.
• Relocation of an e-commerce warehouse for The Children’s
Place Retail Stores Inc., from New Jersey to Fort Payne, Ala.
• Austal USA won a contract to build the Navy’s new Joint High
Speed Vessel. The contract is valued at up to $1.6 billion of all
10 anticipated ships are built.
• Defense Acquisition University, an agency of the Department
of Defense, broke ground for a new 50,000-square-foot office
in Huntsville.
• An announcement was made by Chinese automaker Hybrid
Kinetic Motors of plans for a $1.5 billion plant in Baldwin
County to employ 6,000 workers and produce 300,000 hybrid
cars a year by 2014, depending on the availability of funding for
the project.
• The new Gulf State Park pier, a favorite for fishermen and
sightseers, re-opened in July, five years after the previous pier
was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. At a quarter-mile in length, it’s
the longest pier on the Gulf of Mexico.
• Receipt of the first vessel, the Blue Whale, at the new Mobile
Container Terminal at the Alabama State Docks
• Alabama’s new Robotics Technology Park is under
construction at Calhoun Community College in Decatur.
• The Little Cedar Creek oil and gas field near Evergreen is the
hottest producer in the state, providing 2.4 million barrels of oil
in 2008.
2010
9
Statewide Overview
riding high on the news that the Northrop
Grumman/EADS team had been selected
for a $40 billion contract to build a new class
of aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force.
The new planes were to be assembled in
a new $600 million factory in Mobile,
employing some 1,500 workers. After
the Northrop Grumman/EADS team won
the contract in March 2008, however,
a federal audit agency stepped in and
ordered a rework of the procurement
process. Now the Northrop team and
contender Boeing Co., which has major
facilities in Alabama but would build
the tankers in Washington state and
Kansas, will rebid the project.
In the meantime, EADS opened
an engineering facility in Mobile in
2007 and this year broke ground for
a news MRO center at the Mobile
Regional Airport.
Smaller Is Good, Too
Big projects make big headlines,
but state economic development
officials are proud of the small
successes, too. “I had always focused
on the numbers — how many jobs,”
says ADO’s Wade. Then a woman
in Luverne thanked him for bringing
better jobs to her small community,
jobs that would help pay for her son’s
college education.
“It’s not about numbers, but about
changing lives,” Wade says. “I know that
sounds hokey, but if you can get a job that
pays better, people’s quality of life is bring
improved.”
While the agency’s list of success stories
is topped by auto, steel and rail car plants
in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the
ADO list includes plenty of projects with
capital investments less than $5 million:
North American Bus Industries in Anniston,
Cummings Signs in Dothan, Pilgrim’s Pride
poultry
processing
plant in Russellville and Sikorsky Aircraft
in Troy, to name a few.
Economic developers are thinking
creatively, too, even in smaller markets.
The inland counties of the Gulf Coastal
region — long subject to the economic
booms and busts of the timber industry
— have banded together to create the
Coastal Gateway Regional Economic
Development Authority. Instead of waiting
for timber to rebound, they’re developing
industrial sites on spec to attract other
industries. “Regionalism is the way to
go,” said Brewton Mayor Ted Jennings.
Farther north, cooperation also plays
a key role in economic readiness. When
Cullman County wanted to build spec
buildings to attract new industry, all 11
banks in the area loaned the money to
finance the project.
At the top of the state, communities
are using the new Patton Island
Bridge over the Tennessee River for
improved cooperation as well as
improved transportation between
the cities of Florence and Muscle
Shoals. For years the cities
tried to outdo one another
in attracting business; now
they present a united front
and are home to one of the
state’s biggest new industrial
developments, the ready-toopen National Alabama rail car
plant.
With
virtually
every
variety of aviation industry
somewhere in the state —
from the famed rocket science
at Huntsville to the helicopter
expertise at Fort Rucker to the MRO
companies like ST Mobile Aerospace
Engineering, the largest employer in
the Gulf city — the state developed an
educational program devoted entirely
to aviation technology.
Although much of the state is still
mired in economic woes, three areas have
successfully moved past the recession,
according to Moody’s: Mobile, Huntsville
and Columbus, an area spanning the
Alabama-Georgia border.
Said Wade, “The demand is going
to come back. The economy is going
to come back. We’ve seen these cycles
before. It’s tougher than most, but it will
come back.”
ALABAMA HEADLINERS
• Kudos from online resource Yahoo! HotJobs to Huntsville
for its “recession proof” jobs.
• Kudos to the new Alabama Civil Rights Trail from tourist
guide publisher Frommers. Listing the trail among such
exotic destinations as the Buddhist temples of Angkor
Wat and remote New Zealand islands, the guide says the
trail “captures a moment in history through it’s many small
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2010
museums — both in Selma and Montgomery — and in
the journey visitors take to travel from place to place. For
families, it’s a well-marked trail that offers changing views,
numerous stops, and generational discussions.”
• Kudos from Education Week for the Alabama Math,
Science, and Technology Initiative reaching into nearly
600 public schools to improve teaching of critical skills.
Alabama’s
Alabama’s Largest
Largest Foreign-Owned
Foreign-Owned Manufacturers
Manufacturers
source: Alabama Development Office
COMPANY
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama
LLC
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing
Alabama LLC
EMPLOYEES
COUNTRY
Over 4000
Japan
3001-4000
South Korea
Mercedes Benz US International Inc
3001-4000
ThyssenKrupp Steel USA
2501-3000
YEAR EST.
CITY
1999
Lincoln
Automobile Assembly & Engines
2002
Montgomery
Germany
Sport Utility Vehicles
1994
Vance
Germany
Carbon & Stainless Steel Processing
2007
Mount Vernon
2001-2500
Canada
Integrated Audio Disks Production/
Distribution
1986
Huntsville
National Alabama Corporation (Under
1501-2000
Construction)
Canada
Rail Cars
2007
Cherokee
Ship Building; High-Speed Aluminum
Vessels
2000
Mobile
Cinram International Inc
PRODUCT
Odyssey Mini Vans & Pilot Vehicle
Assembly
Austal USA
1001-1500
Australia
Michelin North America/BF Goodrich
1001-1500
France
Tire Manufacturing
1946
Tuscaloosa
Rheem Manufacturing Company Inc
1001-1500
Japan
Residential Water Heaters
1971
Montgomery
ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering
1001-1500
Singapore
Major Aircraft Repair & Modification
1990
Mobile
GKN Westland Aerospace
751-900
United Kingdom
Aerospace Composites
1985
Tallassee
Reliable Products Inc
751-900
United Kingdom
Louvers
1961
Geneva
Smart Alabama LLC
751-900
South Korea
Stamping Plant, Inner Panel Sheet Metal
2003
Luverne
Toyota Motor Manufacturing
Alabama
751-900
Japan
V-8 & V6 Engines for Tundra Trucks
2001
Huntsville
Evonik Degussa Corporation
651-750
Germany
Chemicals
1974
Theodore
South Korea
Motor Vehicle Chassis, Plastic Injection
Molding
2005
Montgomery
Mobis Alabama LLC
651-750
TS Tech Alabama LLC
651-750
Japan
Automobile Seats
2000
Boaz
BASF Catalyst
551-650
Germany
Catalytic Converter Systems
1974
Huntsville
Ciba Corporation, a BASF Company
551-650
Germany
Specialty Chemicals for Automotive
Coatings
1952
McIntosh
Mando America Corporation
Alabama
551-650
South Korea
Braking, Steering & Suspension Systems
2003
Opelika
Michelin Tire Corporation
551-650
France
Tires
1979
Midland City
AbitibiBowater
451-550
Canada
Newsprint, Market Pulp, Cogeneration
1949
Coosa Pines
Bae Systems Land & Armaments LP
451-550
United Kingdom
Steel Forgings
1960
Anniston
BP America Inc
451-550
United Kingdom
Terephthalic Acid
1965
Decatur
CRH North America Inc
451-550
Germany
Automobile Seat Adjuster Systems
1999
Clanton
Georgia-Pacific Corporation
451-550
United Kingdom
Corrugated & Solid Fiber Boxes
1957
Brewton
Imerys
451-550
France
Calcium Carbonate
1963
Sylacauga
REHAU Inc
451-550
Germany
Auto Exterior Moldings
1994
Cullman
SL Alabama LLC
451-550
South Korea
Auto Lighting Parts & Systems
2003
Alexander City
Sony Electronics
451-550
Japan
Digital Data Storage Products
1975
Dothan
Fort Payne
V I Prewett & Son Inc
451-550
Canada
Children's Hosiery
1972
AJIN USA (Joon LLC)
351-450
South Korea
Automotive Metal Stamping
2008
Lanett
Gestamp Alabama Inc
351-450
Spain
Automotive Stampings
2002
McCalla
Hwashin America Corporation
351-450
South Korea
Chassis & Drive Train Automotive Body
Parts
2003
Greenville
JVC Disc America Company
351-450
Japan
DVDs
1986
Tuscaloosa
KTH Leesburg Products LLC
351-450
Japan
Metal Frame Components
2000
Leesburg
NTN-Bower Corporation
351-450
Japan
Tapered Roller Bearings
1985
Hamilton
1986
Huntsville
QinetiQ North America
351-450
United Kingdom
R&D in Physical, Engineering, & Life
Sciences
Rainsville Technology Inc
351-450
Japan
Injected Plastic Automotive Parts
2000
Rainsville
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation
(SABIC) Innovative Plastics
351-450
Saudi Arabia
Engineered Plastics
1984
Burkville
SCA Tissue - Barton Operations
351-450
Sweden
Sanitary Tissue Paper Products
2002
Cherokee
Sherman Industries Inc (HQ)
351-450
Germany
Prestress Concrete & Ready Mix Concrete
1935
Birmingham
Siemens Power Generation Inc
351-450
Germany
Electrical Components
1987
Fort Payne
351-450
Japan
Automotive Metal Stamping
2002
Cullman
Topre America Corporation
2010
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Regional Profile
ABOVE: City of Huntsville, named by
Forbes magazine America’s #1 small city
of the future: Cummings Research Park in
foreground; Space and Rocket Center in
background.
FAR LEFT: Rex Geveden, president of
Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., a
mainstay and founding tenant of Cummings
Research Park.
ABOVE LEFT: Site plan of Alabama National
Corp., soon to be North America’s largest
rail car manufacturer, under construction in
The Shoals area.
BELOW LEFT: Headquarters of Sparta Inc.,
a leading missile defense contractor in
Cummings Research Park.
TOP RIGHT: Huntsville headquarters of
Fortune 500 engineering company SAIC.
BELOW RIGHT: Constructon of Bridge
Street, a master-planned, multi-use
development within Cummings Research
Park in Huntsville.
THE TENNESSEE VALLEY
North Alabama
aggressively maintains
one of the fastest
growing, knowledge-based
economies in the U.S.
12
R
ocket science has boosted Alabama’s Tennessee Valley economy for half a century, and the
science is now boosting a variety of other technology industries, from biotech to high-tech
manufacturing.
Alabama’s northernmost region also boasts one of the nation’s fastest growing military
centers — with some 5,000 positions slated to relocate to Huntsville in the next two years.
The region’s aerospace industry — headlined by the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal and the
NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center — has attracted business interests from 17 of the nation’s
top 20 federal prime contractors, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman,
2010
Regional Profile
Profile
Regional
opened last year and is already home to
more than a dozen independent research
and development companies.
A number of computer technology
companies also make their home in
Huntsville.
Supporting all the high-tech industry
is the new Advanced Technology and
Robotics Research complex at Calhoun
Community College, preparing workers
for high tech fields.
Another show of community support
for business is development of a Foreign
Trade Zone and international intermodal
center, complete with a U.S. Customs
facility, at the Port of Huntsville.
All of North Alabama’s industries
are supported by strong technology
programs at the University of Alabama in
Huntsville. This fall, the UAH Systems
Management and Production Center won
a $78 million contract from the Army
Raytheon and Science Applications
International Corp.
Huntsville’s
economic
leaders
decided decades ago to broaden their
horizons. Community-backed Cummings
Research Park builds on the scientific
expertise already in town for the space
programs, giving business space to more
than 200 companies with more than 23,000
employees.
Scientific research also thrives
in Huntsville when performed with a
microscope rather than a telescope.
HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology
of Huntsville and Madison County.
Neighboring Morgan County is home
to United Launch Alliance, a BoeingLockheed Martin joint venture with a
$96 million contract to build rockets
for government satellites, while nearby
Lawrence County is home to a new
Lockheed Martin missile defense facility.
The Tennessee Valley is also home
to one of the state’s newest and biggest
industrial projects — National Alabama
Corp., in the Shoals. The $350 million
plant is poised to begin full production
of railroad cars as soon as the market is
ready, employing around 1,500 people.
Other major elements in North
Alabama’s economy include the new,
green SCA Tissue North America plant,
valued at $240 million, and the Japanbased North American Lighting Co.,
manufacturing automobile lights. The
Shoals area taxed itself twice in an effort
ThyssenKrupp’s new steel mills in Mobile
County represent an investment of $4.65 billion
and are considered to be the largest private
industrial development in U.S. history.
Research, Development and Engineerng
Command, the largest contract ever for
UAH.
Like Mobile in the South, Huntsville
is one of the few cities where Moody’s
proclaims that the recession is over.
Defense contracts also reach outside
2010
to attract the new companies.
To supply the region’s power needs,
the Tennessee Valley Authority has
recently reactivated the third nuclear
reactor at Brown’s Ferry, after a $2 billion
refurbishing project.
13
Regional Profile
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
The state’s largest city, its financial
center, expanding medical research and
Mercedes are mainstays of the Highlands.
F
irst rooted in agriculture, then tempered with steel,
powered by automotive manufacturing and broadened
with medical research and technology, Alabama’s
Central Highlands boasts a remarkably diverse economy.
Birmingham, the state’s largest city, still stands beneath
the statue of Vulcan, a tribute to the steel that made the
city strong. Today, Birmingham is also the center of the
state’s insurance and financial industries, second only to
Atlanta as a Deep South powerhouse. Regions Financial
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2010
Regional Profile
Corp., headquartered here, is one of the
nation’s top 10 bank holding companies.
Birmingham is also home to the
University of Alabama at Birmingham,
site of the state’s first medical school
and some of the world’s premier
medical research. UAB is the city’s
largest employer, with more than 16,000
employees, and research partnerships
with Southern Research Institute and
other private groups have brought more
than $225 million to the economy.
The state’s largest city is also home to
several industries with more than 2,000
employees each: US Steel, Marshall
Durbin Food Corp. and American
Cast Iron Pipe Co., followed by major
publishing, mining, furniture and metals
manufacturing plants. Birmingham’s
total payroll tops $15 billion.
Education
is
the
foundation
for Tuscaloosa’s economy as well.
Economists estimate that the economic
impact of the University of Alabama is
nearly $2 billion, including nearly 10,000
jobs.
Tuscaloosa also made headlines
across the nation when Mercedes-Benz
built a major automotive plant in nearby
Vance in 1993. Though the recession has
hurt automakers worldwide, Mercedes
continues to be a powerhouse in the
Tuscaloosa economy, making M Class, R
Class and GL Class vehicles. The plant
produced its one millionth vehicle in
September.
Honda also plays a key role in
the Central Highlands economy. The
Talladega County engine and automotive
plant employs 4,500 people. When the
plant opened in 2001, the county’s per
capita income jumped from 53rd in the
state to 13th.
Recent economic development news
outside the Birmingham metropolitan area
includes a revitalized new community
called McClellan, where a major Army
post once stood; expansion of the Heritage
Plastics plant in Sylacauga and the Gulf
Shore Assemblies plant; expansion of
the Center for Domestic Preparedness
at the Anniston Army Depot; newcomer
Kronospan,
the
world’s
largest
manufacturer of wood panels, building
in Calhoun County; and expansion at
North American Bus Industries, and new
technology like shale gas exploration at
big Canoe Creek in St. Clair County.
COUNTER-CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Downtown Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama
and Mercedes-Benz USA; Ross Bridge, the Birmingham leg of the 11 golf complexes across Alabama
that comprise the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the world’s largest golf development, a fixed asset investment of the Retirement Systems of Alabama; View from The Summit, a Birmingham business club.
Over 40 organizations are members of the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, directed by Pam Penick,
pictured here at the Bama Theater, a restored 1930s movie palace that hosts a full calendar of music,
dance, theater, stage productions and film; Blast furnace at Nucor Steel in Tuscaloosa, one of five
Nucor mills in Alabama; Campus of Samford University in Birmingham, the largest of
17 private colleges and universities in Alabama.
2010
15
Regional Profile
CAPITAL HEARTLAND REGION
Kia suppliers are the latest automotive
manufacturers to enter the region in recent
years, defying the global economic downturn and
adding another layer to an economy strong on
government services, aerospace and agriculture.
O
nce known primarily as home to the
state capital in Montgomery and the
agricultural richness of surrounding
plantations, the Capital Heartland now
beats with the same economic heart of
the rest of the state.
Outside the central city of Capital
Dome and government agencies,
Montgomery is also home to one of
the state’s trio of auto manufacturers.
16
Just south of town Hyundai Motor
Manufacturing opened in 2005. The
plant, which produces Sonata sedans
and Santa Fe SUVs, has more than 3,000
workers and is valued at more than $1
billion. The overall economic impact of
the plant at is $1.4 billion and includes
6,000 jobs.
Alabama’s heartland economy is also
benefiting from a new Kia plant just over
2010
the Georgia-Alabama border. Shortly
after the plant opened, the industrial
development authority in neighboring
Chambers County announced four new
industrial plants serving as suppliers to
the Kia plant — a $7.4 million Daeki
America plant that makes air filtration
equipment for Kia and Hyundai; Hi-Lex
of America Inc., making door modules in
a $10 million plant, and A-Jin Industrial
Regional Profile
and MP Technology Inc., which have
announced plans for a new plants
estimated to cost more than $100 million
and employ more than 700 people.
Autauga, Butler, Chilton, Lowndes
and Macon counties are also benefiting
from the burgeoning auto industry. In
Autauga County, developers invested
$800,000 in a spec building through a
public-private partnership and brought
in TWB Co., LLC, a Michigan-based
firm that supports several auto brands.
Hwashin America Corp. in Butler County
employs more than 300 people making
auto chassis units for Hyundai. CRH
employs 490 people in Chilton County
making seat adjuster systems for several
brands, while Kumi Manufacturing, also
in Chilton, makes plastic parts for Honda.
Lowndes County is home to auto supplier
firms Daehan and Sejong Industrial, and
Macon County’s Halla Climate Systems
provides heating and air conditioning
units for Hyundai.
The Capital Heartland economy isn’t
all about cars. Education, agriculture and
the military play key roles.
Lee County, on the state’s eastern
border, is home to Auburn University,
estimated to have a $4 billion impact on
the state’s economy. The new Auburn
Research Park, which opened last year
in a partnership among the university, the
city and the state, has Northrop Grumman
as one of its first tenants.
Briggs and Stratton, West Point
Stevens and AFNI Inc. are also major
players in the Lee County economy.
After watching its jobs move
overseas, Chambers County turned
proactive, wooing overseas companies.
Building from a base that included
German insulation firm Knauff and
Canadian wood products firm Norbord,
the county attracted four new tierone Kia suppliers and a new Canadian
firm, Commercial Springs & Tool Co.,
expected to open next year to produce
stamped metal parts and tool and die
assemblies.
Chilton County’s peaches are still
a household word, and catfish farming
and processing are major players with
SouthFresh Aquaculture in Greene
County, Harvest Selection in Perry
County and Southern Pride Catfish
Processing in Hale County.
Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base,
with more than 12,000 employees,
continues to be a major contributor to the
Capital Heartland economy.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT: cotton gin maker
Continental Eagle’s mill in downtown Prattville; Bass
Pro Shop in Prattville; Renaissance Montgomery Hotel
and Spa; Selma’s Old Town historic district; home in
Hale County designed by Auburn University architecture
school’s award-winning Rural Studio program; downtown
Prattville; rooftop from the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa
2010
17
Regional Profile
The Southeastern Wiregrass region includes one
of the state’s most active aerospace clusters,
centered on the Army Aviation Center at Fort
Rucker. It is also one of the most prolific agricultural
producers in the Southeast.
SOUTHEASTERN WIREGRASS REGION
A
labama’s Southeast Wiregrass
continues to be a mainstay
agricultural
producer,
but
today’s diverse economy goes far
beyond the fields and pastures and
the native grass that gives the region
its name.
Helicopters, bullet-proof vests,
18
missiles, wind generator parts and
auto parts are all key elements in
the land where cotton once reigned
supreme. This is a region that learned
long ago to diversify if you want to
survive the unexpected tailspins of
the economy.
A hundred years ago, every farmer
2010
raised cotton. But as we know today,
the land can’t grow cotton year after
year and still turn out a healthy crop.
Before other regions learned the
lesson, the boll weevil ate its way
through the Wiregrass cotton crops
and farmers had to find something
else to do with the land.
Regional Profile
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A jet from Fort Rucker
launches a Lockheed Martin missile built in Troy; the meticulously restored Opera House in downtown Dothan;
a Geneva County harvester helps make Wiregrass “The
Peanut Capital of the World;” exterior of the Dothan Opera House, offering a fully booked calendar of performing
arts for the Wiregrass region; Dale County hay pasture;
historic district of the river town of Eufaula; downtown
Dothan arts district
Peanuts were the crop of choice,
enriching the soil and the helping the
farmers survive. Regional tributes to
the crop are the boll weevil monument
in Enterprise; the Peanut Butter
Festival in Brundidge; Dothan, which
styles itself the Peanut Capital of the
World, and the oldest business in
Coffee County, the peanut processor
Sessions Co.
Poultry is also a big player in the
Wiregrass agriculture sector. Perdue
Farms is the largest employer in
Houston County, Equity Group is the
largest in Barbour County and Coffee
County boasts two poultry plants that
together employ 1,500 people.
But there’s another big chunk of
the Wiregrass economy that’s looking
to the skies.
Fort Rucker — helicopter hub for
the U.S. military — is the region’s
largest employer by far, with 14,000
military, civilian and contract
personnel. It’s estimated to have a
$1.2 billion economic impact in the
area. Like every specialized military
unit, it attracts a host of support
firms: Army Fleet Support in Dale
County, with 3,500 people performing
maintenance tasks, and independent
suppliers Sikorsky Helicopters, US
Helicopter and Helipro International.
2010
Dale County is also home to
Pemco, a major fixed-wing MRO
firm.
Recognizing the economic value
of aviation, the state opened the
Alabama Aviation Center last year
in Ozark, serving some 800 students.
Houston County’s Chamber of
Commerce reports that the fastest
growing occupation in the county is
avionics technician.
Looking ahead, the Wiregrass is
also home to several high tech firms,
including Enterprise Electronics
Corp., maker of the first Doppler
weather radar system; MFG/Alabama
in Covington County, making
fiberglass parts for wind generators,
and a Lockheed Martin missile
facility.
Like most of the rest of the state,
the Wiregrass is also home to several
new tier-one auto suppliers, mostly
related to the Hyundai plant in nearby
Montgomery.
And with a determination to be
ready when the next opportunity
comes along, several Wiregrass
counties have developed industrial
properties they can use to woo future
employers, and Houston County has
been designated a Foreign Trade
Zone.
19
tk
Representative likeness of final facility.
ALABAMA GULF COAST REGION
The Gulf Coast region has
traditional port-based
industries, aerospace
manufacturers and a cluster
of modern steel operations
that will soon include the
largest greenfield plant to be
built in U.S. history.
20
A
ccording to Moody’s, Mobile is one of the first cities to show signs of emerging
from the recession. As in virtually every other area of the world, the past 18
months have been a bit rough, but Mobile was booming when the bust came,
and those new projects are quickly coming back to life.
ThyssenKrupp slowed progress on its twin steel mills at the Mobile-Washington
County line, retiming its entry into the market for 2010 instead of 2009. “We don’t
want to be in operation in 2009 when there’s no market,” said ThyssenKrupp
Stainless CEO Ulrich Albrecht-Frueh. But construction has moved ahead, and the
firm continues to hire staff, ready to move into full production as soon as the market
demands. The twin mills still represent what many regard as the largest industrial
development ever — $4.3 billion.
2010
Regional Profile
Swedish steel maker SSAB is also a
relative newcomer to the market, taking
over IPSCO’s steel recycling plant and
planning a major expansion.
Steel is a natural newcomer to the
Gulf Coast economy, since it has extensive
waterways for shipping — both the port
facilities to the world plus river transport
to industrial sites throughout the South and
Midwest.
Steel supports the state’s new auto
industry, as well as the long-time Gulf
Coast mainstay of shipbuilding. Major
shipbuilders include Austal USA, Atlantic
Marine Inc., C&G Boat Works and Bender
Shipbuilding & Repair on the Mobile
waterfront.
The state-owned Port of Mobile, the
10th largest port in the nation, is adding
new facilities at Pinto Island to handle some
5 million tons of steel slab, using three new
Chinese-built gantry cranes. The Pinto
Island Terminal is slated to be in operation
in 2010. The port also boasts a new
turning basin, allowing bigger ships and
cargoes, and new double-decker railroad
loading ramps to facilitate International
Shipholding rail-ferry services between the
U.S. and Mexico, and a newly updated coal
terminal at McDuffie Island, a crucial point
in the transport of Alabama coal to markets
in the Far East and South American coal to
electric generating plants in Alabama.
The port serves 190 shipping lines.
Two of the oldest and largest cargo-moving
companies in the nation, Ryan-Walsh and
Cooper/T Smith are headquartered here —
just two of the 300 maritime companies
active at the port.
The Gulf Coast is also home to a
thriving aviation business. The region’s
largest industrial employer, Singaporebased ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering,
has 1,300 workers providing maintenance,
repair and overhaul services. Teledyne
Continental Motors is also a major
aviation firm, and MRO is doing well in
neighboring Baldwin County, home to
Segers Aerospace, Goodrich Aerospace
and Aerostructures Group, Fokker Airinc
and Jamco.
The entire region is still following with
interest the debate over which contender
will win a new Air Force contract for aerial
refueling tankers, hoping for the hometown
team of Northrup Grumman/EADS. The
local team was selected in the initial
bidding, but rival Boeing complained and
the contract was sent back for new bids. If
the Northrop team is selected, the KC-45
tankers will be assembled in Mobile.
EADS CASA opened its new $6
million aircraft maintenance center at
the Mobile airport in October, next to its
existing offices.
And the southern tier may be joining
the rest of the state in the automotive
industry as Chinese Hybrid Kinetic Motors
announced plans for a plant in Baldwin
County to build green cars fueled by
compressed natural gas, electricity and
gasoline — if it can round up the funding
for the project.
The Gulf Coast economy includes a
prestigious quartet of chemical plants —
Evonik Degussa, Ciba Specialty Chemicals,
Olin and UOP LLC, employing some 1,000
people.
Health care and education are also
economic leaders in the Gulf Coast
Region. Mobile Infirmary Medical Center
remains one of the biggest employers in
the region, while the University of South
Alabama includes the state’s second
medical school and its affiliated hospitals.
The new Mitchell Cancer Institute, also
affiliated with USA, is the only facility
treating stage 2 and 3 cancers on the
central Gulf Coast.
With its tourist-attracting Gulf Coast
beaches, the region’s economy also has
strong leisure elements — condominium
properties on the waterfront, a Bass Pro
Shop in Baldwin County, golf courses,
Mardi Gras festivities and the new
Wind Creek electronic bingo facilities
operated by the Poarch Band of Creek
Indians at Atmore.
CLOCKWISE, OPPOSITE, FROM
TOP LEFT: Gulf Shores in coastal
Baldwin County; The Battle House,
a Renaissance Hotel and Spa in
downtown Mobile; Atlantic Marine
shipyard on the Mobile River; University of South Alabama Mitchell
Cancer Institute in Mobile; Gov.
Bob Riley (left) congratulates Mobile
Mayor Sam Jones, celebrating
location of ThyssenKrupp steel
mills in Mobile County; (center)
artist rendering of ThyssenKrupp
complex, under construction; C&G
Boat Works in Mobile
2010
21
INDUSTRY PROFILE
BIOTECHNOLOGY
HudsonAlpha Institute, Huntsville
Biotechnology has emerged
as one of the fastest growing
segments of the Alabama
economy, employing over
165,000 skilled professionals.
Alabama is home to seven research universities and
90 biotech companies. One of those, Southern Research
Institute, in Birmingham, with more than 600 scientists
and support staff, has already discovered six FDAapproved drugs with four more in clinical trials and a new
designation as a center for accelerated discovery and
development of cancer treatments.
BioCryst Inc., an H1N1 vaccine leader, Birmingham
Biotech numbers:
•$234 million in NIH funding to the state’s
research universities during 2007
•70 percent of research expenditures at
Alabama universities go to life science research,
10 percent higher than other states.
•$130 million HudsonAlpha Institute,
specializing in genetics-based medical research.
Brookwood Pharmaceuticals, Birmingham
22
2010
Biotech news briefs
• The Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical
Research Building at UAB opened in 2006,
including research laboratories and support
facilities.
Auburn University biochemistry professor Evert Duin,
overseeing research in lipids
• HudsonAlpha Institute, a $130 million biotech
campus in Huntsville, opened in late 2007.
• Research by Dr. Jian Han at HudsonAlpha has
developed a test to identify H1N1 (swine flu) virus
in about six hours, which will be incorporated into a
viral respiratory panel by Diatherix Laboratories.
• SurModics Pharmaceuticals is in the midst of
a $30 million update to facilities in Birmingham.
Formed when SurModics Inc. acquired Brookwood
Pharmaceuticals in 2007, the Birmingham group
does drug research and development, clinical
manufacturing and is adding drug delivery products.
• The Mitchell
Cancer Institute
at the University of
South Alabama in
Mobile, with more
than $125 million
in federal, state
and philanthropic
funding, is the
only center for
treating stage 2
and 3 cancers on
the Central Gulf
Coast. The Institute
includes a $75
million research facility.
CytoViva microscopy by Aetos
Tehnologies, Auburn
• Gambro Renal Products, part of a Swedish firm,
is building a 100,000-square-foot plant in Opelika
to make dialyzers for patients that need frequent
dialysis.
• BioCryst Pharmaceuticals won a $77 million
boost in its government contract to complete Phase
3 development of its flu drug Peramivir.
• Southern Research
Institute in
Birmingham has
been designated by
the National Cancer
Institute as a facility to
work on accelerated
discovery and
development of new
cancer treatments.
• The University
of Alabama at
Birmingham is adding
a $48 million medical
Materials developed by Southern
imaging center, including Research Institute, Birmingham
a 7-Tesla magnetic
resonance imaging machine, one of just 20 in the
world and only 10 in the nation.
Needle-less vaccine innovator
De-Chu Tang, Vaxin Inc., Birmingham
• Vaxin Inc., in Birmingham, has received
two awards from the
U.S. Department of
Health and Human
Services for work on
vaccines — $2.4 million for work on its adenovirus nasal anthrax
vaccine and $3 million
toward replication of
defective adenovirusvectored pandemic
influenza.
Alabama’s Research
Universities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2010
Auburn University
Alabama A & M University
Tuskegee University
University of Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of South Alabama
23
INDUSTRY PROFILE
AEROSPACE
Alabama sustains 330 aerospace companies and landed
$8.5 billion in Department of Defense Prime Contracts
awarded to Alabama firms, second only to Florida
among Southern states.
Surprising as it sounds, aerospace is the granddaddy of Alabama’s high tech
industries.
Since the 1950s, when the federal government brought Wernher von Braun’s
rocket science team to the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville has been a shining star
in the nation’s space firmament.
Today, Alabama sustains 330 aerospace companies, working in space,
defense, aviation and the MRO trio of maintenance, repair and overhaul.
Who’s
Working?
State officials estimate some
212,000 Alabamians are working in
aerospace jobs, broken down as follows:
36% engineering, research and
development
19% aircraft MRO
16% information technology services
14% guided missile and space vehicle
manufacturing
6% guided missile and space vehicle
parts manufacturing
6% aircraft parts manufacturing and
MRO
3% percent general manufacturing
Alabama Aerospace Dollars for 2008
$8.5 BILLION in Department of Defense Prime Contracts
awarded to Alabama firms, second only to Florida among
Southern states
$1 BILLION in economic impact from the Marshall Space
Flight Center
$584 MILLION worth of aerospace equipment and parts
exports
$1,231 average weekly wage for employees of Alabama
private aerospace companies
headlines in Mobile since the Northrop Grumman/EADS
team could be chosen as the assembly site for the new U.S.
Air Force refueling tanker.
Airbus opened its North American Engineering Center
in Mobile in 2006. Mobile’s cluster also includes ST Mobile
Aerospace Engineering, Teledyne Continental Motors, EADS
Casa North America, Goodrich Aerospace, Star Aviation,
Fokker Airinc and Segers Aerospace.
The remaining 100 companies are scattered throughout
most of the state, many near Fort Rucker and Maxwell Air
Force Base.
Where are they
working?
The largest cluster of aerospace firms circles around
Huntsville, with more than 200 companies, including
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, Northrop Grumman,
Raytheon, CSC and Teledyne Brown Engineering.
Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park is the second
largest research park in the nation.
Aerospace and defense projects have been making
24
2010
Test of a missile
in the Theater
High Altitude Area
Defense (THAAD)
system, administered by the
Missile Defense
Agency headquartered at Huntsville’s Redstone
Arsenal
Fort Rucker
The home of US Army
Aviation, Fort Rucker is the
major training facility for Army
helicopter pilots. The base,
near Ozark, Ala., employs more
than 8,000 military and civilian
personnel.
Maxwell Air Force
Base
GOVERNMENT
FACILITIES
Redstone Arsenal
Home to the Air University, this
base in Montgomery provides
academic training for all U.S.
Air Force officers. Its computer
support unit is used worldwide.
National Space
Redstone Arsenal is home to
Marshall Space Flight Center,
the Army Aviation and Missile
Command and the Army
Space and Missile Defense
Command. Redstone is home
to some 14,000 military and
civilian workers, with nearly
5,000 more workers slated to
join them as a result of the 2005
Base Realignment and Closure
Commission actions.
Marshall Space Flight
Center
With 8,600 workers, the center
includes the Advance Space
Transportation Program, the
Center for Excellence for Space
Propulsion, the Center for
Microgravity, Center for Space
Transportation systems, the
Chandra X-Ray Observatory,
and Earth and Science Research
and International Space Station
programs.
A E R O S PA C E
NEWS BRIEFS
•As of fall 2009, all US satellite-launch
vehicles are made in Decatur, since United
Launch Alliance moved Atlas V to that
site.
•EADS North America opened its $6
million aircraft maintenance center in
Mobile in October.
•Vector Aerospace signed a five-year, $15
million contract with the Brazilian Air Force
to support its fleet of Bell H-1H helicopters.
•Boeing announced plans to relocate its
missile defense headquarters from Virginia
to Huntsville.
•NeXolve, a Huntsville firm working on a
sunshield for the next-generation space
telescope, called the James Webb Space
Telescope, opened its new office at
Cummings Research Park and doubled
the size of its laboratory at the Intergraph
campus in March.
•Last year, GKN announced plans for
another expansion of its aircraft parts
facility in Tallassee, Elmore County. The
firm added 250 jobs in the $21 million
expansion.
Science and
Technology Center
This research center, focusing
on science and technology, is
a partnership among NASA’s
Marshall Space Flight Center,
Alabama’s universities, various
federal agencies and industry.
The facility at Huntsville includes
research centers for space
science, global hydrology and
climate, information technology,
advanced optics and
energy technology,
propulsion,
biotechnology and
materials science.
Airbus KC30 refueling F18s;
Airbus parent EADS North
America and Northrop Grumman are teamed to win a
$40 billion Air Force contract
to build a new fleet of Air
Force air tankers.
•Last year, ST Mobile Aerospace, in
Mobile, announced a workforce expansion
of 200 new jobs to begin conversion of
passenger jets into cargo freighters.
•In 2007, Acrohelipro announced plans for
a new $4.5 million helicopter maintenance
facility in Covington County.
•Lockheed Martin launched a $27 million
expansion of its ordnance assembly facility
in Lawrence County.
•In 2006, Raytheon announced plans
for a new $23.7 million engineering,
management, customer support and
business development facility to employ
350 people in Madison County.
•Aerospace Integration Corp. built a
new $12 million helicopter completion
center at Albertville, with 300 new jobs.
Sources: Economic Development Partnership of Alabama; Alabama Aerospace Industry Association, 2003; American Electronics Association; International Trade Division, Alabama Development Office:
EDPA Aerospace Database
2010
25
INDUSTRY PROFILE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Alabama has cultivated a
formidable array of information
technology companies, with
entrepreneurial clusters
established in each major city.
Information is a major industry in its own right and
interwoven in almost every other industry in the state. IT
companies are clustered around the state’s aerospace
and military centers, yet vital to every bank, every research
group, every university, and practically every mom-andpop company in the state.
Partly because it’s so pervasive, it’s hard to quantify the industry itself.
The Alabama Department of Industrial Relations counts nearly 2,500 computer programmers and IS managers in the
state, another 5,000 programmers and nearly 4,000 software engineers.
Business Alabama magazine’s count of Top Rank firms estimates more than 15,000 employees in IT firms alone, not
counting all those systems administrators at places like hospitals, insurance companies, and automobile manufacturers.
Alabama IT Headliners:
Even in a down economy, IT is a crucial service, making headlines in all facets of the
economy. Here’s a quick review of some of those headlines:
with satellite imagery and geo-intelligence, and provide
valuable intelligence information. Based in Huntsville,
Intergraph has nearly 1,300 employees.
• SAIC, with multiple locations in Alabama, was awarded a
• CGI Group Inc. is moving an information technology and
business process services firm to Troy, Gov. Bob Riley
announced in September. The firm will employ some 300
people.
• Dynetics was awarded a $90 million contract for analysis,
testing and evaluaton of technology related to defensive
missile systems. The Huntsville firm has 800 employees.
• Intergraph, Alabama’s largest software development
firm, introduced Motion Video Exploitation, new software
to help gather information from video data, coordinate it
26
2010
$95 million ID/IQ contract to provide architectural design
and engineering services for military structures, roadways
and airfields, by the National Guard Bureau. SAIC has
more than 2,400 employees in Alabama and 44,000
overall.
• Adtran, based in
Huntsville, won a 2008
Product of the Year
Award for its Power
over Ethernet switch
that conserves energy
and enhances security.
• CPSI, which makes
healthcare information
software for hospitals,
Adtran Inc. headquarters,
Cummings Research Park
Control room at Alabama River Pulp, the world’s
largest wood pulp plant, in Monroe County
• Teledyne Brown Engineering
Inc., also based in Huntsville,
has supported every major U.S.
space project. The firm is the
primary contractor for research
and development of NASA
science and mission systems.
Teledyne Brown was recognized
as Alabama’s Large Manufacturer
of the Year by The Alabama
Technology Network and the
Business Council of Alabama.
overcame worldwide economic
trends and increased second
quarter revenues by more than
11 percent, to $30.8 million.
CEO Boyd Douglas said the firm
should continue to do well due
to expanding use of information
technology in healthcare and the
anticipated continuation of that
expansion in potential healthcare
reform legislation. Headquartered
in Mobile, CPSI has 851
employees.
• Avocent, Huntsville-based maker
of switches linking keyboard,
video and mouse functions, was
purchased by Emerson Electric
Co., for $1.2 billion in cash. Before
the purchase by St. Louis-based
Emerson, Avocent was Alabama’s
largest publicly traded technology
company.
• Command Alkon was named
to Software Magazine’s Annual
Software 500 for 2008. The
Birmingham-based firm, with 224
employees, develops software
for the construction materials
industry.
• McLeod Software, based
in Birmingham, is a leader in
developing software for the
trucking industry. The firm has 170
employees.
• Huntsville-based Colsa has been
awarded its second Simulation
and Training Omnibus Contract by
the U.S. Army. The firm has also
been honored this year for ethical
practices in industrial security
and as a small business prime
contractor of the year.
• Birmingham’s EHS, which
develops software to help manage
medical practices, outgrew its
space and had to lease additional
space at International Park
for its growing revenue cycle
management group. EHS has 148
employees.
• Teksouth, with 140 employees
at its Birmingham base, provides
business intelligence services
and develops business-specific
applications for its clients.
• Another Birmingham-based
firm, SourceMedical, develops
software designed to help
manage specialty hospitals,
such as surgery centers, and for
rehabilitation groups. The firm
has 120 employees and had $42
million in gross revenues in 2007.
• Founded in 1993, Computer
Technology Solutions develops
software for Nuclear IT, for
real estate and right of way
professionals, for continuing
medical education and more. The
Birmingham-based firm has 120
employees.
• SirsiDynix, a 95-person firm
based in Huntsville, develops
software for libraries and is used
in 70 countries around the world
Other major firms with
significant IT roles include
major manufacturers and
defense contractors:
• Boeing has nearly 2,900
employees in its Integrated
Defense Systems unit at
Huntsville.
2010
• California-based Jacobs
Sverdrup has 1,000 employees
in Huntsville, out of 58,000
company-wide.
• Huntsville-based CAS Inc. has
900 employees in Alabama and
thousands more worldwide,
providing weapon system support
for the Department of Defense.
Some of Alabama’s other
specialty IT firms include:
• KTH Leesburg Products,
providing stamped and welded
components for the automotive
industry. The firm has 380
employees in Leesburg.
• The SSI Group, headquartered
in Mobile, is a leading provider of
healthcare claims management
technology. Celebrating its 20th
anniversary in 2008, the first
processes more than 250 million
transactions annually, worth
more than $458 billion to clients.
SSI Group has more than 300
employees.
• Oregon-based Mentor Graphics,
a leader in embedded technology,
has offices in Mobile and
Huntsville with about 250 of the
firm’s 4,500 employees.
• Alabama Specialty Products,
based in Munford, is a materials
processing firm handling laser
products, tissue slicing products
and material evaluation products.
The firm has 250 employees.
• TeleVox has developed a series of
computer-based communication
products such as automated
appointment reminders. The
Mobile firm has 190 employees.
27
INDUSTRY PROFILE
AUTOMOTIVE
MANUFACTURERS
Assembly line at
Mercedes-Benz USA,
in Vance, Ala.
Key players
Mercedes-Benz US
International – Located in
Tuscaloosa, the 3-millionsquare-foot plant represents a
$1 billion capital investment. It
has 3,000 employees and an
annual production capacity of
174,000 vehicles. It has attracted
more than 35 supplier firms to
Alabama. Mercedes’ Alabama
plant produces M-Class SUVs,
R-Class Grand Sports Tourer and
GL-Class SUVs.
Pilot, one of the products of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama LLC
Three major automotive manufacturers have set up
shop in Alabama, with over 90 automotive suppliers
in the state serving them. The automotive industry
accounts for 17.5 percent of the state’s manufacturing
gross domestic product
Despite a tough year for automakers, the automotive industry continues
to play a solid role in Alabama’s economy, and signs indicate that recovery
may be on the way. Both Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai plants returned to
five-day work weeks last July. And Alabama maintained its status as the
nation’s 5th largest auto producing state.
Fast facts
• Since the turn of the century,
automakers have invested more than
$7 billion in Alabama, creating more
than 35,000 new jobs.
• Though production was down
somewhat in 2008, the firms still
produced 680,000 cars and trucks.
• Motor vehicles are Alabama’s top
export — $5 billion or 31 percent of
total exports.
• The automotive industry accounts
28
for 17.5 percent of the state’s
manufacturing gross domestic product
Honda Manufacturing of
Alabama – The $1.27 billion
plant in Talladega County covers
3.25 million square feet. With
4,500 employees, the plant has a
300,000-vehicle annual capacity. It
has attracted 25 Tier 1 suppliers.
The plant produces Odyssey
minivans, Pilot SUVs and V6
engines.
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing
— The $1.4 billion plant in
Montgomery County has 3,000
employees and a capacity to
• Alabama produced its first automobile
in 1997 and its 2,000,000th in 2006
• Alabama has more than 100
automotive supplier firms
• In 2007, the automotive industry had a
total payroll of $5.2 billion, with 48,457
direct jobs and 85,769 indirect jobs
• Average weekly wages for automotive
workers in 2007 was $1,298
2010
Santa Fe assembly line, Hyundai Motor
Manufacturing Alabama LLC
Plant manager Gerardo Rojas
led Brose Tuscaloosa Inc. to
be named manufacturer of the
year by the Alabama Automotive
Manufacturers Association in
2007. He now manages a Brose
plant in Florida. The company
supplies interior door systems to
Mercedes-Benz USA.
Recent news
about Alabama’s
automotive
industry:
• Mercedes-Benz returned to
a five-day workweek in July.
• Hyundai returned to a fiveday workweek in July.
produce 300,000 engines
and vehicles. It covers 2
million square feet and has
attracted 34 suppliers. The
plant produces Sonata
sedans, Santa Fe SUVs
and V6 engins.
• Hyundai is the fastest
growing foreign carmaker in
the US.
Navistar Diesel of Alabama — Produces V6 and V8 diesel engines and MaxxForce
11 and MaxxForce 13 big-bore diesel engines for International Class 8 series tractor
trailer trucks.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama Inc. — Produces V-8 engines for Toyota
Tundra pickup trucks and Sequoia SUVs and also V-6 engines for Tacoma and Tundra
pickup trucks.
What’s New?
Six new plants and a major
expansion were announced
in 2008, three of them in
Chambers County:
Kamtek Inc., auto body supplier based in Birmingham
Royal Technologies this year
announced a new plant to make
interior trim components in Cullman
County. Expected employment of 400.
A-Jin USA, an $88.7 million plant in Chambers County with 450 jobs performing metal
stamping of body parts
MP-Tech America, a $30 million plant to make plastic molds and precision parts.
Also in Chambers County with expected employment of 250.
• Honda has finished its 20
millionth car made in North
America.
• Alabama ranks fifth among
the nation’s auto producing
states. In 2009, 672,102
vehicles were turned out,
a 9 percent drop from the
previous year.
• Toyota’s engine plan in
Huntsville announced plans
to produce four-cylinder
engines for Camrys and
RAVs, beginning in 2011.
That should increase the
plant’s capacity to 577,000
engines a year, with another
240 employees.
• Hyundai scored above
the national average for
customer satisfaction on
the University of Michigan
American Consumer
Satisfaction index.
Daeki America, the third plant in Chambers County, will make air cleaners, canisters,
fuel filters and air elements, employing 80 people. Expected investment is $7.4 million.
• Cars.com named Hyundai’s
Sonata as one of the most
improved cars of the
decade.
Selzer Automotive in Lee County will make
transmission components. The $22 million plant will
employ 80 people.
• Mercedes-Benz passed
the 1 million mark for its
Alabama-built M-Class sport
utility vehicle in 2009.
Stankiewicz International Corp. will make
acoustical components, wheel wells and flooring
systems in Tuscaloosa. The $16 million plant will
employ 184 people.
Honda Manufacturing of Alabama also
announced an expansion to make Ridgeline pickup
trucks and Honda V-6 sedans.
Odyssey rolls off the line at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama LLC in Lincoln, Ala.
2010
Sources: Alabama Development
Office International Trade Division,
Alabama Automotive Manufacturers
Association Automotive News
Bureau of Economic Analysis,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
Economic Development Partnership
of Alabama
29
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30
2010
Site Negotiations
By Neal Wade, Director of the Alabama Development Office
MARKETING ALABAMA IN THE
21ST CENTURY
Neal Wade, director of the
Alabama Development Office
Recently enacted benchmark legislation
realigns Alabama’s economic incentives
with knowledge-based enterprise,
especially research and development
in Alabama’s Four-hundred Mile Life
Sciences Corridor.
W
hen Governor Bob Riley came
into office six years ago, the
primary objective of the Alabama
Development Office was recruiting
manufacturing industries to the state.
Since that time, changes in the economy,
the needs of business, and the importance
of Alabama’s existing companies have
forced a much-needed, dramatic shift in
gears for ADO. Although we will still give
our best efforts to winning projects, we
have been working to redefine economic
development with a renewed focus on
growth from within our state, where 80
percent of new job creation occurs.
As a result, ADO is going to great
lengths to meet with companies located
more competitive for
new job creation, as
well as encouraging
regional partnerships
that make sense for
a more effective,
powerful, and wellfunded approach to
economic development.
Gone are the
days where we can
win mega industrial
projects just by
wining and dining
consultants
or
playing a few rounds
“Our focus now should be on growth from
within and knowledge-based growth,
bringing the types of jobs that add
wealth to the communities rather than
just create jobs.”
here, as well as the parent companies, to
determine how both local and state governments can help them sustain current
jobs and be positioned to expand when the
economy rebounds. We are also working
with communities to help them determine
what needs to be done to make the area
of golf with them. Successfully marketing
our state today requires a total package:
a good educational system, a qualified
and trainable work force, prepared
communities and a good quality of life.
Our focus now should be on growth from
within and knowledge-based growth,
2010
bringing the types of jobs that add wealth
to the communities rather than just create
jobs.
In the past, Alabama’s statutory
economic incentives have been focused
almost entirely on manufacturing
industries. In May, the Alabama
Legislature approved new statutory
economic development incentives to
include corporate headquarters, research
and development facilities, financial
institutions and “green” employers.
In addition to continued focus on
manufacturing, this new emphasis on
knowledge-based jobs will be a strong
combination for the 21st century and
potentially impact the entire state.
31
Fully prepared and spacious industrial park just miles from Hyundai Automotive
Manufacturing Plant. Electricity, gas, water, rail, and fiber optic cables available.
Home of G.E./Sabic Plastics, Daehan Solutions*,
Electro Aircraft Systems, Sejong Industry*, Tyson
(Koch) Foods, Priester’s Pecan and Warren Oil
Company.
Prime sites available for Manufacturing, Distribution,
and Warehousing Facilities
Low Land Cost and Good Business Climate
Foreign Trade Zone
No Local Income Tax on Business or Personal Income.
Contact our Economic Development Department for More Information:
* Hyundai Auto Parts Supplier
(334) 548-2331
32
2010
In addition to the strong automotive
and aerospace sectors, Alabama has the
institutional and research structure in place
to be a growing force in the life sciences
field. The opening of the HudsonAlpha
Institute for Biotechnology in Alabama and
the 1,600 jobs it has already created have
positioned Alabama to become a worldwide
leader in biotechnology and genome
research and one of the premier places in
the nation for quality jobs that won’t be
exported. In Birmingham, the University
of Alabama at Birmingham is a strong life
sciences engine that has been the city’s
economic foundation for years. The city is
well respected in the national biotechnology
research community, with thousands of jobs
and more than $450 million in research
at UAB and the biotechnology incubator
Innovation Depot. HudsonAlpha and UAB
are working together as partners in ways
that make Alabama a major player in the
biotechnology field.
In addition to record manufacturing
growth in Mobile, the University of South
Alabama and the new USA Mitchell Cancer
Institute were recently ranked among the top
15 patent-revenue-generating universities
in the nation.
These facilities, from Huntsville to
Birmingham to Mobile, compliment each
other rather than compete, giving Alabama
a true synergy that should attract many new
life sciences companies to the state. Many
refer to our state as the “Four-hundred Mile
Life Sciences Corridor.”
The objectives set forth by Governor
Riley six years ago are truly taking shape —
a diverse economy that positively impacts
the whole state and positions Alabama
as one of the leading growth states in the
nation.
INDICATORS OF
CRITICAL MASS
More than 90 biotechnology-related
companies are either doing business or
have headquarters in Alabama.
The new Hudson Alpha Institute for
Biotechnology located in Huntsville is
expected to bring 900 new scientists to the
area and create a biotechnology hub that
could transform Huntsville much like the
way a team of rocket scientists did a half
century ago.
AmCom
AmCom
By Bill Gerdes
TECHNOLOGY/DEFENSE CLUSTER:
MISSILE COMMAND AND CUMMINGS
defense contractors network
directly with U.S. Army
Aviation and Missile Command
at Redstone Arsenal to
design and build the next
generation of technologydriven armaments.
Commander of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at
Redstone Arsenal, Maj. Gen. Jim Myles
I
n the old saying, familiarity breeds
contempt. But in the military and space
industrial cluster around Huntsville,
Alabama, familiarity — and proximity —
breed synergy.
While the federal government has built
its space and defense program around
Redstone Arsenal for the past six decades,
several hundred private contractors have
located in nearby Cummings Research
Park to provide research and development,
engineering services, design, information
technology support, parts and more.
“The location of Cummings Research
Park next to Redstone gives the more
than 70 federal agencies on Redstone
easy access to the contractor support
community, and vice versa,” said Rick
Davis, executive director at Cummings.
Some 285 companies are located in the
park, researching in 40 different fields,
Davis said.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship,”
said Major General James R. Myles,
commanding general of the U.S.
Army Aviation and Missile Command
(AMCOM). “We have great Americans
committed to the same Army mission and
that is to support the soldier by providing
them with cutting edge technology.”
“As I speak to you now, there are
helicopters, airplanes and unmanned air
systems flying over Baghdad and the hills
of Afghanistan supporting the soldiers and
marines who are seeking out and destroying
extremists and terrorists plotting to do us
harm,” Myles told the state Legislature
earlier this year..
“There are guided multiple launch
rocket systems being launched from over
50 miles away that are landing on bombmaker factories with pinpoint accuracy.
The systems are being maintained at
readiness levels not seen before in recent
history. All of the systems just mentioned
were developed and are sustained by the
men and women at Redstone Arsenal.”
Steven Smith, who earned a doctorate
in nuclear physics from the University
of Florida, has been working for almost
52 years for the U.S. Army Aviation and
Missile Research, Development, and
Engineering Center (AMRDEC) or its
predecessors. Smith is the special projects
director at AMRDEC and is a no-nonsense,
to-the-point scientist.
“AMRDEC’s 2,000 plus scientists
and engineers are challenged to ensure
that the U.S. soldier will always have an
overwhelming advantage on the battlefield.
Our employees are developing platform and
weapon system technology to provide our
soldiers with overwhelming lethality while
significantly improving their survivability
on the battlefield. AMRDEC’s vision is
to develop aviation and missile system
2010
technology to enable swift decisive victory
without casualties,” Smith says.
He says the AMRDEC mission is
to take a program from basic research
through exploratory development to
advanced development, including concept
and technology options for the continuous
improvement of aviation, missile, and
unmanned systems.
For example, Smith says, “AMRDEC
scientists have invented a novel, low cost,
wireless, video scrambler based on the
phenomenon of chaos synchronization.
Noise-like, ‘chaotic’ waveforms can be
generated by incredibly simple, electronic,
nonlinear oscillators made of a few
commercial-off-the-shelf components. The
scrambler can provide privacy to wireless
video links on platforms such as unmanned
vehicles and missiles that have cost, power,
and weight constraints that rule out the use
of full digital encryption. The system also
can be easily retrofitted to wireless analog
video links in legacy systems that currently
have no protection.”
AMRDEC is working hard to increase
aircraft and crew survivability, Smith said,
pointing out that there has been significant
loss of aircraft and loss of life from
machinegun fire, extreme sand conditions,
high heat, and crash landings in Mideast
33
military operations. “Low-cost aircraft selfprotection suites are being developed, which
will detect, disrupt, and defeat small arms,
rocket propelled grenades and man-portable
air defense system threats. In addition, the
development of opaque and transparent
armor and energy attenuation technologies
will reduce the aircraft and aircrew
vulnerability to ballistic and crash events,”
says Smith.
Smith says 80 percent of AMRDEC’s
current effort is providing full engineering
support throughout the life cycle of all
aviation, missile, and unmanned systems.
AMRDEC’s three largest customers are the
Program Executive Office (PEO) Aviation
and PEO Missiles and Space, both of
which are part of AMCOM, and the Missile
Defense Agency.
“Software engineering is a big growth
area and AMRDEC provides mission critical
computer resource expertise to support
weapon systems over their entire life cycle,”
he added.
“AMRDEC has many initiatives that
are focused on reducing the logistics burden
to the soldier through improved reliability
and diagnostics in critical areas, such as
propulsion, structures and electronics,”
Smith said. “There are major efforts to
develop robust system level diagnostics
and prognostics programs in support of
the Army’s Condition Based Maintenance
thrust. The goal is to move aviation from
a time based maintenance philosophy to a
condition based maintenance philosophy.”
Of course, conducting that research
requires a lot of support from many of the
companies and customers located in the
adjacent research park. “To ensure that the
Army is a ‘smart buyer’ and that the country
has ‘smart vendors,’ AMRDEC strives to
integrate AMRDEC, small business, support
contractor, and prime contractor personnel
into a team that supports the acquisition
and sustainment process in a cost-effective
manner and as rapidly as possible,” Smith
says.
“AMRDEC works very hard in getting
the best possible equipment as quickly as
possible to our men and women on the front
lines. We strive every day to transition the
technology as quickly as possible. We are
recognized as the gold standard on rapidly
prototyping and fielding equipment to the
war fighter. I am very proud that AMRDEC
is, first and foremost, a soldier-focused
organization.”
34
2010
Cummings
Cummings Research
Research Park
Park
By Bill Gerdes
NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER:
C U M M I N G S R E S E A R C H PA R K
In its fourth decade,
Cummings Research Park is
the nation’s second largest
research and technology
park. The next 10 years
will see another flurry of
expansions, as a result of
a major realignment of U.S.
military bases.
The payrolls of the companies inside Cummings
Research Park are more than $1.4 billion per year,
says Rick Davis, executive director of the park.
C
ummings Research Park in
Huntsville is already the nation’s
second largest research park. With
several new military units and some
5,000 new personnel expected at nearby
Redstone Arsenal, it’s poised for another
growth spurt over the next 10 years.
The 3,800-acre complex — home
to more than 285 companies in 40
technology fields — represents “a
concept way before its time,” said Dallas
Fanning. Now director of planning for
the City of Huntsville, Fanning has been
a strong proponent of research parks
since the mid-1990s, when he wrote
a paper titled “Research Parks: An
American Success.”
Then a colonel in the Alabama
National Guard, Fanning wrote that
“Americans face the prospect of losing
their competitive edge unless they
change their methods of industrial
recruitment” and suggested that research
parks could help solve that problem by
attracting high tech businesses.
Cummings Research Park was
already 31 years old or so when Fanning
wrote his paper and well on its way to
becoming what is now the nation’s
second largest research park, trailing
only the Research Triangle Park in
North Carolina.
Most documents list the founding
date of Cummings Research Park at
1962, when the city of Huntsville,
at the urging of Brown Engineering
(later Teledyne Brown Engineering)
and the University of Alabama in
Huntsville Foundation, zoned 3,000
acres as a research park district called
Huntsville Research Park. In 1973, the
park was renamed in memory of Milton
Cummings, former CEO of Brown
Engineering.
Rick Davis, executive director of
the research park, says putting a dollar
figure on investment in the park is
difficult, but “I think it’s obvious that
investment will easily be in the billions
of dollars. This is primarily through
land acquisition over the years and
infrastructure installation by the city of
Huntsville and through development of
property by the individual companies in
the park.”
As for the economic impact, Davis
said, the payroll of CRP companies
alone is more than $1.4 billion per year.
“I don’t know what the tax impact of that
would be, but it’s clearly substantial.
We estimate that the economic impact
2010
of Redstone Arsenal is $5.6 billion this
year.”
Research Triangle Park in the
Raleigh-Durham area is the largest
research park in the U.S., with more
than 7,000 acres. CRP is 3,843 acres,
and although there is some adjacent
land that might be annexed into the
park, Davis says it’s not likely the land
will be acquired.
In terms of number of companies,
CRP is the largest in the country, with
more than 285 companies. Research
Triangle Park, on the other hand, has
more workers: 40,000 employees,
compared to CRP’s 25,000.
CRP has more than 11 million square
feet of office and R&D space. To put
this in context, the entire Huntsville
office market is slightly more than 16
million square feet, so CRP is clearly
the epicenter of that activity.
With so many jobs moving to
Huntsville due to the Base Realignment
and Closure Commission (BRAC),
people will need a place to work. “Some
will work on Redstone Arsenal, but the
overwhelming majority of them will
35
work in CRP and other adjacent areas,”
Davis says. “Based on land absorption
over the past five years, we have about
eight to 10 years of available land left
in the Park. If the growth is greater than
what we project, that number could drop
to six to eight years of available land.”
Davis says the park’s recruiting
efforts range from local to international.
“We target companies that are, first, a use
match for the Park and are also a good fit
for our community. Because of our local
leadership’s prudent use of resources
over the years, we’re a community that
can sometimes afford to be selective in
which companies we target. Of those
targeted companies and industries, not all
of them are a use match for CRP.
“Because of the accelerated pace
of growth here over the past decade,
our efforts have been focused primarily
on existing industry and nurturing an
environment that enables them to expand
and create more jobs.”
There are four distinct zoning areas
that apply to CRP and an adjacent park,
Thornton Research Park, ranging from
the highly restrictive CRP West — which
accepts only research and development
firms — to the retail, hotel, residence
and commercial area known as Bridge
Street Town Centre, which was part of
the master plan for the Park.
University of Alabama in Huntsville,
with its 19 research centers, is the eastern
anchor tenant of the Park. And, in keeping
with the park’s expansion into biomedical
research, the new HudsonAlpha Institute
for Biotechnology is another key tenant.
Huntsville’s Former Mayor Loretta
Spencer says that within the past 12 years
she has attended more than 50 ground
breaking ceremonies for companies
locating in Cummings Research Park.
Have Huntsville and the park put too many
of its eggs in the research, development
and technology?
No, says Spencer. “Having a variety
of business and industry with well-paying
jobs for residents of Huntsville, as well as
the Tennessee Valley region, is the reason
that we aggressively recruited the Toyota
Motor Manufacturing facility, the Target
Distribution Center, the Verizon Call
Center and the HudsonAlpha Institute for
Biotechnology.”
36
2010
UAB Biotech
By Tara Hulen
BIRMINGHAM’S BIOTECH CATALYSTS
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
and the Innovation Depot are the catalysts of
Alabama’s emerging biotechnology industry.
DiscoveryBioMed and TransMolecular are
two sparkling examples of their sciencecommerce alchemy.
Expertise in cell physiology gives
DiscoveryBioMed a competitive edge on therapies for cystic
fibrosis, diabetes and polycystic
kidney disease. Tom Barr (left) is
COO. Dr. Erik Schwiebert (right)
is CEO.
G
round-breaking research from UAB
leads to more than scientific discoveries
and headlines. Approximately $31
million in licensing revenues has come
from other institutions or companies that
want to use UAB research in their own
investigations, and about 33 start-up
companies have been created based on
UAB-originated technologies, many of
them biotech companies.
Medical research gets advanced; the
university generates income; new homegrown companies are born, and some part
of UAB is often involved in some way in
every step.
Several of those spin-off companies,
based in UAB research, get yet another
boost from the University, by spending their
fledgling years in the Innovation Depot, a
business incubation center in downtown
Birmingham. Innovation Depot operates in
partnership with UAB, with support from
other public and private entities. The center
focuses on the development of emerging
biotechnology/life science, information
technology and service
businesses, with 13 of its 58
resident companies involved
directly in biotechnical and
life sciences, says Innovation
Depot
President
Susan
Matlock.
Scientists
may
be
geniuses, but they aren’t
usually born business people.
So, having a place like the
Innovation Depot to help them figure out
how to start and run a business is invaluable,
says Tom Barr, chief operations officer
and co-director of DiscoveryBioMed, one
of the fledgling biotech companies at the
center with a UAB connection.
“It’s not an insignificant hurdle or
process,” Barr says.
The center offers seminars on business
issues and helps connect the scientists with
investors or potential partners in their field.
On a practical level, it provides flexible
office space and – important for start up
biotech companies – lab space.
“There’s just not spec lab space in
Birmingham, and these are totally built
out,” Matlock says. “We really try to help
them control their cost, just by taking only
the things they need and not going out
and taking way too much space way too
soon.”
DiscoveryBioMed’s
CEO,
Erik
Schwiebert, Ph.D., is a former UAB
faculty member and a researcher in cell
physiology and pathophysiology. “We
2010
count ourselves as a spinout from UAB,”
says Barr.
Like many biotech research companies,
DiscoveryBioMed doesn’t have a product
to sell — though there are some items in
an online catalogue, if you’re in the market
for immortalized cell lines or mixed
primary cell cultures.
“We’re an early stage drug discovery
services company,” Barr says. “What that
means is we provide a range of services
to academic clients and to certain business
clients, such as pharmaceutical companies,
that help in identifying compounds that
can have efficacy for certain diseases.”
The company can work for hire by
single project or as a collaborator in
medical investigations. It does both for
UAB, but has other clients in 10 states.
It is currently collaborating in multiple
drug discovery projects with Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York.
Their researchers have particular
expertise in cystic fibrosis, diabetes
and polycystic kidney disease. “Our
competitive edge is that we have pretty
deep expertise in cell physiology,” Barr
says, “so we have scientists who have
developed cell lines from mammalian
sources that serve as models for actual
tissue.”
For
example,
Barr
explains,
DiscoveryBioMed can use a model they
developed that is like airway tissue in CF
patients to set up assays determining the
effects certain compounds have on the
disease process, which could eventually
lead to new drugs and treatments.
TransMolecular Inc. is another pure
research company with UAB roots
that started at the Innovation Depot.
It was created with research by UAB
37
Innovation Depot operates in partnership with UAB, with support from
other public and private entities.
neurobiologist Harald Sontheimer, Ph.D.,
a leading researcher in the treatment
of gliomas, an aggressive type of brain
tumor.
TransMolecular is considered a graduate
of the Innovation Depot. It keeps an office
there, but moved its main operations to a
research center in Cambridge, Mass., as it
grew. It has kept close UAB connections,
says Susan Stewart, vice president of
regulatory affairs for TransMolecular.
TransMolecular licenses UAB-owned
patents and always uses UAB as one of the
centers in its clinical trials, Stewart says,
and often relies on the expertise of UAB
researchers.
“These are the guys I take with me
when we’re meeting with the FDA,”
Stewart says. “They’re part of our family,
and they’ve been a very strong part of the
clinical program. I’d say the majority of
our data has derived from work done at
UAB in the clinic.”
TransMolecular’s research mission
is creating targeted therapies for cancers
with limited treatment options.
Their work is largely centered on their
compound called TM601 (Chlorotoxin), a
new synthetic peptide originally derived
from scorpion venom. It finds, binds to and
is taken up by tumor cells anywhere in the
body – even undetected tumors – without
affecting surrounding normal tissue.
In layman’s terms, it cuts off a tumor’s
blood supply. It also can be paired with a
radioisotope to deliver systemic targeted
therapies far less toxic than standard
treatments, Stewart says.
And TM601 has been shown to cross
the blood-brain barrier, which is very
38
2010
important, she says, and one reason it’s
being studied as a possible therapy for
late-stage melanoma.
“That is one of the rare diseases with
great unmet medical needs,” Stewart
says. “Melanoma is aggressive, fast and
painful, like pancreatic cancer,” she says.
“Most late-stage melanoma have no
approved treatment; the treatments are all
investigational.”
A patient can be excluded from trials if
the disease has metastasized to the brain,
she says, because most drugs can’t cross
the blood-brain barrier. But TM601 can.
“We’re about ready to begin a
melanoma clinical trial,” Stewart says.
In a sad irony, company vice chairman
and former CEO and President Michael
Egan died of melanoma earlier this year,
just a few months after announcing the
FDA had granted orphan drug status to a
variant of TM601 for melanoma.
Clinical studies have shown TM601
also could be used on primary and
metastatic solid tumors, including glioma,
melanoma, lung, prostate, colon, breast,
and pancreatic cancers.
UAB is participating in research to
optimize TM601’s potential, Stewart says.
“It would be a next big thing.”
Like many start-up biotech companies
focused on research, TransMolecular and
DiscoveryBioMed aren’t making money
yet. They rely on federal and private grants
to further their research, like the public
institutions they partner with.
Scientific reasoning, budgets and
business plans aside, Stewart finds the
work exciting: “It’s cool. It’s neat, because
it’s so important.”
Green Conference
By Cary Estes
REGIONAL HUB
FOR SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
Birmingham drafted a charter for the emergence
of Alabama as a regional center of sustainability
enterprise — with a groundbreaking 200-exhibit
conference capitalizing on a wealth of knowledge
and entrepreneurship.
W
hat’s that turning green? Not just
Alabama’s agricultural areas, but
its cities as well.
At least, that’s the goal for organizers
of the Green Building Focus Conference
& Expo held in Birmingham in July. The
short-term goal of the event was to expose
sustainable-building ideas and other
environmental practices to a region that
has not exactly been known for its green
thumb.
“I wanted them to bring (the conference)
here, because I wanted Birmingham and
Alabama to have the opportunity to change
their image,” says Robin White, president
of the Alabama chapter of the United States
Green Building Council.
The conference appeared to be a step in
that direction. The gathering was sort of a
three-day “Greenstock,” the likes of which
the state had never seen.
There were nearly 200 exhibitors at
the Expo, and conference organizer James
Smith says almost 1,800 people attended
the event. For many of those in attendance,
merely having such a conference in
Alabama was reason to celebrate.
“We were all on a green sustainable
high after being surrounded by that mindset
for three days,” says Rhea Williams, the
executive director of the Birmingham
chapter of the American Institute of
Architects. “It did a lot for us. It brought
an awareness that we’ve never had before.
It boosted our confidence and our image of
the city and state.
“You’re going to see some amazing
things happen after this conference”
2010
The Green Building Focus Conference & Expo held in Birmingham
in July 2009 highlighted the city’s
strategic advantages as a center for
sustainable enterprise in the Southeast. James Smith (top left) was the
conference organizer. Attendees
included environmental activist and
actor Ed Begley Jr. (bottom left).
That was always the larger goal for
conference organizers. They wanted
the Expo to be the beginning of a more
formidable green presence in Alabama,
especially when it comes to sustainable
building.
One of the requirements for the
increasingly popular LEED (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design)
certification is for construction materials
to come from within a 500-mile radius of
the building site, to reduce the amount of
emissions created during the transportation
of such materials.
All or significant parts of 15 states are
located within 500 miles of Birmingham,
a radius that includes such cities as
Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis,
Indianapolis, Tampa, Charlotte and
Louisville.
“From an economic development
perspective, Alabama is ideal for growth
for green suppliers, products and jobs,”
White says. “So if we can change our
image and start incorporating a lot of green
principles, we have a great opportunity to
make a showplace out of this.”
Smith
agreed
that
Alabama’s
39
central location makes it an ideal hub for
manufacturers
of
sustainable-building
materials, and he is hopeful the Expo will
help push the state in that direction.
“We have made headway towards
showcasing Birmingham as a logical place
for bringing manufacturing to the Southeast,”
Smith says. “And we’ve made headway
towards developing a plan to bring greencollar jobs to Alabama. Because we were
able to showcase the need and necessity for
it to so many people, it’s already got great
traction.
“We’re going to be working in
conjunction with the universities around
the state to actually start to lay out the
specific objectives and plans for looking
at sustainability – and green building in
particular – as an opportunity for economic
development. That’s now well underway.”
The Expo included presentations by a
number of environmental advocates from
throughout the world, including actor and
activist Ed Begley Jr. and award-winning
Indian architect Karan Grover. In addition,
exhibitors from as far away as Sweden
brought their green products and ideas to
Birmingham.
“I’m amazed at the turnout,” Grover says.
“This exhibition has been quite extraordinary
for the type of people it has brought together
and the kind of interest it has generated. It’s
an incredible beginning for Alabama.”
Now it is important for the state to take
advantage of the momentum generating
by the Expo, according to Pete Conroy,
director of Jacksonville State University’s
Environmental Policy and Information
Center.
“If we don’t capitalize on the wealth
of knowledge and entrepreneurship (at the
conference), we’ve really missed the boat,”
Conroy says. “I’ve already heard a lot of
murmuring that there will be follow-ups. If
we don’t take advantage of the Rolodex that
we can grow through this conference, we’re
really missing out.”
Williams says she is convinced the
conference will lead to a change in attitudes.
“People kept asking, ‘Why Birmingham?’
The question after the conference is, ‘Why
not Birmingham?’ ” Williams says. “No one
has ever looked at us and thought, ‘They are
the perfect host for green manufacturing.’
But we are.
“We have absolutely every opportunity
handed to the state, and we’re going to take it
and run with it. We have everything we need
to take this green movement forward.”
40
2010
Foreign Investment
By Lori Chandler Pruitt
Valerie Gray, executive director of the Chambers
County Industrial Development Authority
Ulrich Albrecht-Frueh, CEO of ThyssenKrupp
Stainless USA
Brian Hilson, president of the Huntsville/Madison
County Chamber of Commerce
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN ALABAMA
Alabama is a leader in active recruitment of foreign
direct investment. The state’s economic developers
maintain a network of relationships around the globe.
H
ow does a state that has turned its economy
golden with foreign direct investment
deal with a worldwide recession? By
going right ahead with the recruiting practices
that lured the big international firms.
At the depth of the recession last spring,
Alabama sent a delegation of 80 economic
development recruiters to the Paris Air Show.
Later in the year, another team joined federal
commerce officials on a mission to Bogota
and Cali, Colombia.
The Paris Air Show is a must-attend
event, says Neal Wade, head of the Alabama
Development Office and a key player
in attracting foreign investment. “We’re
continuing to sell the state, so when the
economy does rebound we’re ready to take
advantage of wherever the growth is going to
come from.”
Brian Hilson, president of the Huntsville/
Madison County Chamber of Commerce,
planned on the June trip to Paris, too.
Defense and aerospace companies are critical
components of the Huntsville economy,
and the show offers a chance to establish
relationships with leaders of the world’s major
companies. “We want to make sure that they
understand that as they have opportunities to
grow, we’re there to respond.” After Paris,
he’ll be marketing his region in Japan and
Korea later this year.
“In a weak global economy, you don’t
stop marketing,” says Hilson. “That would
send a negative message that it would take
years to recover from.”
Imported rocket scientists, first
Korean U.S. splash
Huntsville has known the international
marketplace for decades. Growing from
international connections developed with
German rocket scientists half a century
ago, the city began to work “systematically
and aggressively” to recruit foreign-based
investment, says Hilson. One of its early
recruiting coups came in 1970, when Lucky
Goldstar (now LG Electronics) came to
town, the first Korean firm in the U.S.
Today LG has 1,100 employees and is just
one of 55 firms in Huntsville that are based
overseas. An international intermodal center
2010
helps expedite business for domestic and
overseas firms.
Though Huntsville’s international ties
are decades old, the rest of the state didn’t
win the big contracts until Mercedes-Benz
chose Tuscaloosa in 1993. Since then
the state has landed a Hyundai plant near
Montgomery and a Honda plant in Lincoln.
On their coattails came dozens of other firms
that supply parts and equipment.
State market efforts have paid off to the
tune of $17.7 billion in investments by a list
of worldwide firms that covers 19 pages
and represents countries from Australia
to the United Kingdom with Canada,
Mexico, Germany, Japan and China, Taiwan
and Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore,
Switzerland and dozens more between.
Global firms represent some of the
state’s biggest industrial investments — the
$4.3 billion ThyssenKrupp steel complex
representing Germany; the $350 million
National Alabama rail car plant representing
Canada; a $500 million investment by
Japanese automaker Toyota; an investment
of more than $1.2 billion at the South
Korean Hyundai plant and a similar size
investment at the Japanese Honda plant;
and the $600 million Mercedes-Benz plant
that started the string of major investments
in 1993.
41
Foreign Investment
Project balks don’t dent fervor,
incentives
Part of the deal in wooing the big
international firms has been a package of
state and local incentives, based on the idea
that the tax dollars would be amply repaid
in new jobs and wide-reaching benefit to the
economy.
ADO’s Wade is confident that Alabama
taxpayers are adequately protected, even
though projects have been delayed and
assembly lines slowed. The state keeps
tabs on progress, Wade says, but does not
penalize them for slowing their schedules in
a bad economy.
“We feel we have adequately protected
the taxpayer, but are mindful of what the
company is going through,” Wade says.
“The ultimate objective is getting all those
jobs in place.”
Even in this slump, ADO is plenty busy,
Wade says. Every project manager has a
project, working with prospects in Europe,
Asia and the US. “We’re not seeing quite
as many as a year ago,” he says, “but we’re
42
very busy.”
While the automotive sector is
floundering, other fields are doing better
— life sciences, biotech, aerospace, call
centers — “it’s all across the board,” says
Wade. “And as the country begins to look
at green energy and green products, we see
projects there.”
While auto-related companies are
especially feeling the pinch, Wade is
confident even in them. “These companies
are really retooling and coming up with more
advanced, more energy-efficient models.
You’re going to see pent-up consumer
demand. It’s going to hit. And there’s going
to be a need for steel. The demand is going to
come back. The economy is going to come
back. We’ve seen these cycles before. It’s
tougher than most, but it will come back.”
Automotive benchmark still rolling
For years, Chambers County watched
jobs in the textile industry, backbone of
its economy, drift to other countries, says
Valerie Gray, executive director of the
2010
Chambers County Industrial Development
Authority. Working with ADO, the county
chose to market itself abroad. And the
results have been spectacular.
When Kia announced plans for a new
plant, just five miles east of the AlabamaGeorgia border, Chambers County was
ready to woo tier one suppliers. In less
than a year, the county landed four tier one
suppliers. When Kia gets to full production
with 2,500 workers, Chambers County
expects to have 900 new jobs.
Now officials are trying to lure firms
outside the automotive industry, too. “We
are grateful to the auto industry,” Gray says,
“but we’ve been down that road before
— depending on one industry. We’ll do
everything in our power to become a more
diverse economy.”
Partly, that means helping overseas
workers feel comfortable in eastern
Alabama. Chambers’ IDA offers transition
help to folks coming from other countries —
language classes and help with basics like
enrolling kids in school, getting a driver’s
licenses, turning on the utilities.
Huntsville Biotech
By Michael Kelly
Rob Seitz, president of Applied
Genomics Inc., one of the 12
private biotech companies housed
in the associates’ wing of the
HudsonAlpha Institute
APPLIED LIFE SCIENCE
The goal of the genetics-based research of the new
HudsonAlpha Institute in Huntsville is development of
genetic therapies that fight cancer.
F
or decades, Huntsville has been a star
in the nation’s firmament of space and
defense projects with a major military
presence and a robust private sector to
support it. In the last decade, the synergy of
all those scientists, researchers, and creative
thinkers has added a new constellation
of projects in the younger discipline of
biotechnology.
Unlike rocket research and space
exploration, there was no massive federal
effort behind biotech. The idea for a
Huntsville biotechnology center was largely
the brainchild of Jim Hudson, founder and
president of Research Genetics, Huntsville’s
first large biotechnology firm. Following
the 2000 merger of his company with
California-based Invitrogen, Hudson took
on the role of angel investor, plowing his
profits into other people’s biotech ventures
and acting as a mentor to their dreams.
Hudson might be called the godfather of
many of the more than 20 biotech firms that
today call Huntsville home.
Two years later, Hudson and others
formed a not-for-profit corporation to
support further research into personalized
medicine. With more than $80 million in
private donations, and $50 million pledged
from the state of Alabama in 2005, the
concept of the HudsonAlpha Institute was
born. It opened in April 2008.
The basic idea, says HudsonAlpha
spokesperson Holly McClain, is to bring
together top research teams and companies
in the field of personalized medicine. The
building’s soaring glass atrium symbolizes
the clear exchange of information, the
open collaboration between the ongoing
research on one side of the building and the
efforts to disseminate and use that research
on the other side. “What we are trying to
do is create a very dynamic environment.
Sometimes you can get answers more
quickly when everyone is working together
than when people are working in isolation.
The companies can more quickly expedite
the discoveries, turning them into products
that can benefit mankind,” says McClain.
One such company is Applied
Genomics Inc. Founded in 2000, AGI
was an established veteran in Huntsville
biotechnology research when it moved into
space on the second floor in January 2008.
2010
“We were the first official tenant,” says
Rob Seitz, the company’s president and
founder.
The opportunity to work closely with
leading research teams at HudsonAlpha
first attracted Seitz, who says companies
that understand how to commercialize
research can move products to market faster
so that discoveries don’t just sit on the shelf
but get to clinicians who can use them to
help patients. Moving discoveries from lab
into practice “takes a business approach,”
says Seitz. “This is the only place I know
that puts research facilities and biotech
companies together on the same plane.”
Seitz’s firm focuses on cancer research,
specifically the classification of cancer
subtypes, seeking greater understanding
about how a person’s specific cancer
responds to treatment. AGI’s research on
the myriad subtypes of cancers, specifically
lung and breast cancer, has advanced
the field of cancer treatment by allowing
oncologists to match cancer treatments
much more closely to a person’s genetic
structure. “It can determine, for example,”
explains Seitz, “just how aggressively you
can treat lung cancer. Which drugs should
you use, and in what dosages.”
Seitz has long recognized the
commercial possibilities of cancer testing
and classification. Applied Genomic’s first
product is MammoStrat, a diagnostic test
that classifies an individual as having a
high, moderate, or low risk of breast cancer
recurrence. It is recommended for postmenopausal breast cancer patients whose
classification shows they have a high
likelihood of getting breast cancer again
after initial treatment.
Still under development is MammoTax,
a single body immunotherapy test that, when
ready for market, will help breast cancer
patients and their physicians determine if
they are likely to respond to taxine therapy,
a specialized form of treatment increasingly
being used by oncologists today.
These first two products, which Seitz
feels show considerable commercial
promise, relate to breast cancer. But the full
range of the company’s research includes
ovarian, head and neck cancers.
Two floors up from Applied Genomics,
Dr. Khursheed Anwer directs a team of
researchers at EGEN Inc. pursuing better
ways to deliver pharmaceutical treatments
to the body through research into gene-
43
Dr. Khursheed Anwer (right), president of EGEN
Inc., directs researcher Jeff Sparks and team
members developing drug delivery solutions
based on gene-specific proteins.
producing proteins. “Our genes are the code
for making proteins, which have all sorts of
functions within the body,” says Anwer. Over
time, the genes that direct protein formation
can become defective, retarding the formation
of proteins used throughout the body for all
types of chemical functions.
The proper proteins, in the right
amounts, are crucial to fighting many types
of disease. It has long been medical practice
to inject these proteins if the body fails to
produce them, but that has complications.
“Those proteins break down quickly in
the body. You have to administer high
amounts, which often results in toxicity,”
Anwer explains. Problems also arise if the
body produces “bad proteins” which might
result if genes operate at higher than normal
rates.
“Our approach is to give the gene to the
body, not just the protein. This allows the
body to make the protein by itself. Rather
than have multiple shots everyday, you give
a single injection of the gene that codes the
protein.”
Much of EGEN’s efforts focus on
Interluken 12, a cancer-fighting protein
which is low in cancer patients. The primary
product thus far is a genetic delivery system
for IL-12, dubbed EGEN 001, which allows
for the safe and efficient delivery of IL-12
to the cancer site for several days from one
injection. Anwer says preliminary tests have
already shown positive benefits in cancer
treatment, and the product is now in clinical
trials with ovarian cancer patients.
44
2010
Mitchell Cancer Institute
By Kelli Dugan
Laurie Owen, associate director for basic and translational science
at the University of South Alabama Mitchell Cancer Institute, targets
early phase trials, “where we can have the most impact.”
PERSONALIZED CANCER RESEARCH
The center for research and treatment of cancer that
opened last fall at the University of South Alabama,
one of the newest such institution in the country,
combines a hefty endowment and some impressive
recruits to focus on personalized therapies.
T
he University of South Alabama Mitchell
Cancer Institute in Mobile might be
among the nation’s newest academic
cancer research facilities, but the investigators
leading the research contend that’s only
appropriate in a field where innovation means
results and survival.
Indeed, the 125,000-sq-ft. comprehensive
oncology health care and research center
represents a total investment of more than
$135 million — including $85 million in
construction and equipment — and is the
first academic cancer research institute in the
upper Gulf Coast region.
“I see an immense amount of opportunity
here to develop (therapeutics) without having
the same kind of restrictions you have in
a fully established place where people can
get a little too comfortable and lose sight of
the benefits of collaboration,” says Laurie
Owen, the institute’s Barbara Colle chair and
associate director for basic and translational
science.
“We are a very novel entity in this area,
because we are a translational clinical facility
in oncology, but we are truly intramural in
that we have an active clinical component as
well as focusing on basic and translational
science,” she says.
Specifically, the institute was designed to
take research from the lab to the bedside, she
says.
Owen, a Mobile native and recipient of
the 2005 USA Distinguished Alumni Service
Award for her career accomplishments,
served most recently as director of research,
development and enterprise relations at the
University of California-Riverside. During
her tenure, she was charged with providing
strategic and operational leadership for the
planning and implementation of the first new
public medical school in the Western United
2010
States in 43 years. In addition to her extensive
research publishing history, she also served
as a member of the board of directors for
the American Melanoma Foundation and on
scientific advisory boards for the University
of Montana Health Sciences Institute and
Signature Biosciences.
Michael Boyd, the institute’s Abraham
Mitchell chair and director, says luring Owen
back to Mobile and the University of South
Alabama in December 2008 was a big coup
for the organization.
“Dr. Owen has had extraordinarily
successful careers both as a renowned
academic cancer researcher and as a
biotechnology entrepreneur,” says Boyd,
“and she brings a vast reservoir of scientific
leadership and business experience at just the
right time to help accelerate the growth of the
Institute toward national and international
prominence.”
Commercialization need not be limited
to traditional sources to achieve those goals,
says Owen, noting that there is a “huge
amount of opportunity here for economic
development” via an active angel investor
community “that has already approached us”
about the possibility of forging public-private
partnerships to bring some products to market
45
Mitchell Cancer Institute
that the university’s technology transfer arm
deemed not immediately patent worthy.
So what exactly are Boyd, Owen and their
team of 11 investigators working on?
Two words: personalized medicine.
“A number of our investigators are
focusing on biomarker that can potentially
predict tumor sensitivity to various
chemotherapeutics and radiation, and they can
also predict potential cancer behavior, which
could make it easier to identify patients who
might be more likely to develop aggressive
tumors,” says Owen.
At their core, biomarkers are used to
measure a disease’s progress, as well as the
effects of any treatment rendered. Research
at the institute might one day be able to
help doctors understand how well patients
— based on these biochemical features —
respond to treatments.
“It’s an issue of one day being able
to select the most optimal treatment for a
patient,” says Owen, “because once we
know the molecular signature unique to that
patient and get a pretty good handle on how
that patient should respond to treatment, we
should also be able to determine how well the
46
tumor will react as well.”
One project involves using biomarker
signatures for early detection of endometrial
and ovarian cancers. Owen says if the
ongoing research is validated, the product
could actually be brought to market within a
three- to five-year period. “It’s simplistic and
completely non-invasive. That’s what makes
this research so exciting.”
Biomarkers are only one facet of the
institute’s current focus.
“Our investigators, who run lab groups
that might include graduate students, post
doctoral fellows and technical staff, focus
on a variety of disciplines, including cancer
genomic, proteomics, biomarker discovery and
validation, cancer stem cells, cancer metabolism
and cancer metastasis and the development of
novel therapeutics,” Owen says.
Her teams focus on early phase trials,
because “that’s where we can have the most
impact.”
Philanthropy at Work
The University of South Alabama
Mitchell Cancer Institute was more than eight
2010
years in the making and is funded through
philanthropic gifts; state, county, city and
federal funds; competitive contracts and
grants; tobacco settlement funds; the USA
Foundation; and the Mitchell family who, in
2006, made a $22 million gift in support of
the project. Benefactor Abe Mitchell, at the facility’s
grand opening ceremony in November 2008,
said, “I have decided the best way for me to
invest the sum of my life’s work is to reduce
human suffering and preserve human life.
Today is truly a great victory, but it should
not mark the conclusion of our support for
the Mitchell Cancer Institute. On the contrary,
and for the sake of all of our citizens present
and future, we have only just begun.”
The institute is also the major cancer
treatment referral center in the AlabamaFlorida panhandle region of the Gulf Coast,
offering a diverse portfolio of “investigatorinitiated, industry-sponsored, and cooperativebased clinical trials, as well as state-of-the art
clinical therapeutic and diagnostic equipment
that include a Cyberknife, TomoTherapy
helical linear accelerator and a 64-slice PET/
CT fusion scanner.
Grads Going Global
By Kelli M. Dugan
EDUCATION WITH GLOBAL REACH
International studies curricula are engaging Alabama
students in the global marketplace from Dublin to Dubai...
working for reinsurance giants in London, foraging
medicinal plants in the rainforests of Central America,
interning with French aerospace engineers....
M
ore than a decade of planning
and implementation have paid
substantial dividends for Alabama
colleges and universities determined to
place their students in the upper echelons
of the global marketplace.
Troy’s Carol Jordan was recruited to
Troy in 2000 and charged with building
a program to rival that of her alma mater,
the University of Georgia. She quickly
realized her one-woman show could never
compete with the credibility and skill sets
of seven professors.
Instead, Jordan opted to craft
an international program dedicated
to exposing students to the global
marketplace, preparing them for the
intricacies and placing them among
the ranks of some of the world’s most
respected surplus lines and reinsurance
giants.
“We’re not talking about your State
Farms and your Alfas. We’re talking about
Markel, Essex, Western World and Lloyds
— companies that might have offices in
the United States, but they’re international
operations all the way,” Jordan says.
In fact, she instructs underwriters and
brokers each year at Lloyds of London
on how to navigate American insurance
contracts and regulations and has had a
student intern with the company almost
every summer.
Gregory Fitch, executive director
of the Alabama Commission on Higher
Education, says the state’s strength
has a long track record of attracting
international students, but Troy is among
the institutions that adapted earliest to the
shrinking global marketplace.
More than a decade after the
introduction of distance learning and the
establishment of international campuses,
however, colleges and universities
statewide are embracing the movement
not only as a means of exposing students
to international opportunities abroad
but also as a mechanism for industry
recruitment and work force development
closer to home, Fitch says.
“There’s no question the business
world is getting smaller, and we are
training our students to be global leaders
in everything from law and engineering
to insurance and medicine,” Fitch says.
“I certainly don’t think we could have
the success we’re enjoying right now in
the arenas of aircraft maintenance and the
ThyssenKrupp steel plant if we did not
have people who are qualified and trained
to do the work.”
Sarah Hemmings, assistant director of
the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s
Office of International Programs and
Services, says collaboration is a key
component of the program’s success
—among on-campus entities like a major
in foreign language and international
trade developed in collaboration between
Colleges of Business Administration
and Liberal Arts and collaboration with
overseas institutions in the Global Studies
program. UAH also offers opportunities
for undergraduate and graduate students
to participate in international research
projects, Hemmings said, from the biology
department’s medicinal plant research
program in Central American rainforests
to the ESTACA program, through which
American and French aircraft engineering
students participate in exchanges.
Students in the University of Alabama
at Birmingham’s newly formed Global
and Community Leadership Honors
Program take the idea a step further by
stressing the application of skills learned
toward achieving a greater good.
“We created this program to help our
students learn how to apply the knowledge
they’re gaining at UAB to have an impact
on the world around them,” says Robert
Corley, director of the two-year-old
program.
“One of the basic ideas here is that
nothing’s really local anymore. Whether
it’s education, poverty or health care, these
are all really universal issues,” he says.
ALABAMA GRAD SUCCESS STORIES
As Alabama has broadened its global marketplace, Alabama’s
college and universities have helped broaden horizons for their
students, preparing them to compete at home or abroad. Consider
just a few of the success stories:
• Nick Abraham, a Troy University graduate, now working as
development manager for Markel Corp. in Richmond, Va., an
international company with offices in Virginia, Texas, Arizona,
Hong Kong and London. “Nick has only been there since 2004,
and he’s already directly below the vice president. Our students
move up in a hurry,” says Carol Jordan, Troy’s eminent scholar
of risk management and insurance, who boasts 100 percent job
placement for her students.
• Chela Canler, who completed the University of Alabama research
fellow program, recently returned from a consulting project
with a marketing firm in Dublin, Ireland. Canler, who speaks
fluent Spanish, is a double major in international marketing and
German with a minor in mathematics.
• Another UA graduate, Ryan Ebersold, is working with the U.S.
Department of Defense as a contract manager for projects in
Dubai and Kuwait. He plans on returning to school, however,
to obtain an advanced degree in intellectual property rights in
international law.
• Another Troy graduate negotiates insurance for tugboats for an
Atlanta firm, dealing with every port in the world.
2010
47
Southern Research Institute
By Tara Hulen
PILLAR OF REGIONAL MEDICAL RESEARCH
Southern Research Institute has been known for over 60
years as an R&D think tank. In recent years, it has also
become recognized for its business creations, such as the
30-month incubation and subsequent sale of Brookwood
Pharmaceuticals to SurModics for $40 million.
B
iotechnology is a relative newcomer
in aerospace-oriented North Alabama
and port-focused industrial South
Alabama. But biotech is a mature industry
in Birmingham, centered around the
65-year-old Southern Research Institute.
SRI has earned a distinguished reputation as
a biotech think tank, since its founding in
the 1940s to provide R&D for companies in
the state. About half of all FDA-approved
anti-cancer drugs have been evaluated at the
non-profit institute’s labs.
When a government agency needs
immediate help for a public health issue –
such as investigating swine flu vaccines,
Southern Research is on speed dial. The
institute routinely performs research for
similar threats.
“We, together with UAB, have
developed a drug that looks promising for
small pox,” says CEO Jack Secrist.
In addition, SRI is increasingly recognized for its business acumen — witness the
30-month incubation and subsequent sale of
Brookwood Pharmaceuticals to SurModics Inc. for $40 million. Brookwood had
grown from SRI’s Pharmaceutical Formulations group, and while the ownership now
rests with Minnesota-based SurModics, the
Brookwood division is not only staying in
Birmingham but also expanding.
48
PNP Therapeutics is a spin-off private
company created a few years ago by UAB
and Southern Research scientists who
developed PNP, a gene therapy treatment
for solid tumors. Inventors of the treatment
share in ownership of the new company.
“That company has now raised enough
money to move the technology into its first
clinical trial,” Secrist says.
Spin-off companies create income for
the university and institute, while having
a separate, private entity take the drug
from the bench to bedside. It takes major
capital to get a drug all the way through the
approval process, Secrist says, and Southern
Research’s focuses is on research at the preclinical-trial phases. The findings are then
licensed to another entity for the next stages
of research, and usually it is then licensed
to a pharmaceutical company that funds the
expensive road to FDA approval, and then
to market.
“Whether we develop things either by
ourselves or with UAB, you reach a point
where you have to make a decision about
what you’re going to do,” Secrist says.
“Either you license something to someone,
or you set up a company to help develop it,
or maybe partner with someone. If there are
ways that we can bring jobs to Alabama in
the process, we’d really like to do that.”
2010
Southern
Research
and
UAB
collaborated to form The Alabama Drug
Discovery Alliance last year to facilitate
drug discovery and development in the state
by using existing resources at UAB and
Southern Research. It was in part a solution
to federal budget crunches, and to satisfy
a National Institutes of Health push to see
more research get off the bench and to the
bedside.
“Both UAB and Southern Research
have a certain commitment to doing what
we can to benefit the state of Alabama, and
this is one of the ways that we can do that,”
Secrist says.
Six FDA-approved therapies have
been discovered at Southern Research. To
put that in perspective, most institutions
would be boasting with one. “We’re hoping
Pralatrexate will be number seven,” says
Secrist. “Maybe we can go beyond that,
too.”
IN THE PIPELINE
Among Southern Research’s current work,
two therapies, along with PNP, are moving
swiftly down the pipeline:
• Pralatrexate (PDX), for lymphomas
and solid tumors, licensed to Allos
Therapeutics Inc., a biotech company in
Colorado. It is awaiting FDA approval for
use in peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
• Thiarabine, for leukemias and
autoimmune diseases, licensed to
Access Pharmaceuticals. It’s nearing
Phase 1 clinical trials for leukemia and
being investigated for use in autoimmune
diseases, specifically arthritis.
Workforce Development
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Answering a call from business and industry, the state
has streamlined the workforce development activities
occurring within its borders under one agency, whose
mission is to ensure that resources and strategies are
aligned to meet priority needs.
C
reated by Governor Bob Riley, the
Governor’s Office of Workforce
Development (GOWD) is charged
with streamlining Alabama’s workforce
development activities into a coherent,
comprehensive, coordinated workforce
development system that is businessdriven, customer-oriented, performancebased, innovative and tied to economic
development.
The State Workforce Planning
Council manages the system to ensure
resources and strategies are aligned
to meet priority needs. The council
membership is made up of state agency
heads and representatives of industry
and education. Responding to the needs
of business and industry in an efficient
and effective manner guarantees the best
utilization of state workforce resources.
Ten
Regional
Workforce
Development Councils, comprised of
private sector employers, economic
developers and elected officials, play
a major role in Alabama’s workforce
system.
The
councils
identify
documented workforce needs and
serve as co-applicants for projects that
are presented to the State Workforce
Planning Council for approval.
Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
programs and services supervised by
GOWD include the State Dislocated
Worker (Rapid Response) Unit, which
helps manage the multiple priorities
created by a layoff or a closing; the
Incumbent Worker Training Program that
provides customized employee training
for existing businesses experiencing
difficulties in staying competitive; and
On-the-Job Training, which involves
training by an employer to a paid
participant engaged in productive work
in a job.
Information and access to WIA
programs is through the Alabama
Career Center System. The centers are
conveniently located throughout the
2010
state and provide one-stop shopping for
both employers and jobseekers. Career
center services include job referral,
skills assessment, training assistance,
career planning, financial assistance
for training, vocational rehabilitation
services,
veterans’ services
and
unemployment insurance information.
The director of GOWD also serves
as the director of the Workforce
Development Division of the Department
of Postsecondary Education, which
provides direction and supervision of
workforce education training programs
and services administered by the Alabama
Community College System (ACCS).
Associate Degree and Certificate
Programs (one- to two-year programs)
in career and technical education are
available at all community and technical
colleges, as well as a wide range of
career-technical courses and short-term
training for specific certification.
The Training for Existing Business
and Industry (TEBI) program offered
through ACCS, provides customized
training and short-term classes for
existing companies for a fee. Services
provided by TEBI are generally geared
toward front-line supervisors and
production workers.
49
The Alabama Operations Management
Institute (AOMI), a four-week training
program for supervisors and managers in
manufacturing industries, is designed to
help manufacturers maximize profits and
sustainability by maximizing productivity.
The 160-hour curriculum focuses on
practical applications of modern principles
and practices of efficient manufacturing.
Application of concepts and methods
used is carried out in a partner company
interested in applying production systems
principles in a real-time environment.
Alabama’s
Career
Readiness
Certificate (CRC) is a credential based
on ACT’s WorkKeys assessments that
gives employers and career seekers
a uniform measure of key workplace
skills. Individuals are assessed in three
areas: reading for information, locating
information and applied math. Testing sites
are located throughout the state, primarily
at the two-year colleges.
Alabama’s Ready to Work Training
Program provides a career pathway
for adults with limited education and
employment experience. Ready to
Work’s workplace environment provides
trainees the entry level skills required
for employment with most businesses
and industries in Alabama. The training
curriculum is set to standards cited
by business and industry employers
throughout the state, and the skills cited in
the U. S. Department of Labor Secretary’s
Commission on Achieving Necessary
Skills (SCANS) Reports.
KEY
CONTACTS
Matthew Hughes, Director
Post Office Box 301230
Montgomery, Alabama 36130-2130
(334) 293-4710
Fax (334) 293-4729
www.owd.alabama.gov
Amy Brabham, Associate Director
Business and Education Services Division
(334) 293-4708
Don Fisher, Associate Director
Field Services Division
(334) 293-4711
50
2010
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Atlantic Marine shipyard at the Port of Mobile
INTERNATIONAL PORTS,
RECORD EXPORTS
I
nternational trade is as natural for
Alabama as the tides that carry
shipping to and from the busy port.
The year 2008 marked the high tide to
date for foreign trade.
Alabama exports were valued at
$15.8 billion, a 10 percent increase over
the previous year. Exports traveled all
over the globe, distributed to some 192
countries. Germany, Canada, Mexico,
China and Japan were the top five
destinations for Alabama goods.
Alabama’s five FTZs
provide a major
market advantage,
including duty-free
admission of foreign
and domestic goods.
Automobiles account for 31 percent
of the state’s exports, shipped to more
than 113 countries at a value of nearly
$5 billion. While automobile exports
dipped slightly last year, chemicals,
forest products, minerals and primary
metal manufacturing all gained ground
last year.
The Alabama Development Office
International Trade Division calculated
that international trade was responsible
for more than 300,000 jobs in Alabama
2010
in 2008.
Major improvements to facilitate
the state’s international trade are
underway at both ends of the state.
At Huntsville, in northern Alabama,
expansion is underway at both the
Huntsville International Airport and
the International Intermodal Center.
Together with the Jetplex Industrial
Park, the airport and intermodal center
made up the Port of Huntsville — an
inland port with multiple modes of
51
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
transport to destinations around the world.
A $65 million capital improvement project
at the Huntsville International Airport includes
new security and waiting areas, new display
systems, concessions areas and expanded parking
facilities, in addition to the new air traffic control
tower.
At the International Intermodal Center, a
new 92,000 square-foot-building will provide
additional facilities, including 5,000 square feet
of cold storage. The Intermodal Center is the
base for international air cargo firm Panalpina,
providing non-stop service to Europe and
Mexico.
At Mobile, in south Alabama, the Port of Mobile
has muscled its way into the top 10 rankings for
the nation’s port, handling more than 28 million
tons of cargo last year. The Alabama State Port
Authority, which owns the seaport terminals,
has recently completed major improvements,
including a $300 container terminal, expansion of
the coal terminal and a new rail ferry terminal. A
new turning basin, allowing larger ships into the
port, is also planned. In addition to ready access
to the Gulf of Mexico, the port is served by two
interstate highways and five Class 1 railroads
and has access to some 15,000 miles of inland
waterways.
The State of Alabama’s Development Office
actively promotes international trade efforts,
participating in trade missions around the world
and offering business advice and financing
assistance to companies large and small.
In addition, the Alabama International Trade
Center at the University of Alabama helps
businesses with research, training and financial
assistance for international business efforts.
PA R T N E R S I N T R A D E
Port of Mobile
Trading partners vary in each of the
major categories.
• In the automotive arena, more
than half the exports, $2.5 of $4.9
billion, went to Germany, followed
by Canada, Mexico, the United
Kingdom and Australia.
• Chemicals accounted for $2.3 billion
in exports, with China as the main
destination, followed by Japan,
Mexico, Korea and Canada.
52
2010
• Forest products, valued at just
over $1 billion, went to Mexico,
Canada, Japan, Germany and the
Netherlands.
• Minerals, accounting for $1.1 billion
of Alabama’s exports, went to Brazil,
Poland, Germany, Turkey and the
United Kingdom.
• Primary metal manufacturing, also
valued at just over $1 billion, went
to Canada, Mexico, Japan, Saudi
Arabia and Ireland.
ALABAMA STATE PORT AUTHORITY
Ship loads at Port of Mobile rail terminal
that serves Central Gulf Railroad’s
ferry service between Alabama and
Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico
ALABAMA’S GULF GATEWAY
A
labama State Port Authority,
headquartered in Mobile, owns and
operates the State of Alabama’s
deepwater port facilities. The Authority
directly handled more than 28 million
tons of cargo and posted over $125
million in revenues in Fiscal Year 2008.
The port links all the state’s ocean-going
commerce with more than 15,000 miles of
inland waterways stretching as far as the
Upper Mississippi and the Great Lakes.
Since 2000, more than $500 million has
been invested in Alabama’s public seaport
terminals, with an additional $200 million
planned in the next five years. Up to $100
million, is earmarked for a steel terminal
that will be completed in December 2009.
Pinto Terminal will handle massive steel
bars for the $4.3 billion ThyssenKrupp
steel complex in northern Mobile County.
The port serves as a hub for an extensive
transportation network extending far
beyond the state’s borders.
Water: Extending north from the port are
the more than 1,200 miles of navigable
waterways in Alabama, among the most
in the nation, with lock and dam structures
along the Tennessee, Tombigbee, Black
Warrior, Coosa, Alabama and Tennessee
rivers that provide access to not only
Alabama’s heartland, but to the Tennessee
and Ohio valleys and the Great Lakes. The
Port of Mobile is also accessible to the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway providing shippers
coastal connections from Texas to Florida.
Rail: Five Class 1 railroads access the
port — Burlington Northern/Santa Fe/
Alabama & Gulf Coast Railroad, CSX
Transportation, Canadian National, Norfolk
Southern and Kansas City Southern. Port
linkage is provided by the Alabama State
Port Authority’s Terminal Railway. The
Port is also served by the CG Railway,
which provides shippers railed cargo via
ship to Mexico’s Vera Cruz region.
Air: The port is served by the Brookley
Airport and Industrial Complex, located
just four miles from the dock’s main
entrance.
2010
Highway: The authority’s terminals
have immediate access to Interstates 10
and 65/165.
General Cargo: The Alabama State
Port Authority offers 27 general cargo
berths with approximately 4 million square
feet of handling space, adjacent to piers
and railroad tracks. More than 2.4 million
square feet are under roof. The general
cargo facilities also feature a container
port operation, heavy lift terminals, a
freezer terminal, a cement terminal, a grain
terminal and three RO/RO berths, which
can accommodate vessels up to 40 foot
draft.
Coal: The McDuffie Coal Terminal is the
most versatile facility in the nation, with
import/ export handling capability to ship,
barge and rail transportation. In 2008, the
Port Authority handled 20.6 million tons
of coal, of which 18.5 million tons moved
through McDuffie. The Port Authority
has just completed an $85 million capital
53
ALABAMA STATE PORT AUTHORITY
investment program at McDuffie bringing
the terminal’s annual throughput capacity
to 30 million tons.
Mobile Container Terminal: The
Port Authority, in partnership with APM
Terminals North America and CMA, CGM
opened in October 2008, a new $300 million container terminal. The new 135- acre
container terminal includes a 2,000-foot
deepwater wharf with 45-foot draft, and
state-of-the-art container cranes. At startup, the facility will have an annual capacity
of 350,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent
Units) and future phases will increase the
capacity to 800,000 TEUs. The container
terminal has added container carrier services since opening that provide shippers access to global markets. Providing container
carrier services to the world, the Alabama
State Port Authority is a vital hub serving
the state’s economy. Mobile Container Terminal represents the first leg in the Authority’s 380-acre Choctaw Point intermodal
project, which includes an intermodal rail
transfer facility and development land for
value-added industries.
Rail Ferry Terminal: In May 2007,
the Authority completed construction on
the new rail ferry terminal— the first of its
kind with a twin deck design for quicker
loading. The ships can haul 120 standard
rail cars per voyage without loading and
unloading cargo, shaving nearly two weeks
off the typical rail services into Mexico. The
service provides 4-day rail service between
Mobile and Coatzacoalcos, Mexico.
Terminal Railway: The docks’ own
Terminal Railway (TASD in railroad lingo)
provides service between the five Class I
railroads serving Mobile and the port authority’s terminals. It handles more than
120,000 revenue-producing rail cars annually and maintains more than 75 miles of
track and eight locomotives, providing direct access to all facilities at the docks, including general cargo and container berths,
McDuffie Terminals, the Bulk Handling
Plant and private industries located as far
north as the Port of Chickasaw and as far
south as Brookley.
Inland Port Facilities: To take full
54
PORT OF ALABAMA FACTS
(FY 2008)
• Acreage: 4,000
• Containers: 129,119 TEUs
• Number of Berths: 37
• Revenue: $125 million
• Channel Depth: 45 Feet to the
Tunnels; 40 Foot in the River
Harbor
• Imports: Coal, Aluminum,
Iron, Steel, Copper, Lumber,
Woodpulp, Plywood, Fence
Posts, Veneers, Roll and Cut
Paper, Cement, and Chemicals.
• 4.8 Million Sq. Ft. of Warehousing
and Open Yards.
• Number of vessel calls: 1,569
• Revenue Producing Rail Car
Movements: 130,346
• Tonnage: 28.1 Million
• Exports: Coal, Lumber, Plywood,
Woodpulp, OSB, Laminate,
Flooring, Roll and Cut Paper, Iron,
Steel, Frozen Poultry, Grain, and
Chemicals.
advantage of Alabama’s waterway system that
boasts nearly 1,500 navigable inland barge miles,
the Alabama State Port Authority owns 11 inland
dock facilities, allowing barge transportation
for agricultural commodities, heavy industrial
products and bulk cargoes. The facilities are
located throughout the river systems — at
Bridgeport on the Tennessee River; Demopolis,
Tuscaloosa/Northport and Cordova on the Warrior
River; Claiborne, Selma and Montgomery on the
Alabama River; Columbia, Eufaula and Phenix
City on the Chattahoochee River; and at Axis on
the Mobile River.
2010
KEY CONTACTS
James K. Lyons, Director
& CEO
P.O. Box 1588
Mobile, AL 36633
Telephone: (251) 441-7200
Fax: (251) 441-7216
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.asdd.com
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
F
oreign-Trade Zones keep Alabama
companies competitive in the global
marketplace, by offering tariff relief
to even the playing field with international
competitors.
Known in the business as FTZs, the
zones are created by the Department of
Commerce near ports and industrial sites
that rely on imports to get the job done.
Once a site is designated as a ForeignTrade Zones, industrial companies
within it can bring foreign goods into the
country duty-free, store or mix them with
domestic parts and materials and create
new products for domestic sales or for
export.
Alabama has five Foreign-Trade Zones
at major import/export areas — Mobile,
Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery
and Dothan – with an estimated 12,000
workers making some $1 billion in
manufactured
products,
especially
automotive manufacturing, shipbuilding,
oil refining and chemical production.
An additional business-site subzone at
the ThyssenKrupp site in northern Mobile
County is in negotiation stages.
So valuable is the designation that
other domestic steel plans are challenging
the designation for ThyssenKrupp, saying
it would give the German steelmaker
too great an advantage. A decision on
the application was first expected in
September but has been delayed.
Alabama’s Foreign-Trade Zones
Mobile — some of South Alabama’s
largest industries, including Bender
Shipbuilding, DuPont and Aker Solutions
are included in the 9,848-acre multi-site
zone, while Atlantic Marine, Evonik
Degussa, Sony Electronics, Syngenta
Crop Protection, Trigeant EP, Ltd., Shell
Chemical and Austal Shipbuilding all
function in business-based subzones.
Huntsville — The FTZ in northern
Alabama also has multiple sites. Some
1,700 acres around the intermodal center
are designated as an FTZ, as are 1,000
acres at Mallard Fox Creek Industry
Park and at the Port of Decatur, where
Boeing builds its Delta IV rockets. The
Huntsville FTZ also has a subzone for
DaimlerChrysler.
Birmingham has seven sites in
and around the city. Parts of the
Airport North/Northeast Industrial
Park make up one site, and others
are located at Shaw Warehouse
facilities, the ACIPCO industrial
area, the Oxmoor Industrial Park,
the air cargo facility at Birmingham
International Airport, Munger/
Valley East. Individual subzones
are located at Mercedes-Benz
in Vance, ZF Industries, JVC
America, NACCO Materials
Handling Group Inc.
Montgomery — The FTZ
for the capital area has 5,170
acres in four sites along
Interstate 65 near the airport,
along the northern and eastern bypass,
at the Airport Industrial Commercial
Park and at the Montgomery County
Technology Park. Two subzones are part
of the Montgomery zone, one for Hyundai
Motor and one for Quantegy Inc.
2010
Dothan — Served by the port of
Panama City, Dothan has a single FTZ
with six sites with airport, industrial park
or port authority access available at each.
Dothan’s FTZ has no industry-specific
subzones.
55
TRANSPORTATION
ALABAMA
COMMERCIAL
AIRPORTS
MAJOR
ALABAMA
HIGHWAYS
56
2010
TRANSPORTATION
ALABAMA MAJOR RAIL SERVICE
RAIL DELIVERY TIMES
2010
57
TRANSPORTATION
Coos
a
ALABAMA’S WATERWAY SYSTEM
er
Riv
Mexico and on to the rest of the world, converge at
the Alabama State Docks in Mobile. The deepwater
port receives calls from more than 100 overseas
shipping lines and a dozen towing companies.
Tenth most active port in the nation, it is the
number one facility for import coal and also
handles steel, grain, chemicals and more.
Along the vast river systems that feed Mobile
Bay, shippers can take advantage of low-cost barge
transport – shipping 1,500 tons per barge, compared
to 100 on a rail car or 25 on a truck.
While the State Docks have direct access
across Mobile Bay and into the Gulf of Mexico,
northern Alabama cities like Huntsville, Decatur,
Guntersville, Scottsboro and the Quad Cities have
direct access to the Tennessee River.
In between, a series of six waterways move
traffic into every region of the state:
Alabama-Coosa Waterway: connecting Montgomery to the TennesseeTombigbee Waterway via the Alabama
River.
Chattahoochee-Apalachicola
Waterway flows betweent the gulf
Intracoastal Waterway and Phenix City
on Alabama’s eastern edge.
Tennessee Waterway provides
river transport from Knoxville, Tennessee,
in the east to the Ohio River and on to the
Mississippi.
Warrior-Tombigbee
Waterway connects the Port of Birmingham to the Tennessee-Tombigbee at
Demopolis.
C
heaper transportation even than rail, direct connection to the Port’s
international gateway and beautiful besides – more than 1,000 miles of
inland waterways in Alabama connect to ten times that many miles of
waterways throughout the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes Regions.
Barge traffic on Alabama’s waterways can connect to 23 other states.
All waterways, whether north to the Ohio or south across the Gulf of
58
2010
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway uses a man-made canal to provide
a direct link between the Tennessee River in the
north and the Port of Mobile in the South.
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway provides a
protected water route to Gulf of Mexico ports from
Brownsville, Texas, to Carabelle, Florida.
TRANSPORTATION
INLAND LINK TO AMERICA
The Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway links the Ohio and
Tennesse River systems and
the Gulf of Mexico, providing
a direct rout between the
eastern Gulf of Mexico
and America’s heartland,
connecting 16,000 miles of
navigable inland waterways.
rocket plant near Decatur considered only
sites with water access, as did the new
Severcorr steel mill near Columbus, MS.
Shipping via barge is fuel efficient,
too. A gallon of fuel can move a ton of
freight 514 miles by barge compared to
202 miles by rail or 59 miles by truck. And
barge traffic causes less harmful emissions
and fewer accidents and spills. It reduces
highway congestion, too since a barge can
carry the same load as nearly 60 semitrucks.
The Tenn-Tom connects eight other
waterways in mid-America to the Gulf’s
deepwater ports.
Created by an interstate compact
among Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi
and Tennessee, the Tenn-Tom is managed
by the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Development Authority.
W
hen the canal was complete, the
locks in operation and the water
first flowing, the new TennesseeTombigbee Waterway removed the
barrier between northern waterways like
the Ohio and southern ones like the Gulf
of Mexico.
In operation since 1985, the 234-mile
Tenn-Tom allows ready barge access from
KEY CONTACTS
north to south, avoiding the currents and
congestion of the Mississippi River.
Some 8 million tons of a cargo float
the Tenn-Tom each year, covering more
than 1.2 billion ton miles.
Analysts estimate that the waterway
has attracted $6 billion in new and
expanded industrial development. For
example, the new $450 million Boeing
2010
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Development Authority
P.O. Drawer 671
Columbus, MS 39703
(662) 328-3286
Fax: (662) 328-0363
Web Site: www.tenntom.org
59
EDUCATION
ALABAMA INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
KEY CONTACTS
60
2010
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
ALABAMA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
The state’s top recruiting agency continues its
aggressive economic development efforts, especially
during this time of economic recession.
S
establishes agency policy, oversees all
ADO functions, and coordinates and markets special events held across the globe.
These events are held in conjunction with
local communities and businesses. The
agency’s assistant director also is part of
this division and leads all business information and research-related activities.
A
labama has shifted gears dramatically
this year in its economic development
efforts to reflect the current needs
of business and the economy. “Now is
not the time to pull back our recruiting
efforts,” says Alabama Development
Office Director Neal Wade. “Now is the
time to magnify them so we keep Alabama
in the competition for jobs as economic
conditions improve, and we are doing just
that.”
ADO is moving forward with
an aggressive schedule to meet with
businesses both inside and outside of the
state to determine how we can help them
sustain current jobs and be positioned to
expand when the economy rebounds.
It also is working with communities to
help them determine what needs to be done
to make their areas more competitive for
new job creation, as well as encouraging
regional partnerships with neighboring
states that make sense for a more effective,
powerful and well-funded approach to
international economic development.
The agency has been organized in a
way to help it meet the aggressive goals
and includes the following divisions:
Executive Division/Economic Development Marketing: The Executive Division is led by Wade and facilitates
teamwork across numerous state agencies
and local and regional allies. The division
Business Development Division:
This division identifies prospects to broaden Alabama’s industry base. The staff markets Alabama to the world — identifying
companies that may have an expansion
project in the Southeast over the next three
to five years.
The major objectives of the division
are to attract industry to Alabama,
to encourage and promote foreign
manufacturing investment in the state,
and to support expansion and retention
of existing businesses. The department
works closely with economic development
allies throughout the state, facilitating a
cooperative effort to recruit companies.
Marketing efforts are targeted and
incorporate direct contact, pavilion events
at selected trade shows and business
prospecting trips.
International Trade Division: The
International Trade Division helps companies establish working relationships with
export and other professionals, building
knowledge that results in lucrative international business. The department accomplishes this mission through activities
designed to complement the existing trade
promotion programs of other state and federal agencies. Activities include trade missions, trade shows and catalog missions.
Foreign buyers are encouraged to include
Alabama in their U.S.A. itineraries, and
the state’s exporters and importers receive
2010
mailings and special publications, such as
the Alabama International Trade Directory.
Business Information Division:
The Business Information Division provides technical support and other services
in the form of comprehensive data and
statistics. The division compiles and produces the online Alabama Industrial Directory, designs custom proposals, targets
companies for specific marketing events
and conducts surveys of new and expanding industries. Job announcement numbers
are supported by data published in the division’s annual report.
Administrative Division: This division provides support in the areas of information technology, telecommunications,
payroll/personnel, accounting/budgeting,
purchasing and supply/property inventory.
The public information officer is housed
under this division and keeps the staff and
local developers informed of economic
development activities, coordinates and
updates the agency’s website, creates and
e-mails various publications, handles media relations, and writes news releases, articles and speeches for publications across
the globe.
KEY CONTACTS
Neal Wade, Director
Alabama Development Office
Alabama Center for Commerce
401 Adams Avenue
Montgomery, Alabama 36130
(334) 242‑0400 or (800) 248‑0033
Fax: (334) 242‑5669
www.ado.alabama.gov
61
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT
OF ECONOMIC AND
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Community development block grants helped fund infrastructure
for four plants in Chambers County that are suppliers to the Kia
automotive plant across the state line in Georgia. Below, Gov. Bob
Riley joins in a ground breaking.
T
he Alabama Department of Economic
and Community Affairs (ADECA)
administers a broad range of grants
and other programs aimed at community
development. A number of these programs
offer significant monetary incentives to new
and expanding businesses.
Among the key incentives programs
administered by ADECA are: Renewal
Community Program, Alabama Enterprise
Zones, Gulf Opportunity Zone Credit
Program and the Delta Regional Authority.
• The Renewal Community Program offers
federal tax incentives for businesses
locating or expanding in 40 communities
throughout the U.S. designated to receive
assistance in economic development.
In Alabama, the communities include
the Greene and Sumter Renewal
Community, made up of both counties;
the Mobile Renewal Community, which
includes Prichard and a section of east
Mobile; and the Southern Alabama
Renewal Community, which includes
Wilcox County and parts
of Butler, Conecuh,
Dallas, Hale, Lowndes,
Marengo, Monroe and
Perry counties.
Gulf Opportunity Zone comprises those
parishes in Louisiana and counties in
Mississippi and Alabama that were
declared major disaster areas by President
Bush as a result of hurricanes Katrina
and Rita.
• Delta Regional Authority grants
encourage the development of new
jobs and help with basic community
improvements to enhance the quality of
life in a rural region that includes counties
in Alabama and Mississippi. The region
includes 20 counties in south Alabama.
The broad scope of ADECA’s mission
is to administer all awards and grants
provided by the federal government,
the state Legislature and other sources.
Grants are provided to create jobs, build
needed water and sewer systems, revitalize
neighborhoods, support law enforcement
and traffic safety, provide assistance to
crime victims, strengthen the juvenile
justice system, provide job training, and
promote energy efficiency and conservation
and other projects.
Community Development Block Grants
(CDBG) are the best known of ADECA’s
many grant programs. Typical grants
support local efforts to attract and prepare
for new and expanding industries, build
basic infrastructure or otherwise enhance
the quality of life for residents. These
funds are used for housing rehabilitation,
infrastructure projects and other activities
to promote economic development in small
towns and rural communities.
KEY CONTACTS
Doni Ingram, Director
Alabama Department of Economic
and Community Affairs
P.O. Box 5690
Montgomery, AL 36103-5690
(334) 242-5591
Fax: (334) 242-5099
www.adeca.alabama.gov
Steve Walkley, Director
ADECA Office of Workforce
Development
(334) 353-5300
Bea Forniss
Resources and Economic
Assistance Programs (REAP)
Delta Regional Authority
Coordinator
(334) 242-5464
• The Gulf Opportunity
Zone Act of 2005
provides
major
tax
incentives to business
development in the Gulf
Opportunity Zone. The
62
Economic incentives aimed at community development
are among the programs administered by ADECA.
2010
ALABAMA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING
• Provides
program
development,
instructors, equipment, consumable
supplies, and training aids such as
manuals, workbooks, videotapes and
films. AIDT services are provided at
no cost to trainees or employers.
• Job seekers who meet the selection
criteria designed by AIDT and the
employer are enrolled in job specific,
pre-employment training for detailed
assessment of attitude, character, work
ethic, literacy, teamwork and technical
learning ability.
The Eric Heine Learning Center in Mobile
trains workers for the new ThyssenKrupp
steel mills in Mobile County.
Workforce development provided by Alabama Industrial
Development Training is among the strongest incentives for
businesses choosing to relocate or expand in Alabama.
A
labama has one of the strongest
workforce training programs in
the world in support of Alabama’s
commitment to new and expanding
industries.
Alabama Industrial Development
Training has long been recognized as
among the nation’s top workforce training
programs by industry observers. And AIDT
was the first workforce training program
in the world to earn ISO 9001:2000
certification for quality and continuous
improvement and recently earned an ISO
9001:2008 certification.
AIDT has assisted new and expanding
companies in recruiting, selecting and
training more than 350,000 job seekers.
AIDT training typically produces a
workforce that employers recognize for
high performance achievement — a
result of both the technical assessment
and training AIDT trainees receive and the
process by which they are selected.
From automotive to aerospace and
logistics and warehousing to biomedical,
AIDT researches and identifies the needs
of each company served and uses that
information to develop a full range of
technical
pre-employment
selection
programs uniquely customized to each
company.
AIDT services include:
• Identification of needed employee skills
and knowledge, training criteria and
curricula content definition, and required
behavior and performance criteria the
company expects of employees.
• Recruitment of trainee candidates for
potential employment. AIDT interviews
and enrolls in training those acceptable
by the company.
2010
An institution of the Alabama
Community College System, AIDT also
provides leadership development, onthe-job training, industrial maintenance
assessment, industrial safety assessment
and process improvement assessment.
Leadership development conducted by
AIDT is designed to develop and retain
quality leaders, improve retention and
create loyal and dedicated employees.
Industrial maintenance and safety
assessment services help identify
candidates best qualified for effective and
efficient operations through corrective
and preventive maintenance of equipment
and processes. Process improvement
assessments provide an independent
third party review of business processes.
KEY CONTACTS
Ed Castile, Director
Alabama Industrial
Development Training
One Technology Court
Montgomery, AL 36116-3200
(334) 242-4158
Fax: (334) 242-0299
TDD: (334) 242-0298
www.aidt.edu
63
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP OF ALABAMA
A private, non-profit
organization, the EDPA works
with companies looking to
locate or expand within the
state in the areas of site
selection, data analysis and
networking.
their competitive edge.
EDPA is supported by more than 65
leading companies from various sectors
that are committed to the state’s long-term
economic growth. The organization’s
F
or nearly 20 years, the Economic
Development Partnership of Alabama
has been a catalyst for economic
growth in the state. During that time, the
Partnership has been involved in Alabama’s
greatest economic development successes.
A totally private, non-profit organization,
EDPA is uniquely positioned to partner with
state, local and private entities involved in
Alabama’s economic development efforts.
In 1993, EDPA assisted in the effort to
attract Mercedes-Benz. Now, EDPA is
led by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International
former president Bill Taylor, who brings
his industry experience to economic
development.
EDPA provides services to companies
looking to locate in the state, encourages
emerging business development and
assists companies who want to improve
E D P A
KEY CONTACTS
board of directors is comprised of top
business leaders in Alabama.
By aligning its resources with the
Governor’s Office, key state agencies
Bill Taylor, President
Steve Sewell, Executive Vice
President
Economic Development
Partnership of Alabama
500 Beacon Parkway West
(205) 943-4700 or (800) 252-5453
Fax: (205) 943-4703
www.advantagealabama.com
B E N E F I T S
EDPA actively assists companies searching for a location.
Following are just a few of the services it provides to prospective
companies:
• Confidential, comprehensive site searches using the
organization’s statewide database of industrial properties
to identify sites and communities that meet a company’s
requirements.
• Providing in-depth data and analysis on topics such as
business costs and labor information to support a company’s
site selection decision
• Facilitating meetings with resource providers from the state
government, higher education, utilities and others
• Equally as important, EDPA works to provide resources and
networks for the sustainability of existing industry in Alabama.
64
and institutions of higher learning, EDPA
works to provide prospective companies a
smooth site selection process and tools for
a sustainable operation in Alabama.
To encourage emerging business
development, Alabama works closely
with institutions of higher learning in the
state. For example, EDPA joined with state
research universities to create Alabama
Launchpad, which hosts an annual
statewide business plan competition to
fuel the development of high-growth
companies in Alabama. The competition
awards $175,000 in cash prizes to the top
three teams annually.
By participating in collaborative
efforts in Alabama, EDPA works to foster
a cooperative spirit among the diverse
organizations involved in the many areas
that affect the state’s growth.
2010
Following are a few examples:
• The Alabama Operations Management Institute, based on
the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International production system,
provides continuous improvement training to managers of
Alabama companies. EDPA maintains a leadership position
with AOMI to oversee its quality.
• The Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association and the
Alabama Aerospace Industry Association provide networks for
continuous improvement and best practices. EDPA helped to
found these two organizations in an effort to advance two of
Alabama’s most substantial target industries.
• EDPA provides a formal program and toolkit for its local
economic developers, known as Foundations for Growth,
to gauge the interests and needs of existing industries.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION OF ALABAMA
An Aassociation of over 500 professionals committed to
Alabama’s economic development.
E
conomic development requires teamwork among businesses, communities, organizations and government
agencies. Since 1968, the Economic
Development Association of Alabama
(EDAA) has facilitated that teamwork
among groups trying to attract new businesses, providing a forum for discussion
of mutual interests and the tools, training
and expertise to create successful development programs. The EDAA membership consists of individuals involved in
economic development from many different areas. Within its membership rolls can
be found the economic development professional, attorneys, engineers, architects,
state agency personnel, utility employees,
bankers, contractors, real estate agents,
educators and municipal and county officials.
A voluntary member association,
EDAA conducts workshops and seminars
covering the ideas, principles, practices
and ethics of economic and industrial
development. Most of the EDAA
workshops and seminars are designed to
give economic development professionals
new tools and skills to address the
challenges of remaining one of the top
states in economic development. In
addition, EDAA works with other
organizations in the state to improve the
industrial, business, economic and physical
environments in Alabama.
Strategic alliances with
the Alabama Development
Office, Alabama Department
of Economic & Community
Affairs and the Economic
Development Partnership of
Alabama are just one way
EDAA works to enhance the
economic development environment in
Alabama.
EDAA also is active in addressing
state and federal legislation and regulatory
issues impacting economic development
in Alabama. With a full time lobbying
presence when the Alabama Legislature is
in session, EDAA is a leader in developing
economic development policy and
legislation for its members. Legislative
efforts on the state level in recent years
have seen EDAA lobby for adequate
funding for state recruitment efforts and
worker training programs. During the
most recent legislative session, EDAA
was actively involved in leading efforts
that saw the passage of new legislation on
film production incentives and incentives
related to the recruitment of knowledgebased industries.
EDAA holds multiple networking
opportunities, provides members with
a newsletter, publishes a membership
directory, conducts two major conferences
each year, and holds bi-monthly
workshops. In 2008, EDAA partnered
with Red Sage Communications to create
a new web site to better serve its members
and recruit potential members. The new
web site has been cited as one of the best
in the nation for economic development
associations.
Currently, EDAA has over 500
members.
For more information, or to schedule,
contact: EDAA (334) 358-7401
KEY CONTACTS
Ron Scott, Executive Director
Economic Development
Association of Alabama
2005 Cobbs Ford Road
Suite 401A
Prattville, AL 36066
Phone: (334) .358-.7401
Fax: (334) 358-7402
Web site: www.edaa.org
R U R A L I N I T I A T I V E : C LT
In the summer of 1999, a group of economic development
professionals representing Alabama’s “rural” counties met
with a group of fellow developers from “statewide” and
“regional” economic development organizations to address
special concerns related to the attraction of new industry and
the expansion of existing industry in “rural” Alabama. Many
ideas were discussed and the meeting proved to be a very
important step as Alabama’s business and government leaders
joined with economic developers to take steps that will lead to
solutions.
Among those steps was a request to reestablish a formal
economic development training program for elected officials.
Community Leadership Training (CLT) is the answer to that
request. In developing the program, course designers have
worked closely with the Alabama Commerce Commission, and
CLT is one of the economic development initiatives adopted by
the Commission.
2010
65
BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS ALLIANCE
The Birmingham Business Alliance begins a new
chapter in region’s growth and development.
B
irmingham…a city with great
potential, people always say.
But with a new business
organization leading the way for a seven
county region that includes Jefferson,
Shelby, St. Clair, Walker, Bibb, Chilton
and Blount counties, there is an effort
brewing to turn that potential into reality.
The Birmingham Business Alliance, a
merger of the Metropolitan Development
Board and the Birmingham Regional
Chamber of Commerce, is building on
the strengths of the former organizations
to fulfill a new mission: to be a dynamic
advocate, unifying voice and constant
catalyst for economic development and
business prosperity for the Birmingham
region.
“We have not reached our potential as
a region,” says Dalton Smith, CEO of the
BBA. “We have only scratched the surface
on so many possibilities. But it is with
great optimism and a firm resolve that the
BBA begins its work.”
Birmingham is at the crossroads of
five interstates, making the region the hub
of the Southeast interstate system. The
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International
Airport is the largest commercial airport
in the state and one of the largest in the
southeast. Birmingham also is Alabama’s
largest rail hub, and is among the largest in
the Southeastern United States.
Birmingham is located in the center of
the Southeast’s automotive manufacturing
region. It is the only city that serves
as the crossroads to the South’s major
automotive corridors, with Interstate
65 and Interstate 20/59. Birmingham’s
position in central Alabama encompasses
a region that includes 18,000 automotive
manufacturing jobs, more than 40 percent
of the state’s total manufacturing jobs.
The University of Alabama at
Birmingham,
the
state’s
largest
66
employer,
anchors
the
area’s biomedical and life
sciences industry, which
includes Southern Research
Institute and pharmaceutical
companies like BioCryst
Pharmaceuticals Inc. and
Brookwood Pharmaceuticals
Inc.
“The BBA will focus on
existing industry, as well as
targeting sectors that would
benefit from the region’s
unique location attributes,”
Smith says.
The financial services
sector is the region’s most
specialized economic sector
in the Birmingham region.
There is a high concentration
of banking and insurance headquarters and
regional operations for several financial
services companies, such as Regions,
Protective Life, BBVA Compass, Infinity
Insurance, State Farm and Allstate. But
alongside business and corporate growth
are important developments in quality of
life for those who live in and around the
Birmingham region.
In downtown Birmingham, green
space has become a focus. Railroad
Reservation Park is being developed
along First Avenue South, the center of the
downtown area. The 20-acre linear park
will stretch eight city blocks and include
a natural amphitheater, five-acre lake and
a bio-filtration wetland. Red Mountain
Park is a 1,100-acre natural park on
Red Mountain, southwest of downtown
Birmingham. The park will be able to
connect a 64-mile network of greenways
under development.
Around the region are changes
that include a 14-acre expansion at the
Birmingham Zoo. The national leader in
2010
the care and conservation of elephants,
the city’s zoo is adding the Trails of
Africa, a $12.5 million investment. Barber
Motorsports Park, the home of the largest
known collection of vintage and modern
motorcycles and an internationally-known
racing track, will begin hosting an Indy
Grand Prix race in April 2010.
“If you’re like me, then you are steadfast
in your conviction that the Birmingham
region is the best place to live, work and
raise a family,” Smith says. “Our challenge,
however, is to communicate this message
to those people who don’t live here.”
KEY CONTACTS
Dalton Smith, CEO
Birmingham Business Alliance
505 North 20th Street, Suite 200
Birmingham, Al. 35203
(205) 324-2100
www.birminghambusinessalliance.com ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
NORTH ALABAMA
INTERNATIONAL
TRADE ASSOCIATION
NAITA assists North Alabama companies to
be competitive on the global stage. T
he North Alabama International
Trade Association is a regional
organization
with
a
global
perspective. Created in 1983, NAITA
is a business-driven, public-private
partnership that promotes economic
growth through international trade
education, training, and networking,
with a focus on building a globally
competitive community.
The
regional
resource
for
international
trade
development,
NAITA works with companies that
need information, support, planning
assistance and mentoring for their
export initiatives.
“NAITA and the Port of Huntsville
have worked together with regional
community leaders to identify issues
that are common to all communities
in our region, like infrastructure,
business needs, cultural development,
workforce development and education
— addressing issues that will enable
North Alabama to compete with the
rest of the world,” says Anne Burkett,
NAITA executive director and director
of planning and economic development
for the Madison County Commission.
Intermodal Center at the Huntsville International Airport
NAITA’s
international business
strategy is guided by a board of 20plus members, representing industry,
economic development groups, and
service providers.
Firms such as
ADTRAN, PPG, Intergraph, Foreign
Language Services, and Teledyne Brown
are represented on the board, along
with agencies such as the Chamber
of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison
County, the Port of Huntsville, and the
North Alabama Industrial Development
Association. Service providers on the
board include freight forwarders, cargo
and logistics services, and educational
institutions.
“In many cases, NAITA is a
company’s first point of contact
when they begin exploring export
opportunities,” says Amanda Berkey,
senior international trade specialist
with the Madison County Commission.
“NAITA provides research, information
and networking to companies to help
them export successfully, and provides
assistance in export controls and
compliance — which is critical for
North Alabama’s aerospace, defense
and high-tech companies. We also
2010
organize international trade seminars
on specific overseas markets, free
trade agreements, and the mechanics
of exporting and importing, and have
hosted several nationally-sponsored
and recognized seminars.”
In its 26-year history, NAITA has
grown to 500 members representing
more than 100 businesses and other
organizations.
NAITA and the Madison County
Commission are North Alabama’s
representatives in Gov. Bob Riley’s
Export Alabama Alliance, a network of
international trade agencies across the
state with the fundamental objective
of helping Alabama companies grow
their business internationally.
KEY CONTACTS
Anne Burkett
Executive Director
NAITA Planning & Economic
Development
100 Northside Square
Huntsville, AL 35801-4820
(256) 532-3505
www.naita.org
67
DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
ALABAMA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES
I
f you’re thinking of Alabama as the
place to locate, relocate or expand
your business, the state has nine great
ways to encourage your decision – an ar-
ray of tax incentives, grants and financing incentives to sweeten the pot.
The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama describes these financial
incentives as “one of the most aggressive
tax incentive programs in the nation for
new and expanding industry.”
Because they’re based on provisions
of the state constitution and codes, EDPA
added, “The statutory basis for Alabama
tax incentives gives industry a stable
framework for long-term investment.”
The incentives are an added incentive
in a state with one of the lowest tax burdens of any in the nation. Because federal income tax is deductible, the actual
6.5 percent corporate income tax rate has
an effective rate of just 4.5 percent income tax, lower even than its Southern
neighbors. And corporations may carry
forward any net operating loss for up to
15 years.
Alabama also offers several grant pro-
grams to encourage industrial growth.
Through the Industrial Development
Grant Program (Site Preparation), the
State Industrial Development Authority
makes grants available to local governments and agencies to finance site preparation for industrial, warehouse, research
or headquarters facilities.
Through the Alabama Infrastructure
Grant Program, the state offers funding
to extend water, sewer and roads.
Through the Alabama Industrial Access Road and Bridge Program, the state
helps communities build roads and bridges needed to access industrial sites.
Alabama also offers Industrial Revenue Bonds to finance part or all of the
cost of land acquisition, site preparation,
construction, acquisition of equipment
and other basic costs for starting or expanding industrial projects.
For more information, check that
EDPA and ADO websites.
KEY TAX INCENTIVES INCLUDE:
Capital Investment Tax Credit — An income tax
credit of up to 5 percent of initial capital costs for new
and expanding companies, available for 20 years, can
effectively eliminate Alabama income tax liability.
The credit is available for projects including corporate
headquarters, data processing centers, renewable energy
facilities, research and development facilities; alternative
energy plants, hydropower plants, and plants that recycle
materials into reusable products. The projects must meet
minimum investment criteria ranging from $100 million
for alternative energy plants to $1 million for additions
to small businesses. And they must meet employment
requirements, ranging from 50 new employees at
a headquarters to 15 at a small business addition.
Finally, the projects must meet wage requirements. All
requirements are lower still in less developed counties
and in the cities of Birmingham, Montgomery and
Prichard.
Alabama Enterprise Zone Credit — The state also
provides tax credits designed to stimulate business
and industry in depressed areas of the state. Firms can
earn a credit up to $2,500 for each new employee, and
exemptions from sales and use tax, income tax and
business privilege taxes for up to five years.
68
2010
Employer Education Credit – Businesses can receive
an income tax credit equal to 20 percent of the costs of
basic skills education for employees.
Sales and Use Taxes — Alabama allows businesses
to avoid liability for some materials brought into the
state, such as pollution control equipment and some raw
materials for industrial products.
Property Taxes — Alabama has one of the nation’s
lowest property taxes — 20 percent of market value for
businesses — and some of that tax may be abated for
new projects and expansions.
Business Privilege Taxes — Alabama business
privilege taxes follow a graduated scale from 25 cents to
$1.75 per $1,000 of net worth, but no more than $15,000.
Some credits and exemptions are available in the state’s
enterprise zones.
Brownfield Development Tax Abatements — If
a company chooses to locate or expand on property
listed with the Alabama Department of Environmental
Management’s Voluntary Cleanup Program, it may quality
for portions of sales and use, property, mortgage and
recording taxes.
The Alabama Technology Network supports the
Manufacturing Training Institute at Alabama Southern
Community College in southwest Alabama.
ALABAMA TECHNOLOGY NETWORK
Experts in business systems at Alabama’s two-year colleges and
four-year universities work directly with Alabama’s existing
industry to increase productivity and competitiveness.
T
he Alabama Technology Network
provides the most innovative technical assistance and training to
continually improve Alabama’s businesses and industries.
As part of the Alabama Community
College System, the network’s 15 sites
are located at 12 community colleges
and the research universities of Auburn
University, the University of Alabama
and the University of Alabama in
Huntsville. The network, through its
team of experts, provides assistance in
areas such as lean manufacturing
training, quality services training,
continual
improvement
methods,
environmental health and safety
training and industrial maintenance
training.
According to a 2007 independent
customer survey, ATN helped create
462 jobs and retain 926 jobs, helped
increase and retain sales totaling
more than $78 million and saved costs
totaling more than $10.5 million.
ATN is an affiliate of the National
2010
Institute of Standards and Technology’s
Manufacturing Extension Partnership,
which provides hands-on assistance
and training to smaller manufacturers.
In addition to its training services,
ATN partners with the Business
Council of Alabama in presenting the
Alabama Manufacturers of the Year
awards. These awards recognize the
state’s top manufacturers, in three size
categories, for their accomplishments.
KEY CONTACTS
Mike Bailey, President
Alabama Technology Network
500 Beacon Parkway West
(205) 943-4808
Fax: (205) 943-4813
www.ATN.org
69
DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
ALABAMA’S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SITES
source: Economic Development Partnership of Alabama; edpa.org
SITE NAME
CITY
COUNTY
AVAILABLE
ACERAGE
TOTAL
ACERAGE
RAIL
ZONING
Magnolia North
Loxley
Baldwin
15,114
15,114
Adjacent Track
Golden Triangle
Loxley
Baldwin
2,718
2,718
Not Specified
Joe Hall Tract
Childersburg Industrial Park
Limestone Co, AL I-65 Megasite
Copper Station Airport Site
Bay Minette
Childersburg
Athens
Bay Minette
Baldwin
Talladega
Limestone
Baldwin
2,497
2,171
2,010
1,981
2,497
2,195
2,010
1,981
Not Specified
Onto Site
< 500ft
Not Specified
None
Business &
Commercial
Light Industrial
Heavy Industrial
None
None
Copper Station I-65 Site
Bay Minette
Baldwin
1,900
1,900
Not Specified
Light Industrial
County Rd 41 Site
Black Creek Mega Site
Creola Mobile River @ I-65
Tisdale Property
NE Opelika Industrial Park
Shelby County Megasite
Highway 20/I-65 North Site
Logan Site
Pryor I-65
Sewell Site
Mallard Fox West
Crossroads of America
Catawba Mega Site
Hood Harris
Gadsden Airport Ind. Park
Airport Ind & Commercial Park
Riverside Industrial Park
Torbert Site - Tract 1
Coop Dist of Winston County
Alabama River Partners Site
Campbell Site
MWS Property
Craig Industrial Park
Bowman/Alatex Property
Murphree Property
Sanderson I-65 Site
Oasis Blvd
Dugan Creek Industrial Site
Mt. Vernon Site - 633 acres
Guntersville Industrial Port
Peinhardt Property
Wasden Russell Property
Citronelle
Winfield
Creola
Atmore
Opelika
Calera
Decatur
Bay Minette
Athens
Huntsville
Trinity
Boligee
Bay Minette
North Courtland
Gadsden
Montgomery
Montgomery
LaFayette
Lynn
Lowndesboro
Scottsboro
Jackson
Selma
Montgomery
Athens
Athens
Loxley
Hamilton
Mount Vernon
Guntersville
Cullman
Montgomery
Mobile
Marion
Mobile
Escambia
Lee
Shelby
Limestone
Baldwin
Limestone
Limestone
Lawrence
Greene
Baldwin
Lawrence
Etowah
Montgomery
Montgomery
Chambers
Winston
Montgomery
Jackson
Clarke
Dallas
Montgomery
Limestone
Limestone
Baldwin
Marion
Mobile
Marshall
Cullman
Montgomery
1,900
1,800
1,800
1,790
1,784
1,539
1,493
1,400
1,323
1,322
1,251
1,240
1,048
1,000
930
910
877
839
818
800
732
720
700
700
690
687
660
658
633
615
600
560
1,900
1,800
1,800
1,790
2,200
1,539
1,493
1,400
1,323
1,322
1,251
1,500
1,048
1,000
1,002
1,044
877
839
818
800
732
720
700
700
690
687
660
658
633
615
600
560
Not Available
Not Specified
Not Available
Not Specified
Adjacent Track
Adjacent Track
Adjacent Track
Adjacent Track
< 1 mile
< 1 mile
Onto Site
Spur Available
Onto Site
< 1 mile
Not Specified
Adjacent Track
Not Available
Not Available
Not Specified
Adjacent Track
Not Specified
Not Available
Spur Available
< 1 mile
Onto Site
< 1 mile
Not Available
Not Specified
Not Available
Not Available
Not Specified
Adjacent Track
Huntsville
Madison
525
3,840
Not Available
Montgomery RegionalAirportSite
Yance Site
Lawrence Co Industrial Airpark
South Dallas Industrial Park
Montgomery
Daphne
Courtland
Selma
Montgomery
Baldwin
Lawrence
Dallas
513
509
500
500
513
509
500
600
Not Specified
Not Specified
< 1 mile
Adjacent Track
Greenbrier I-565
Huntsville
Limestone
490
490
Adjacent Track
Barton Riverfront Ind. Park
Alsobrook Site
Lowetown Road Site
TCIDA Cedar Cove Tech. Park
TCIDA Airport Industrial Park
Cherokee
Valley
Birmingham
Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa
Colbert
Chambers
Jefferson
Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa
490
452
450
450
450
1,900
452
450
500
1,000
Adjacent Track
Onto Site
Not Specified
Not Available
Spur Available
None
None
Agricultural
None
Light Industrial
Agricultural
Agricultural
None
Agricultural
Agricultural
None
None
Light Industrial
None
Light Industrial
Heavy Industrial
Heavy Industrial
Light Industrial
None
None
Agricultural
Light Industrial
Light Industrial
Light Industrial
Unknown
Agricultural
Agricultural
None
None
None
None
Agricultural
Research & Development
Heavy Industrial
None
None
Light Industrial
Business & Commercial
None
None
Unknown
Heavy Industrial
Heavy Industrial
Prattville South Ind Park
Prattville
Autauga
430
450
Adjacent Track
Heavy Industrial
70
2010
2010
71
72
2010

alabama economic development guide - EZ

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