The US Economy Thread - Projects and News

[Bond James Bond]

I decided to start this thread to create a collection of stories on news about the US economy as well as more local stories on new plants, expansions, hirings as well as layoffs. Since the national media tends to mostly give stories on layoffs and other bad news but rarely reports news on local hirings, etc., I thought this might be a good place to collect a variety of articles to give a more balanced perspective. Feel free to add your own articles and news. A few of the ones I've going to add immediately here aren't totally new news, but I haven't seen them anywhere so I doubt most people have heard about them.

So here goes. This first one is BIG!!

http://www.railjobs.com/railroadjobnews/news2.html

The Indianapolis Star
July 04, 2004.
Railroad companies anticipate hiring boom

Jul. 4--Marcos Zavala drives a screeching locomotive up and down a track in Downtown Indianapolis by flipping a few switches on a black remote control box hanging from his dirt-clad overalls.

Zavala, 56, has worked on railroads since 1980, from the Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. in Texas to The Indiana Rail Road Co., where he's worked for 16 years.

In about six years, he'll build his last freight train. That's when Zavala will be eligible for full retirement after 30 years in the industry. He is one of the thousands of aging baby boomers who are expected to retire from the railroad industry in the next few years -- which means more vacancies to fill.

U.S. railroads expect to hire 80,000 workers nationwide over the next six years, according to the Association of American Railroads. At the end of 2003, they employed 221,000. Two other reasons account for the projected job spurt: an improving economy and an increase in business.

Industry officials say this growth dispels myths that the rail freight industry is dying.

"They think we're an age-old dinosaur," said Sue Ferverda, vice president of human resources at The Indiana Rail Road Co., based in Indianapolis. "Working in the industry, I know that railroads will be moving more and more products over the next 20 years. It is a very exciting time."

Tom White, spokesman for the association, said intermodal freight has been booming.

Rail intermodal service moves truck trailers or containers by rail and another type of transportation. These containers transport lots of consumer goods, from toys to bottled water.

Intermodal traffic surged from 3 million units in 1980 to more than 10 million this year, White said. The industry is almost up 9 percent compared to last year, he said. Railroad companies nationwide have seen greater customer demand, as well.

For Canadian Pacific Railway, which operates about 90 route miles between Terre Haute and Bedford, a rise in grain traffic and freight traveling to and from China are driving demand, said Laura Baenan, communications manager for the company's Midwest region. Railroads are also taking some business from the trucking industry, said Tony Hatch, an independent transportation analyst. It's cheaper to use railroads for longer-haul freight compared to trucks. As business rises, officials also expect retirements to accelerate, in part thanks to a 2002 change in the federally operated railroad retirement program.

The change in the Railroad Retirement Act lowered the age that workers with 30 years of experience can receive full benefits from 62 to 60. "More workers (are) leaving at a time when demand is at an all-time high," Hatch said.

Now, railroad companies are anticipating hiring more field personnel.

CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Corp. project thousands of hirings in upcoming years. These railroad companies are the main freight train companies running in Indiana, operating more than 3,000 miles of track in the state -- about 91 percent of Indiana's route miles.

Florida-based CSX estimates it will hire nearly 4,500 workers through 2005, while Virginia-based Norfolk Southern expects to hire about 2,000 people a year over five years.

Company officials said they do not know how many people might be hired in Indiana. The Indiana Rail Road Co. operates about 140 miles of rail in the state with 99 workers. Ferverda plans to create six new railroad operating positions within six months.

That's positive news for recent hires like Billy Alumbaugh. He's training to be a train operator. "It looks good for the future of new employees like me," said Alumbaugh, 36. "It looks good for the future of railroad business."

He's spending three months in training and said every day is different -- he may end up working on a coal train, riding a locomotive as a third man, or switching cars at the company's Palestine yard.

Indiana fares well in the freight business. As of 2002, Indiana was ranked ninth in the nation for the number of total rail miles running through the state -- with 4,623 miles, according to the Association of American Railroads. The No. 1 state, Texas, had 10,347 rail miles.

Historically, railroad employment has been on the decline.

Railroad employment peaked in 1944 with 1.7 million workers.

The railroad industry went through a 20-year period of no significant hiring, White said. "Technology allowed the railroads to eliminate a lot of jobs to improve efficiency," he said.

The number of Class I employees decreased by about 50 percent from 1980 to 1990. These include employees working in line-haul freight railroads that earn an annual operating revenue of $272 million, as determined by the federal government.

Even with the projected thousands of new workers, though, the number of total railroad workers will continue to decrease, according to a June report by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.

"What it will boil down to (is) 110,000 will leave, 80,000 will replace them," said Jim Metlicka, public affairs specialist for the board. Despite such declines, railroads are searching for new talent.

AMDG Inc., an Atlanta-based recruiting and training company, will hold a testing and interview session for CSX in Indianapolis on July 15. The test costs $25.

Individuals who are hired through AMDG will complete three training phases: five weeks of classroom training, one week in a controlled environment and 12 weeks of on-the-job training.

Norfolk Southern held hiring sessions in at least four Indiana cities in June as part of its multicity search for workers. More than 25 railroad hopefuls strolled into the Best Western hotel lobby in Lafayette, eager to see their future as a conductor trainee.

Rudy Husband, Norfolk Southern's director of public relations, said the company looks for employees with good attitudes and experience. "We want to make sure that the people we hire understand the need to be safe, not reckless in their duties," Husband said. "Any experience in heavy machinery setting is helpful." Industry officials say train engineers -- conductors and locomotive engineers -- are the most in demand.

Conductors earn an annual average salary of $67,128, according to the railroad association. Personnel who maintain locomotives and freight cars earn $48,853, while locomotive engineers earn an average of $75,162, peaking at $110,000.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.siteselection.com/

GM Investing $175 Million, Adding 200 Jobs at Indiana Plant

by JACK LYNE, Site Selection
Executive Editor of Interactive Publishing

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — General Motors' decision to invest US$175 million ensures the future — at least for the near term — for the automaker's 2,900-employee pickup truck plant in Fort Wayne, Ind. The expansion will add 200 new jobs at the facility that will pay an average of more than $70,000 a year, GM officials said in announcing the project on Jan. 28th. The company's sizable capital outlay will primarily go into new manufacturing equipment, the company said.

"GM's $175-million investment in Fort Wayne is further proof that the community remains an important part of GM's manufacturing plan," GM Vice President and General Manager of Manufacturing Joe Spielman said while announcing the expansion at the Fort Wayne plant. "This truck project is key in our efforts to strengthen our core manufacturing capabilities in the United States and Indiana." First opened in 1986, the automaker's Fort Wayne plant currently builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks. Those models are two of the automaker's most popular offerings. Of the nearly 2.6 million full-size pickups sold in the U.S. in 2004, the Sierra and the Silverado collectively accounted for about 895,000 — slightly more than a third of the year's total sales.

Other Existing GM Plants Vied for 'Spectacular Project'

State and local officials had been waiting anxiously for more than three months for GM's decision.

On Oct. 19th of last year, the automaker received the local-area incentives that it had previously requested. The Allen County Council unanimously approved a 10-year tax abatement on the new equipment that would be installed in the Fort Wayne plant — at least if the Indiana operation won the expansion. County Councilwoman Paula Hughes said that the prospect of adding up-to-date manufacturing equipment and creating new jobs "makes this a spectacular project."

GM officials applauded the subsidies' approval. They added, though, that financial support would be only one of the factors that would go into GM's final expansion decision.

Four other GM plants were also under consideration for a similar investment, according to officials with the United Auto Workers. Two of the operations rumored to be among the competing sites were in the Michigan cities of Oshawa and Pontiac; both facilities also make the Sierra and the Silverado. Another GM truck assembly plant that makes those two models in Flint, Mich., was tapped by the automaker on Dec. 15th of last year for a $150-million retooling. (For more on that project, see the SiteNet/IAMC Insider's January 2005 Incentives Deal of the Month, "Ford, GM Expansions Ensure Future for 7,500 Michigan Jobs.")

"This $175-million commitment by GM is a solid vote of confidence in the UAW members in the Fort Wayne plant and in the Fort Wayne community," said UAW vice president Richard Shoemaker, director of the UAW's GM Department. "This welcomed investment will enable the plant and UAW Local 2209 members to play a key role in assembling new GM products for many years to come."

For GM, the next 10 years to come will see a savings of more than $4 million from the county's tax abatement, local government officials estimated. Even with that abatement, though, the 2.5-million-sq.-ft. (225,000-sq.-m.) plant will still rank far and away as the county's largest taxpayer. In 2004, the GM facility paid a reported $3.7 million in county property taxes.

Officials with the world's largest automobile manufacturer didn't mention any contending locations in making the expansion announcement.

Expanded Plant Will Manufacture Next-Generation Sierras, Silverados

GM's investment will largely center on adding new equipment in the plant's general assembly area and in its body shop, said GM officials. The new equipment will prepare the plant to manufacture next-generation Sierra and Silverado models. Citing competitive concerns, GM officials declined to discuss the changes that will be made in the two pickups.

The $175-million investment will be the second-largest that GM has made in the Fort Wayne plant since the facility first went online in late 1986. The largest outlay since the plant's opening came in 1995, when GM earmarked about $220 million for a body-shop upgrade.

The Fort Wayne plant last year produced almost 250,000 pickups. Adding the new equipment won't increase the facility's manufacturing capacity, GM officials explained. It will, however, enable the plant to make the latest versions of two widely popular models. And the new equipment will enable the Fort Wayne plant to more quickly and cost-effectively make product variations and enhancements, GM officials added.

But ironclad long-term security, as GM's Spielman cautioned in a press conference after the announcement, isn't really a reasonable expectation for any corporate operation.

"There are no guarantees in this business," he said.

Added UAW Local 2209 President Don Swegman, "It's as good a guarantee as we're going to get."

http://www.conway.com/ssinsider/images/pw050131b.jpg
Opened in 1986, the 2.5-million-sq.-ft. (225,000-sq.-m.) Fort Wayne plant (pictured) now employs some 2,900 workers.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.intlsteel.com/Press/66.pdf

International Steel Group to Restart 110-Inch Plate Mill at Burns Harbor, Indiana Plant

Richfield, Ohio, Dec. 20, 2004 – In response to increasing customer needs, International Steel Group Inc. (NYSE: ISG) today announced plans to restart its idled 110-inch plate mill located at the company’s Burns Harbor facility in Burns Harbor, Indiana. The mill is expected to begin production early in the second quarter of 2005 and to employ an additional 80 employees at the Burns Harbor facility, ISG’s largest plant.

“Restarting our 110-inch plate mill is another exciting advancement in the growth of our business,” said Rodney B. Mott, president and chief executive officer. “Our decision to return this mill to operation is driven by increasing customer demand and our desire to quickly respond to the needs of our valued customers. This restart will provide ISG additional flexibility to better meet our customers’ growth and project opportunities.”

The 110-inch plate mill, one of the most modern in North America, is capable of producing carbon, high-strength low-alloy and alloy plate. Markets for these products represent a wide range of industries, including rail, construction, shipbuilding, oil and gas exploration and production, and machinery, all of which are currently served by ISG. The ISG Plate Division also is a major supplier of armored plate products that are used to protect the U.S. Armed Forces serving in Iraq and elsewhere.

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002101964_steelworkers27.html

Seattle Times
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Steelmaker fires up once-shuttered Cleveland mills

By Connie Mabin
The Associated Press

CLEVELAND — Workers at an International Steel Group mill don't seem to mind machines that roar like jets or temperatures that soar to near 1,400 degrees.

The sweat pouring from their brows, the coal-black grime under their fingernails are good things for a group who thought their steelmaking careers were over when bankrupt LTV closed, the latest in two decades of mills shuttered across the United States.

Workers like Eddie Reust, 50, of Cleveland, have experienced the rarity of being hired by a U.S. steelmaker even as the industry is shrinking. Some 12,000 ISG employees got their jobs after the company bought bankrupt steelmakers, shed retiree costs and consolidated several expensive operations into a few cost-effective ones.

Some 55,000 steelworkers nationwide lost jobs following the industry collapse of the 1980s and the influx of cheaper foreign steel in the 1990s.

"I didn't think we would ever make steel here again," said Reust, who had 29-1/2 years in when the LTV pink slip came three years ago.

Donald Jenkins of South Highland, Ill., recalled the day he lost his LTV job: "I was devastated. I had worked 30-some years of my life and all the sudden, the doors were closed."

Six months later, ISG restarted the East Chicago, Ind., plant just across the state line from where Jenkins lived, and the company wanted him back.

"It was the best call I ever took in my life," said Jenkins, who repairs machines used in the Indiana mill that makes steel for agricultural equipment, appliances, construction, automobiles and other products.

Gary Grimes was more than three decades into his career and six months from a pension when LTV shut down in Cleveland in 2001. The next year, he was called back to work at ISG's Cleveland hot strip mill, the part of the plant where freshly rolled steel is run through a bath of molten coating.

"They reopened with less people," Grimes said. "But there were zero people when it was shut down."

Grimes now does several jobs at the mill where technology has changed much of the way steel is made and perfected. But the work is still physical with a lot of heavy lifting and welding.

The mill, though cleaner, is loud and hot as orange-glowing slabs constantly pass on giant rollers to get steam baths of sorts.

Richfield, Ohio-based ISG bought LTV in 2002 and rose to become the nation's largest integrated steelmaker by buying and revamping operations in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It shed the costs associated with more than 82,000 retirees and came up with a strategy to make steel cheaper with fewer workers, with whom profits are shared.

In late October, ISG found itself on the other end of a takeover bid when Dutch steelmaker Ispat International and LNM Holdings proposed a $4.5 billion merger. The combined group would be one of the largest steel companies in the world, operating under the name Mittal Steel. Owner Lakshmi Mittal said he does not plan layoffs.

Analysts say the deal would increase job protection for U.S. workers who have already seen the benefits of consolidation.

The United Steelworkers of America, which represents most ISG workers, also endorsed the proposal.

ISG says its growth will continue. In September, the company restarted a second blast furnace at its newly acquired plant in West Virginia, recalling nearly 100 steelworkers from the former Weirton Steel and raising employment to 1,900. In May, ISG reopened some of its west side Cleveland Works mill, bringing back 140 people.

ISG's more efficient model has been copied by some of the company's largest competitors, including Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel, which has worked with the union to cut 20 percent of its workforce. But only ISG has been able to recall so many workers because it has restarted long-cold operations.

"It's not like the steel industry is suddenly hiring people. We only replace through attrition," said U.S. Steel spokesman John Armstrong.

Today, ISG employs about 1,500 of the 3,100 laid off by LTV in Cleveland. They have a combined 35,000 years of steelmaking experience, said Bill Brake, general manager of Cleveland Works.

"The fact that we were able to have an experienced work force come in and get behind the wheel again — that's just made all the difference," he said.

[Bond James Bond]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 10, 2004
Steel boom rekindles Metro East plants
By Mary Jo Feldstein

For generations, the fires of steel mills helped to fuel the economy of southwestern Illinois.

Just a few years ago, it seemed as if the fires were dying out. But new investments, changes in national trade policy and China's rapid growth sparked new life at steel mills in Granite City and Alton, preserving thousands of jobs.

"Your region is experiencing part of a very dynamic period for the American steel industry, and the experts and the analysts that are looking at the American steel sector are predicting that this will continue through 2005 and beyond," said Nancy Gravatt, a spokeswoman for the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington.

Experts say the revival stemmed from a combination of changes within the steel industry and a string of favorable market forces.

President George W. Bush put tariffs on imports in March 2002 after domestic makers complained that the cheap steel was making it impossible for the U.S. industry to compete.

While the tariffs were in place for 20 months, the industry consolidated. It merged most resources into three large players and several smaller companies, all burdened by less debt and fewer obligations to retired workers.

"In essence, the industry strengthened itself from within to become more globally competitive," Gravatt said. "What was really interesting was this wave of global demand really began to take off right around the time the tariffs were removed."

The domestic steel industry had been struggling since the early 1990s.

Dozens of U.S. steel companies declared bankruptcy. Two of those were National Steel Corp., which owned a plant in Granite City, and Laclede Steel Co., which operated a plant at the southern end of Alton.

National Steel's plant continued to operate, but the Laclede Steel plant closed in 2001, eliminating 550 jobs.

Then, in 2003, the plants found new life.

U.S. Steel Corp. bought the assets of National Steel, including the plant in Granite City, known today as Granite City Works. It employs about 2,500 people.

Led by Madison County lawyer John Simmons, a group of local investors, including some former workers, bought the remnants of the Laclede Steel plant and reopened the facility as Alton Steel Inc.

"Nobody thought we were going to make it," said Ray Stillwell, legal counsel for Alton Steel and one of the owners. "A lot of the folks who really had nothing to lose and committed to the project are the ones benefiting here today."

In the last year, U.S. Steel and Alton Steel have forged labor agreements with their work forces that offer more flexibility and compensation for higher production rates and bigger profits.

Also, the companies made capital improvements to the plants, which were neglected during the difficult times.

U.S. Steel has realigned its blast furnace and has added machinery that will enable the mill to improve quality and speed of production.

"Longer term, what happens here at Granite City is going to depend on how competitive we can get ... in the domestic and in the world steel market," said Merle Stein, general manager of Granite City Works.

Improvements are taking place at Alton Steel, too. Before the plant reopened, former workers spent months as volunteers doing much of the cleanup.

The owners have put a new roof on the melt shop. They're rebuilding offices and making other changes.

The total investment at the plant is about $25 million, and the investors expect to spend millions more in coming years. They credit their bank, FB Commercial Finance Inc. of St. Louis, for taking a risk when nobody else would.

But they intend to make additional improvements mostly "with profits as opposed to investors' pockets," Stillwell said.

Alton employs about 210 workers. It expects to expand to 300 by early next year.

At both plants, flexible labor contracts with fewer job classifications have allowed workers to perform tasks as needed, improving efficiency.

The expanded responsibilities required workers to get additional training, some provided through government grants.

Both contracts include profit-sharing, so workers will benefit when the company performs well.

Accepting the contract changes "was kind of a way of survival" for the workers, said Leo Mushill, a United Steelworkers of America training coordinator at Granite City Works.

But he and others worry that the climbing prices of raw materials might deter steel's rise in the future.

"The No. 1 threat is rapidly rising raw-material costs," said Thomas A. Danjczek, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association. For example, the price of scrap steel has more than tripled recently.

Danjczek is concerned, too, that declines in U.S. manufacturing will hurt demand for steel in the long term.

"Though steel is more competitive today than it was a year ago, you still need to have a customer to supply it to," Danjczek said. "With that said, there is reason for some pretty good optimism between now and 2008."

Jim Claes, controller at Alton Steel, is thankful for the boost, no matter how long it lasts.

"We plan in the future for more normal times," Claes said. "The bottom line is that we got into this knowing that if we ever got this thing going, everything was good about it."

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/manufacturing/general/2005/01/31/boston_story5.html

Boston Business Journal
From the January 31, 2005 print edition

Hyaluron plans hiring, new manufacturing plant
Mark Hollmer
Journal Staff

BURLINGTON -- Hyaluron Inc. is planning a big party for Feb. 10 to celebrate expected hiring, some new state-of-the art assembly-line equipment and the opening of its pharmaceutical/biotechnology contract-manufacturing facility 10 months ago.

But a bigger bash will likely come next year, hosted by the state that wins Hyaluron's commitment to build a commercial manufacturing plant.

Founder and President Shawn Kinney said he'll consider Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island as possible sites for a planned 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to house a planned manufacturing expansion.

Hyaluron employs 30 people and has more than three-dozen current or former customers who outsource drug manufacturing for clinical trials or need syringe products that inject everything from dental or fertility treatments to orthopedic surgery drugs.

Kinney says Hyaluron took in $3.4 million in revenue for 2004 and is projected to double that to nearly $8 million in 2005. In addition, the company plans to add 20 new employees over the next year and another 25 in 2006 if growth continues. The new manufacturing facility would create as many as 150 additional jobs on top of that.

Hyaluron, which isn't venture funded, was bootstrapped through operations and founder cash until 2003. The company also negotiated undisclosed funding from poultry-processor William Crider, owner of Crider Inc. in Stillmore, Ga.

The substance hyaluronic acid brought the company and the poultry processor together. The acid, which can be derived from cells contained in the red "rooster comb" on a chicken's head, is used in eye surgery and to treat joint pain and infertility.

Hyaluron initially produced the raw material hyaluronate to sell for medical purposes. It expanded to manufacturing, however, because it developed a more efficient way to place the viscous gel-like hyaluronic acid into a syringe, which lured a growing contract manufacturing customer base.

Kinney said Hyaluron's goal is to become a larger-scale, so-called sterile contract manufacturer. The company has local rivals, he said, such as MicroTest Laboratories Inc. in Agawam and Formatech Inc. in Andover.

Michael Hickey, an attorney with Boston law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, said contract medical-device manufacturing will continue to grow because of the efficiencies it represents for the clients.

And Massachusetts hopes to keep companies like Hyaluron here as they expand their manufacturing, said Tanya Shnaydman, an industry development analyst with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

"The MBC and the state will do everything possible to keep Hyaluron's expansion in Massachusetts," she said.
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[Bond James Bond]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002144005_microcampus07.html

The Seattle Times
Friday, January 07, 2005
Microsoft planning major Redmond project
By Brier Dudley
Seattle Times technology reporter

Microsoft is filing plans Monday for a redevelopment of its Redmond campus to accommodate the 10,000 to 12,000 new employees it expects to add locally over the next 10 to 20 years, cementing its commitment to the Puget Sound region.

The company will start construction on the first of several new buildings in 2006 and build others as needed on both sides of Highway 520.

Although the growth is roughly on pace with Microsoft's expansion in recent years, the company has never before publicly disclosed details of its long-range hiring plans in the region. The information could ease recurring concerns that Microsoft may someday move its headquarters, as Boeing did in March 2001.

Technically, the company is filing for a development agreement that would serve as a blueprint for campus expansion, but it would not commit the company to specific building goals or hiring projections. Jobs will be added as needed, Chris Owens, director of campus development said today.

"We are making a commitment to focus our development in Redmond with the development agreement," he said. "We're trying to send a message to the region, to the city, that we're committed."

To offset the effects of the growth, the company will provide $30 million for infrastructure improvements and help the city lobby for regional transportation improvements, such as the second phase of Sound Transit.

Included in the $30 million is most of the funding for a new overpass that will extend Northeast 36th Street over 520, easing congestion on the Northeast 40th Street and 148th Avenue Northeast overpasses.

The development agreement would undergo public hearings and Redmond City Council review. Microsoft will host an open house to discuss its plans with the community on Jan. 27; a time and place have not been chosen yet.

"They've been exploring that with us for several months," Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives said last night.

Although Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates have repeatedly said the company will remain concentrated in Redmond, Microsoft has also been expanding in India and other foreign technology hubs, raising concerns about how much more it will grow in the region.

At the same time, Microsoft has been acquiring land around its main campus in Redmond. Jose Oncina, the company's real-estate director, said in 2003 the company would prefer to grow at its main campus, rather than build isolated facilities. He said one option was to redevelop the older buildings on the main campus, replacing them with larger facilities.

Microsoft moved to the Redmond campus in 1986. About 28,000 of its 57,000 employees work in the Puget Sound area, mostly on the main campus along Highway 520.

It owns 7.5 million square feet of building space and leases 1.7 million square feet in the region.

Concerns about Microsoft's regional growth were exacerbated last fall when the company gave up about half the land it was holding for a new campus in Issaquah. It still has enough land there to build a campus for around 5,000 employees but it's now focusing its development work in Redmond, Owens said.

The company bought the Issaquah land partly because Redmond, under Ives' direction, had placed a moratorium on new commercial construction until the city's infrastructure was improved.

That moratorium has ended, and Ives said the city and Microsoft are discussing ways to plan the company's growth in Redmond, especially since it has bought adjacent land such as the woodsy Eddie Bauer campus.

Relations between the city and its largest employer have also improved since the company hired a city building official, Jim Stanton, to help manage its local development projects.

Ives said cooperation on improving the 520 corridor is one area of interest when large development projects are undertaken in Redmond.

With Microsoft, a development agreement would address the city's concerns about development impacts and give the company certainty about what it can build.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/01/27/2002163075.gif

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=67003

Cabinetmaker picks Utah
$100 million West Jordan plant to hire up to 1,300
By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

An Ohio cabinetmaking company will build a $100 million manufacturing plant in West Jordan that will employ 600 people initially and about 1,300 when at full capacity. KraftMaid Cabinetry Inc., based in Middlefield, Ohio, east of Cleveland, will join state and local officials today in announcing details, but Kim Boos, KraftMaid's marketing manager, said Wednesday that the company will build a 700,000-square-foot plant to serve customers in the company's western and central markets.

"It will be primarily a manufacturing facility, and once the plant is at full capacity, it will employ approximately 1,300 people," Boos said. "They won't all be added next year, when the plant opens, but as capacity of the plant grows, so will the employment level."

The company plans to break ground for construction late in the second quarter of 2005 and have production begin in the second quarter of 2006.

An incentives package approved by Utah officials last year aims to make the new jobs high-paying. Boos said she did not have details about wages at the Utah plant, but "in northeast Ohio, KraftMaid has always provided a very competitive salary range and a very comprehensive benefits package."

"We probably won't be able to begin hiring until later this year, after construction is well under way and we begin to install machinery," she said.

The West Jordan facility will be KraftMaid's fourth. The Hoover's Web site said Middlefield is "in the heart of Amish country" and that KraftMaid operates two plants there — one specializing in cabinetry parts milling, cabinet assembly and shipping, and the other specializing in frame construction and finishing and specialty part finishing. A plant in Orwell, Ohio, finishes cabinetry doors and drawer fronts, it said.

The company was founded in 1969 and was purchased by Masco Corp., based in Taylor, Mich., in 1990.

KraftMaid's speciality is "semicustom" cabinetry, between the "stock" and "custom" segments of the industry and aimed at providing built-to-order cabinets without the custom price or lead time.

State officials said in October that Utah was competing with New Mexico for the new facility but did not name the company at that time. Boos said five states were initially evaluated.

"We selected Utah and Salt Lake City/West Jordan for a number of reasons — it's quality of labor, an abundance of the labor base, as well as the central location to service our customers in the West and central states," she said. "Additionally, it has good proximity of support functions in this general region, a number of potential suppliers and logistical support."

Boos declined to say how many employees KraftMaid has, but a $25 million capital expenditure and expansion project last year added about 150,000 square feet of manufacturing space at its three plants. The company has added about 500 employees since the expansion was announced and plans to add 300 to 500 more "over the next five years or so," Boos said.

State and local government leaders were mum on the topic Wednesday, announcing the news conference but not naming the company. The administration of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. did not release details when contacted Wednesday afternoon. A spokesman for the Economic Development Corp. of Utah declined to comment on the matter. West Jordan officials referred questions to the city's Web site, which did not mention the company's name.

"This company will be a significant employer for West Jordan and will be an important part of Utah's growing economy," the site said. "It is anticipated that this facility will employ in excess of 1,300. This will be one of the largest manufacturing plants built in the United States in the past several years. Several cities in the western United States were considered before West Jordan was ultimately selected as the location."

Utah put out a strong lure to bring KraftMaid to the state. In October 2004, the state Board of Business and Economic Development approved a $2.25 million incentive to entice the company to put operations in Utah.

The incentive calls for the following amounts if the company keeps operations in Utah at least five years:

- $2,500 per new job with a salary that is 125 percent to 200 percent of the county median wage.
- $4,000 per new job with a salary paying 200 percent or more of the county median.
- $200,000 upon breaking ground for construction.
- Up to $150,000 for pre-startup job training cost reimbursement occurring in Utah.
- Up to $706,000 for post-startup job training cost reimbursement occurring in Utah.

Up to $375,000 for a job transfer program to facilitate the transfer of "corporate culture and values" to the Utah facility — a rarity among incentives offered by the state.

"KraftMaid is a fabulous company to work for," Boos said. The corporate culture encourages innovation and supports mutual respect for all employees, she said, noting that ideas from the shop floor often are implemented in the manufacturing process. "There is an open line of communication across all levels of the company, from management to all the employees in the facility," she said. "It's just really a wonderful company to work for."

Masco's Web site describes KraftMaid as the "world's largest build-to-order cabinet manufacturer."

[Bond James Bond]

Well this one is pretty well-known from back in December, but I'll put it here anyway. . .

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2004/2004_12_22_rr_000?c=us&l=en&s=corp

Dell Selects Winston-Salem Site for New North Carolina Manufacturing Facility
Round Rock, Texas, December 22, 2004

Dell today announced plans to build its North Carolina manufacturing facility on a 189-acre Winston-Salem site in the Piedmont Triad, pending completion of final due diligence. Construction of a 500,000 square-foot facility in Alliance Park will begin in January, with completion expected in fall 2005.

Dell in November announced the selection of North Carolina, specifically a location to be determined in the Triad, for a manufacturing facility that is expected to employ about 700 people in its first year of operation and up to 1,500 employees within five years.

Since then, Dell has been reviewing Triad-area site proposals. The Winston-Salem site best met all the criteria for the company's long-term operations, including proximity to employees, development readiness, topography and highway access—all of which were prime factors in the company's selection.

Dell officials also acknowledged the quality of the proposals submitted by other Triad area communities.

"We thank the leaders of Greensboro, Guilford County, High Point and Davidson County for providing a range of attractive site proposals that were responsive to our needs," said Ro Parra, senior vice president and general manager of Dell Americas. "Winston-Salem's Alliance Park location is best suited to bringing our new operation online in time to meet growing customer needs, providing good proximity to an available workforce and supporting our logistics objectives."

"We also appreciate the community's continued support in helping us complete our project on time and we are looking forward to getting to work on the new facility so we can begin to put Triad area residents to work before the end of next year."

Dell's North Carolina plant is the company's third facility in the United States announced this year. Others include a customer-contact center in Oklahoma serving the company's home and small-business customers and a distribution center in Ohio for Dell's growing printing and computer-peripherals business. The company in July also announced a customer contact center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The North Carolina location will add to Dell U.S. manufacturing operations in Austin, Texas, and Lebanon, Tenn., where the company produces its PowerEdge servers, PowerVault and Dell/EMC storage products, and OptiPlex and Dimension desktop computers primarily for customers in North America. Globally, Dell has manufacturing facilities in Limerick, Ireland; Penang, Malaysia; Xiamen, China; and Eldorado do Sul, Brazil.

Recruitment for the new facility is expected to begin in April 2005. People interested in working for Dell can go to www.workatDell.com .

[Bond James Bond]

This was sorta well-publicized too, but I feel like putting it here anyway. :D

http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0411/10/C01-1289.htm

The Detroit News
Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Honda to build 13th factory in North America
New Georgia plant comes as part of the automaker's $270 million expansion plan.

By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

Honda Motor Co. confirmed Tuesday that it would build a transmission plant in Georgia -- its 13th factory in North America -- as part of a $270 million expansion of its U.S. operations that will create 600 jobs.

"This strategy represents the continuation of Honda's 25-year commitment to localize our operations close to the customer here in the United States," Koichi Kondo, president of American Honda Motor Co., said at a news conference in Atlanta.

Honda sold 1.53 million vehicles in North America last year under the Honda and Acura brands -- and 80 percent of those were produced at its five assembly plants in the region.

Honda's announcement marks the latest in a string of new investments across North America by Japan's leading automakers, which are boosting production to match their growing share of the market. Toyota Motor Co.p. recently announced plans to build another North American assembly plant, in addition to a truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, now under construction.

Honda will invest $100 million to construct a transmission plant in Tallapoosa, Ga., across the state line from its assembly plant in Lincoln, Ala., that turns out Odyssey minivans and Pilot sport utility vehicles.

The new transmission factory, which will employ 400 people when it reaches full production, will free up capacity at its transmission plant in Russells Point, Ohio. The Georgia factory will still manufacture transmissions for the Honda's assembly plants in Ohio and in Alliston, Ontario. But Honda is investing another $100 million at the Ohio factory to begin production of high-precision gears, currently built only in Japan. "Assigning production of the high-precision gears to Ohio is the ultimate compliment to the technical competence of our facility," said Larry Jutte, general manager for Honda's parts and purchasing in North America.

The investment will create 100 additional jobs in Ohio, where Honda established its first North American production facilities 25 years ago. In addition to the transmission plant, Honda operates a motorcycle factory, two assembly and one engine plant in Ohio. Honda will also invest $70 million for additional machining of engine components at its Lincoln plant in Alabama, creating 100 jobs.

Casey Selecman, an analyst with Farmington Hills consulting firm CSM Worldwide, said the new Georgia plant will take some of the manufacturing burden off the Ohio plant. "It appears to be an overflow facility."

The projects will boost Honda's investment to more than $8.5 billion in North America, where it employs 30,000 people. Honda is also expanding production in other regions, including China. It will build a third assembly plant in Guangzhou.

[Bond James Bond]

Someone posted this in the Midwest section of this forum, but might as well stick it here as well . . .

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050204/BUSINESS05/50203043

Rockford Register Star
February 4, 2005
Chrysler deal to bring 500 jobs
A parts sorting center will be built next to the Belvidere plant.

By HEATH HIXSON, Rockford Register Star

BELVIDERE — DaimlerChrysler announced Thursday a new parts sorting center will be built next to the company’s Belvidere assembly plant and will employ 500 people through another company.

DaimlerChrysler awarded a $200 million, multiyear automotive parts sequencing contract to TDS/US, a Brownstown, Mich.-based company. It is a minority-owned joint venture with TDS Automotive, based in London, Ontario. TDS has about 4,500 employees in 10 nations.

DaimlerChrysler is expected to begin construction on the 500,000-square-foot building, roughly the size of Machesney Park Mall, within the year and will retain ownership of the structure.

The announcement comes on the heels of DaimlerChrysler’s Jan. 26 news that the company would add 1,000 jobs and a second shift as part of a $419 million expansion and retooling of the Belvidere plant, which employs 1,700, to accommodate production of up to four new vehicles. The company received $36.7 million in state and local tax incentives.

Thursday’s announcement was the fifth major jobs addition tied to the Chrysler expansion. Four other parts suppliers have begun operations or are constructing warehouses in what is becoming a supplier belt around the 2.6 million-square-foot plant.

“We anticipate more announcements to be forthcoming ... such as additional suppliers, additional jobs and investment,” said Mark Williams, executive director of Growth Dimensions, Boone County’s economic development group. “I anticipate more announcements that could eventually reach a level of 3,000 or more.”

All this is part of a national trend in automotive manufacturing. Components have traditionally been manufactured inside large assembly plants. Companies now are moving toward contracting with outside companies to deliver the parts just in time for final assembly.

More than 2,300 automotive parts will be sorted and managed in the TDS/US warehouse and then be supplied to the plant for final assembly, said Ed Saenz, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman.

Saenz said sequencing jobs inside the Belvidere plant would be phased out but the company will "assimilate" the sequencing employees into other positions at the plant. Officials would not give details. Workers inside the sequencing plant would be TDS/US employees.

The company expects to save 12 percent annually in Belvidere by farming out the process to TDS/US, rather than doing it in-house.

"It is an expertise of theirs," Saenz said. "We have been, for a few years now, focusing on our core competencies," such as design, marketing, selling, and final assembly and trim.

DaimlerChrysler officials declined to comment on the wages expected for TDS/US employees. United Auto Workers Local 1268, which represents DaimlerChrysler employees, did not return phone calls Thursday from the Rockford Register Star. TDS/US officials did not return calls.

The news excited local officials. Since January 1998, the region has lost 14,700 factory jobs.

"I don't know if it could be much better," Belvidere Mayor Fred Brereton said.

Brereton said he expected a "domino effect" of jobs and spending to ripple across the entire region. And he said the investment in the area could drum up interest in other companies outside the automotive industry.

"Clearly, when you look at what's going on in the Chrysler plant, it doesn't stop at the Belvidere borders," he said. "You begin to realize the impact of this. You're going to see more retail sales, which creates jobs. There's a great trickle-down effect. It bodes well for the future."

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6946304/

U.S. trade gap hit all-time high in 2004
Deficit narrowed in December as oil import prices slid
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:32 a.m. ET Feb. 10, 2005

WASHINGTON - The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record of $617.7 billion last year as Americans’ appetite for all things foreign from crude oil to imported cars hit all-time highs. The United States even rang up a deficit in farm goods as imports of wine, cheese and other food products hit a record.

The Commerce Department reported that the deficit for all of last year was 24.4 percent above the previous record, an imbalance of $496.5 billion in 2003. The U.S. deficit with China also set a record of $162 billion, up 30.5 percent from last year and the largest imbalance ever recorded with a single country.

The sharp worsening of America’s performance in trade was certain to spark new political criticism of President Bush’s economic policies. Democrats contend that the administration has not done enough to crack down on unfair foreign trade practices. These include China’s currency policy, which U.S. manufacturers believe has deliberately undervalued the yuan by as much as 40 percent, giving Chinese companies a huge competitive advantage over U.S. firms.

The trade deficit in December declined 4.9 percent to $56.4 billion. That compared to a revised November shortfall of $59.3 billion, which was still the all-time monthly high but down from a previously reported $60.3 billion.

The administration has argued that the U.S. deficits reflect the fact that America is growing at faster rates than the rest of the world, providing more demand for imported goods. But private economists worry that the deficit has reached such stratospheric levels that foreigners may decide they do not want to hold as much in dollar-denominated assets.

For all of 2004, U.S. exports of goods and services rose 12.3 percent to $1.15 trillion. But imports rose at an even faster clip of 16.3 percent, setting a new record of $1.76 trillion.

The demand for foreign goods was led by a 35.7 percent surge in foreign petroleum imports, which climbed to a record high of $180.7 billion, an increase that reflected not only increased demand but also surging petroleum prices, as global markets pushed oil prices to record levels. For the whole year, the average per barrel price for imported crude was $34.47, up from $26.98 in 2003.

Imports of foreign autos, industrial supplies and consumer goods all set records as did imports of food products, which climbed to $62.17 billion. U.S. exports of food products were also a record at $56.3 billion. But since U.S. shipments abroad were lower than imports, the country recorded a deficit in food categories of $5.8 trillion. It was the third straight year the United States has run a deficit in food, which long had been one of the few areas where the country could depend on surpluses.

U.S. exports did climb to an all-time high, helped in part by a 15 percent decline in the value of the dollar against other major currencies over the past three years. A weaker dollar makes U.S. products cheaper and thus more competitive on overseas markets.

For 2004, exports of food, autos and auto parts and consumer goods climbed to a record and the export of capital goods was at the highest level in four years.

The deficit with China was up 30.5 percent from the previous record for any country, a deficit of $124.1 billion with China set in 2003. The United States also saw large increases in the deficits with Japan, at $75.2 billion, Canada at $65.8 billion and the 25-nation European Union, where the deficit rose to $110 billion.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6913196/

U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in January
Data miss economists’ expectations; U.S. jobless rate slides to 5.2 percent
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:19 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2005

WASHINGTON - America’s employers added 146,000 jobs in January — a pickup from the previous month, but still a somewhat lackluster pace that underscores the slow recovery as the nation’s labor market tries to get back to full throttle.

The latest snapshot of labor market activity, released by the Labor Department on Friday, also showed that the overall civilian unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 percent in January from 5.4 percent in December as people left the job market for any number of reasons. January’s jobless rate was the lowest since September 2001.

The 146,000 gain in payrolls in January — while the most since October — still fell short of economists’ forecasts for a more robust gain of around 200,000 for the month. Jobs gains for December came in at 133,000, down from an initial estimate of 157,000 just a month ago.

“There’s still a level of frustration. The economy is producing a moderate amount of job growth, but not a satisfying amount of job growth. That means there are a limited number of new opportunities for workers,” said economist Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.

President Bush’s first term in office ended up showing a net gains in payroll jobs. From January 2001 to January 2005, the economy generated a net gain of 119,000 jobs. That allows Bush to escape being what Democrats and other critics had projected as the first president since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs on his watch.

Speaking in Omaha, Neb., Friday to plug his Social Security plans, Bush said he was pleased with the new report.

“That’s a good sign. More people are going to work around our country,” he said. “But we shouldn’t be content. I’m looking forward to working with the members of Congress to create the conditions for continued economic expansion.”

Questions about the health of the nation’s jobs market dogged Bush throughout his first term and was a hot-button issue in the presidential campaign. Ultimately, the jobs situation and the economy wasn’t enough of a concern to deny Bush a second term.

The Federal Reserve, encouraged by the economy’s performance, boosted a key short-term interest rate Wednesday by one-quarter percentage point to 2.50 percent, its sixth increase since June. The Fed also stuck with a measured approach to raising rates in the months ahead.

On the jobs front, Fed policy-makers said: “labor market conditions continue to improve gradually.” For all of 2004, the economy added 2.2 million jobs.

Friday’s employment report contained revisions to data going back to January 2000.

Last year, the economy clocked a 4.4 percent increase in growth, its best performance in five years. Looking ahead, analysts predict that the economy will expand by 3.5 percent or more in 2005. That would be sufficient to spur modest job growth in the months ahead, analysts say.

The administration is predicting the payrolls will grow by 2.1 million this year, a figure that private economists would be respectable.

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking in London on Friday, stuck a somewhat encouraging note on a possible improvement to the United State’s yawning trade deficits. Greenspan said a variety of factors from a weaker dollar to tougher budget discipline in Congress may finally start to restrain the deficit’s explosive growth. Greenspan didn’t talk about the future course of interest rate policy in his speech.

In Friday’s report, there were employment gains in January in a wide variety of service sectors, including retail. These were partially offset by job losses at factories and in construction

Manufacturers, which were hardest hit by the 2001 recession and have struggled the most to get back on firm footing, lost 25,000 jobs in January, after shedding 7,000 in December. It marked the fifth straight month that the factory sector lost jobs.

Construction companies cut 9,000 positions in January, probably related to wintry weather. That came after 14,000 positions were added in December.

The service sector, the engine of job creation, showed hiring gains in January. Retailers added 19,200 jobs, an improvement from a loss of 8,100 in December. Job gains also were reported for education and health services, in the financial sector and in transportation.

[Bond James Bond]

http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/11/news/fortune500/citigroup.reut/index.htm

Citigroup to cut up to 1,000 jobs?
World's largest financial services company to trim corporate, investment banking force by 2-3%.
February 11, 2005: 12:51 PM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc. is trimming its corporate and investment banking work force by 2 percent to 3 percent, which could result in the loss of more than 1,000 jobs, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

The cuts are expected at all levels within the unit, which employs about 48,000 people, the source said. New York-based Citigroup is the world's largest financial services company.

"We are making limited staff reductions, consistent with two fundamental objectives: keeping expenses low while continuing to invest in areas where we see growth opportunities," Citigroup spokeswoman Christina Pretto said. She declined to say how many jobs are being cut.

The corporate and investment bank last quarter reported a profit of $1.69 billion, up 32 percent from a year earlier. Revenue rose 15 percent to $5.46 billion, but expenses rose 25 percent to $3.3 billion. The latter included a 48 percent increase in compensation and benefits costs.

Citigroup (up $0.51 to $49.49, Research) shares were up more than 1 percent in midday New York Stock Exchange trading.

The company announced earlier in the day that it will simplify its business structure and streamline its capital markets activities, saying it plans to merge its Citigroup Holdings Co. and Citicorp intermediate bank holding companies into the parent company.

Pending regulatory approval, the deal should go through by the end of the third quarter, and Citigroup will assume Citicorp's existing debt and guarantees.

Citigroup also said it will consolidate capital markets funding activities into two legal entities. Citigroup Inc. will continue to issue long-term debt, preferred securities and common stock, while Citigroup Funding Inc., a new unit, will issue commercial paper and medium-term notes. This consolidation will begin in the second quarter.

The company did not immediately return a call seeking comment on why it is making the changes.

[Bond James Bond]

Here's an interesting article pondering whether or not the current housing boom is sustainable or not . . .

http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/08/real_estate/bubble_debate/index.htm

Will housing prices pop?
Experts debate whether the housing market is an overinflated bubble or a strong seller's market.
February 9, 2005: 8:06 AM EST
By Chris Isidore, CNN/Money senior writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Is the real estate market a dangerously overvalued bubble that needs to pop sooner than later, or is the market for homes strong enough that prices can and will keep rising?

Both answers were argued at a forum on the state of the real estate market Tuesday, along with the middle ground that the market is more or less valued just right in its current form.

The forum was sponsored by Demos, a public advocacy group that concentrates on questions of economic opportunity, among other issues. While the group has put out its own papers posing worries about the current debt levels among the middle class, its panel presented a wide range of views on the state of the real estate market.

Arguing that the real estate market is a bubble certain to pop, probably sooner than later, was Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research, a Washington think tank. He presented data showing that while housing prices generally tracked close to the overall inflation rate for nearly 40 years starting in the mid-1950s, home values have grown about 40 percent in real terms since 1995.

He said that's the kind of rapid rise that is not justified by the fundamentals. He compared it to the late-1990s stock market bubble and in the Japanese real estate market in the 1980s before prices there collapsed.

"There's a speculative mentality of people thinking housing prices will only go up," he said. "That's not the real world."

Baker's position was challenged by Jonathan McCarthy, a senior economist with the Federal Reserve of New York, as well as Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, a leading New York real estate firm.

McCarthy argued that issues such as home improvements and income growth have helped support some of the basic fundamentals of the market. The home improvements have increased the underlying value of the homes more than simple home price data would not capture, he said, and the combination of income growth and low interest rates have increased the affordability of homes even faster than home prices have climbed.

"If there's a bubble, prices have been bid up beyond the underlying fundamentals, and buyers have done so in the expectation that prices will continue to rise," he said. "Rapid price increases are not sufficient to say that there is a bubble out there."

McCarthy did not dispute that there were some markets where housing prices have outstripped fundamentals, but he said that they are mostly along the eastern seaboard north from Washington D.C., as well as along the West Coast. "These areas will always tend to be more volatile," he said. "But on a national scope there's probably no housing bubble."

Corcoran challenged McCarthy's view that places like New York may be in a housing bubble. She confessed that as a real estate agent her view is biased. "I can't afford to be open minded," she admitted to laughter of the crowd.

She pointed to a few key numbers she sees that suggest even a supposed bubble market like New York City is in much stronger shape than before housing prices collapsed here, with the 1987 stock market crash.

"Today, seven out of 10 listings here are selling at or above the asking price," she said. "In 1987, before the stock market crash, it was three out of 10. When I compare the number of listings over the last year, it's down 40 percent from the previous year. This is a hell of a seller's market."

"I would not be the least surprised if prices go up 25 percent in the next year, even if people out there think I'm smoking dope," she added. "There's too short a supply, too many buyers." Top of page

[BESTCITY]

Okay....

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2005/02/21/focus3.html

Spanish wind company to build plant in region
Facility will bring part-time, full-time jobs
Jennifer Curry

Pennsylvania is set to see the amount of wind power that it produces almost double in the next year.

A few weeks after Gov. Ed Rendell signed a renewable energy bill in December that requires 18 percent of the electricity sold in the state to come from renewable and advanced energy sources in 15 years, the Spanish wind-energy company Gamesa Corp. announced it will base a manufacturing facility for wind turbine generator blades at the South Park Industrial Complex in Ebensburg, Cambria County. In addition, at least three other wind projects are in the works, including Stonycreek Windpower, a proposed 64.8 megawatt wind project near Somerset.

"It (Gamesa's announcement) shows that it is a strong energy market and is one that will tap an untapped potential," said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.

According to Ms. Real de Azua, Pennsylvania currently generates about 129 megawatts of wind power, and close to 100 new megawatts of wind power could be installed in 2005. In 2004, the United States wind energy industry added 389 megawatts of new wind generation nationwide, increasing the total amount of nationwide wind energy to 6,740 megawatts, which is enough to serve more than 1.6 million households. Much of this growth can be attributed to federal and state policies promoting wind energy.

The Washington, D.C.-based AWEA predicts that more than 2,000 megawatts of new wind power capacity will be added during the coming year nationwide. And, although less than 1 percent of current energy comes from wind, by 2020, it will grow to 6 percent.

Proponents have said this increase will provide an economic boost to the region in addition to helping the environment. Yet, others have said that wind energy will be unreliable, drive up the cost of electricity for consumers and fail to create many permanent jobs for the region.

Job Creation
Gamesa had previously announced in September that it would base its U.S. headquarters and East Coast development offices in Philadelphia. With the opening of the new facility in Ebensburg, the company's Pennsylvania development plans will total about $40 million in investments.

The opening of Gamesa's manufacturing facility is expected to create as many as 500 part-time construction and operations jobs and 236 permanent manufacturing jobs. The construction, operation and maintenance of Gamesa's wind farms, along with its two Philadelphia offices and manufacturing plant, are expected to create as many as 1,000 jobs in the state over the next five years.

However, Glenn Schleede, a retired energy expert who spent more than 30 years working on energy matters in the federal government and private sector, said that frequently, many of the construction jobs come from outside of the region, and wind farms usually need only a few permanent people to keep them running. He pointed to the Top of Iowa Wind Farm, an 80-megawatt wind farm that was built in 2001 in Worth County, Iowa, as an example. There are currently only six permanent jobs there, and although there were 200 construction jobs, only 20 of these jobs were from the local area.

Karen Ervin, president of the Rockwood-based Friends of the Appalachian Highlands, Fayette County, said most of the jobs created will be short term through the construction of the wind turbine facility. While this may provide temporary short-term employment, it will not create substantial long-term employment.

"Any industry that creates substantial long-term employment is an asset to Pa.," Ms. Ervin said. "However, any industry that does provide temporary short-term employment is welcome to any economically depressed area -- provided it employs local trades and those within the area."

Getting Going
Still others question whether, even with the new bill that was passed, wind energy will really take off in Pennsylvania and help the economy.

David Hughes, executive director of Citizen Power, a Pittsburgh utility watchdog organization, said that, although he hopes new wind farms will be built, he is not sure the bill the governor passed will lead to more wind development in Pennsylvania. More than half of the 18 percent of clean-energy sources are required to come from energy-saving measures on traditional power generators and new technology that reuses coal waste rather than just renewable sources, such as wind and solar power.

"We ended up with a bill that promotes dirty energy sources more than clean and renewable sources," Mr. Hughes said.

Ms. Ervin, however, said that assisting in keeping the coal plants clean is one renewable energy technology that should be invested in.

"Coal facilities are strictly regulated and create long-term employment for local trades and individuals, plus have a one-to- five job spin-off," Ms. Ervin said.

According to a study released in October 2004 by the Renewable Energy Policy Project, Pennsylvania ranked seventh in terms of states most likely to benefit from wind investment. The study found that Pennsylvania has the potential to create 7,622 jobs, with an average investment of $2.54 billion.

And Pennsylvania has been one of the leaders in terms of wind energy growth.

"Among the Eastern states, Pennsylvania has developed the most at this point," said Ms. Real de Azua. "Its policies continue to be forward looking."

[Bond James Bond]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1203&e=10&u=/nm/20050217/bs_nm/economy_jobless_dc&sid=95609869

Jobless Claims Dip Unexpectedly Last Week

Thu Feb 17, 8:37 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans claiming initial jobless benefits fell unexpectedly by 2,000 last week to the lowest level in more than four years as the U.S. labor market continued to strengthen, a government report showed on Thursday.

First-time claims for state unemployment insurance aid dropped for the third consecutive time, to 302,000, in the week ended Feb. 12 from 304,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department (news - web sites) said. It said there were no special factors to account for the drop in claims.

Last week's decline marks the lowest level since October 2000, before the economy tipped into recession.

Wall Street economists had expected a rise in claims to 315,000. The surprise fall is likely to boost analyst expectations for February's broader payroll report, which surveys employers at the same time of the month as last week's jobless claims report.

The payrolls report, due out in March, is compiled in the pay period which contains the 12th day of the month.

The closely watched four-week moving average, which smooths weekly volatility in claims, also fell, to 311,750, down 4,000 from the previous week.

Continued claims, a measure of the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of assistance, fell 14,000 to 2.72 million in the week ended Feb. 5, the latest period for which the data is available.

[jmancuso]

i'll sticky this...

[Bond James Bond]

^Thanks!

[Bond James Bond]

The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Toyota to Expand in North America
Two New Plants Are Likely In Aggressive Market Push; Aiming for GM's No. 1 Spot

By Norihiko Shirouzu

DETROIT – Toyota Motor Corp. will likely add two more assembly plants in North America by the end of the decade as part of its broader strategy to take a bigger chunk of the world's richest auto market and challenge General Motors Corp. as the world's No. 1 auto maker.

Toyota will likely announce a site for a No. 7 assembly plant in North America by the end of this year and begin a search for a No. 8 plant soon thereafter, according to senior company executives. The new facilities would follow the opening this month of a plant in Mexico that will make small pickups and truck beds. Toyota is also finishing a big new factory in Texas that will start next year building a new line of large pickups aimed at the heart of the American market.

Though details have yet to be determined, the new plants would represent a sizeable investment. Toyota's assembly plants each employ an average of about 4,000 to 5,000 employees and represent an investment of $1 billion or more. For example, Toyota says it has invested $2.5 billion in its truck factory in southern Indiana, which now employs about 4,800 people building about 300,000 vehicles a year.

Toyota's aggressive expansion in the face of chronic overcapacity in the North American vehicle market promises to accelerate a painful shift of power and jobs in the U.S. auto industry. With growth in overall U.S. vehicle sales stuck in neutral, the industry appears to be headed for a period in which strong players use their financial and market power to hammer weaker ones into surrendering market share.

The unionized operations of Detroit's Big Three are at risk, in large part because over the years management has agreed to rich pension and health-care packages that now saddle them with $1,000 to $2,000 per vehicle more in costs than Toyota's new North American operations, according to industry analysts. DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group already underwent a painful downsizing earlier in the decade, but now appears to be the better for it as some well-received new models are boosting profits.

GM and Ford Motor Co. also have closed several factories and squeezed out thousands of white-collar jobs. But the two Detroit giants have continued to lose market share despite a variety of new models. GM put its North American capacity utilization at 86% for 2004, suggesting it has about five plants too many. But estimates of overcapacity can vary widely. Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Girsky says that GM may have as many as 15 factories more than it needs to satisfy true retail demand for its North American models, not counting low-margin sales to employees and suppliers and bulk sales to big fleets.

Investor worries that GM and Ford have more to lose in the coming U.S. industry shakeout are reflected in their beaten up share prices and their downtrodden debt ratings. GM and Ford's debt securities are rated one notch above junk by Standard & Poor's Corp. Moody's Investors Service last week said it now has a negative outlook for its GM debt rating, which is two notches above junk grade.

Other auto makers, such as Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp., could get damaged as the industry's titans battle for share. Mitsubishi suffered a 37% collapse in U.S. sales last year. Isuzu Motors, Ltd., partly owned by GM, suffered a 9% sales drop last year to just 27,608 vehicles – fewer than Toyota sold in an average week last year.

Despite relatively flat sales volumes and declining inflation-adjusted prices for many vehicles, industry leaders say the U.S. market remains the world's largest.

From the point of view of Japan's Big Three auto makers –Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. – there remains enormous, untapped profit potential in the U.S. market. Honda, for example, just launched its first entry into the pickup truck market, the Honda Ridgeline, in a bid to take a slice of the outsize profits in that segment. Nissan Chief Executive Officer Charles Ghosn said earlier this year in Detroit that his company's strategy is to compete in every significant market segment in the U.S. – one reason why Nissan built a factory in Mississippi, which came online in 2003, to produce large pickup and sport-utility vehicles.

Driving Toyota's capacity expansion plans is a long-term goal of capturing 15% of the total U.S. passenger-vehicle market, up from 12.2% last year. The U.S. share goal matches a global 15% share target. If Toyota hits that 15% global share, it would be as big as No. 1 auto maker GM is now. One sign of Toyota's seriousness: The Japanese auto maker says its capital spending in 2004 totaled about $8.5 billion – about 15% more than GM's $7.3 billion in capital spending for the year.

Last year, Toyota sold a total of 2.06 million cars and trucks in the U.S., up 10.4% from a year earlier. Growth is likely to slow somewhat, but by 2010 Toyota aims to control 15% of the U.S. auto market. In 2004, that would have translated to sales of more than 2.5 million vehicles, or about 100,000 vehicles more than current No. 3 U.S. auto maker DaimlerChrysler. By 2006, Toyota is expected to have capacity to manufacture more than 1.6 million vehicles a year in North America. Toyota's five current factories in the U.S. employ approximately 22,230 people. The Texas plant, which is still under construction, is expected to eventually employ 2,000.

The Toyota executives said its No. 7 and No. 8 plants are likely to be picked from locations the company considered in the recent site-search that that zeroed in on San Antonio. Sites examined in that search included locations in northern Mississippi, western Arkansas, an area near Memphis, and the Canadian province of Ontario, they said.

Toyota executives said the No. 7 plant may be devoted to production of small cars – most likely the Scion tC sports coupe and others from Toyota's new youth-oriented brand, as well as the compact Toyota Rav4 car-SUV crossover. One executive noted, however, a definitive direction hasn't emerged on the question of what models to produce at the new plant. It wasn't immediately clear what product the No. 8 plant would produce.

Dennis Cuneo, a senior Toyota executive who is often involved in manufacturing-site selection in North America, declined to elaborate on specific plans. "If we continue to grow in North America, we will have to add capacity to meet the demand," he said. "We haven't made any decisions on the timing or place of the capacity expansions."

As sales expand, some Toyota executives express concern that the company's growth may provoke a backlash from the Detroit auto makers. To quell such criticism, Toyota President Fujio Cho has said he wants Toyota to build an increasing number of vehicles it sells in the U.S. in North America and create more jobs there.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7733245

U.S. Data Shows Economy on Solid Ground
Thu Feb 24, 2005 05:40 PM ET

By Tim Ahmann

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for long-lasting U.S. made goods slipped in January and initial claims for jobless benefits rose last week, but rising business demand for capital goods showed the economy still on solid ground.

Durable goods orders tumbled 0.9 percent in January as demand for autos and civilian aircraft fell, but the drop followed an upwardly revised 1.4 percent December gain, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

Separately, the Labor Department said first-time claims for state unemployment aid rose by 9,000 to 312,000 last week.

Wall Street had looked for claims around 305,000 and had expected orders for durable goods, pricey items meant to last three years or more, to post a slight rise.

The details of the reports, however, were mostly upbeat, showing businesses poised to spend and the number of people on the jobless benefit rolls dropping.

"Both releases indicate that the economy has significant momentum starting 2005," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The dollar rose and prices for U.S. government bonds slipped on the data, the details of which were seen as bolstering the case for further interest-rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Stocks were dogged by high oil prices but managed to post gains.

CARS AND PLANES

A 5.3 percent plunge in demand for transportation equipment lay behind the drop in durable goods orders, which was the first since October. Motor vehicle demand slipped 3.8 percent and orders for civilian aircraft plummeted 27.1 percent.

However, excluding the often-volatile transport category, durable goods orders climbed 0.8 percent, ahead of expectations for a 0.4 percent rise.

Economists said future transport figures would get a boost from an order for Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) planes valued at more than $4 billion announced by Ryanair (RYA.I: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday.

The report also offered upbeat news on the outlook for business investment spending. Civilian capital goods orders, excluding aircraft -- a figure economists see as a proxy for future business spending plans -- grew a healthy 2.9 percent.

Analysts said the figures were especially heartening since a temporary tax break meant to boost investment spending expired at the end of last year.

In addition, shipments of durable goods rose 1.5 percent, building on a 2.8 percent December advance -- suggesting spending on durable goods could help underpin economic growth at the start of the year.

HIRING PICKUP?

Economists looked past the blip up in jobless claims at a trend they said reflected a strengthening job market.

A closely watched four-week moving average of initial claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell for the second straight week to reach 308,750 -- its lowest level since November 2000, before the economy tipped into recession.

"The overall trend is still quite encouraging," said Alan Ruskin, research director at 4Cast Ltd. in New York. "This is consistent with improvement in labor market conditions."

While the low level of claims suggests layoffs have slowed, the report also contained a sign hiring -- the other side of the job-creation equation -- may have picked up.

The number of people still on state benefit rolls after claiming one week of insurance fell for the second week in a row, dropping 62,000 to 2.65 million in the week ended Feb. 12, the latest period for which the figures are available.

In a further suggestion of hiring gains, the private-sector Conference Board's index measuring the volume of help wanted advertising in newspapers rose in January to its highest level in nearly two years.

A survey of chief executives from some of the world's top companies also found optimism on the U.S. economy's prospects.

Around 85 percent of the CEOs surveyed by the Business Council and the Conference Board said U.S. economic conditions were the same or better than six months ago, and 40 percent expect further improvement in the next six months.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7700297&section=news

Acuity Brands to Cut Jobs, Take Charge
Tue Feb 22, 2005 09:12 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it would slash 1,1000 jobs worldwide, or about 15 percent of its salaried work force, and take a $17 million pretax charge in its fiscal second quarter ending Feb. 28.

The Atlanta-based maker of lighting and specialty chemicals said it expects the job cuts will reduce operating costs by at least $13 million in the second half of fiscal 2005 and about $50 million annually by the end of calendar year 2005.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.expansionmanagement.com/smo/newsviewer/default.asp?cmd=articledetail&articleid=16350&st=3

Infineon Technologies Expanding its Richmond, Virginia Facility
Chip-maker's $1 billion expansion will double the production capacity at Richmond metro plant.
By: Roy Harryman

Infineon Technologies is in the midst of a $1 billion, 550,000 square foot expansion of its complex in the Richmond, Va., metro that will ultimately result in about 1,200 new jobs and double the plant’s production capacity.

Since much of the news in the chip-making industry has been about offshoring, the Richmond expansion is notable, said Henry Becker, managing director of Infineon Richmond.

“You hear in the U.S. so much discussion about outsourcing,” he said. “We are an example of just the opposite.

“That speaks volumes for the work force. We’re competing with suppliers who have facilities all over the world,” Becker added. “The Richmond plant has consistently ranked as one of the industry’s most productive factories, based on our own analysis and global benchmarks across the chip-making sector.”

The expansion project qualified for incentives including $3 million for site preparation from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund and a matching grant from Henrico County, $1.1 million in training from Virginia’s Workforce Services Program and as much as $1.1 million from the Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit. In addition, Infineon could be eligible for $55 million in performance grants if the company meets investment and job creation goals.

Companies are also relocating their operations to the Richmond metro.

In September, Tredegar Film Products announced it would move its R&D and technical centers from Indiana and Illinois to Richmond, which is already home to its parent company. The moves are expected to reduce operating costs by $2 million annually.

The firm, a subsidiary of Richmond-based Tredegar Corp., is a supplier of materials for use in personal and household products and films for packaging and niche uses.

Earlier in 2004, Standex International announced it would make the Richmond metro the headquarters, R&D center and manufacturing site for its Standex Engraving Division, moving operations from a plant in Rochester, N.Y.

“The Richmond facility is larger, has space available, is better located geographically and houses additional capabilities,” said Karl Shaw, president of Standex Engraving.

Financial Services Firms Capitalize on Metro

Financial service companies have been rapidly expanding in Richmond. The city became home to a new Fortune 500 company in May when an IPO resulted in Genworth Financial Inc., the former GE Financial Assurance Co.

Mortgage lender Saxon Capital announced a 115,000 square foot expansion of its headquarters in September. The $17 million investment will result in 234 new jobs, and Virginia Credit and Finance chose Richmond for its debt collection and call center operations in May. A $1 million facility will be the home of 150 new employees for Virginia Credit.

Both companies’ employees will receive training through the Virginia Workforce Services Program.

In addition, the merger of Wachovia Securities and Prudential Securities is expected to create 1,000 jobs in the Richmond metro, where it is investing $8.3 million in area facilities.

“The Richmond area’s sense of community, large and affordable housing stock and natural attractions are very important to our ability to attract individuals whose energy and ideas will drive Wachovia Securities’ growth,” said Danny Ludemen, president and CEO, of the company.

The merger resulted in some Prudential employees transferring from New York City.

[Bond James Bond]

This is an addendum to my earlier story about Toyota's new plant in San Antonio . . .

http://www.expansionmanagement.com/smo/articleviewer/default.asp?cmd=articledetail&articleid=16330&st=1

Toyota Suppliers Continue to Locate in San Antonio
Employment and investment resulting from Toyota’s new assembly plant are 50 percent greater than originally anticipated.
1/12/2005
By: Bill King

Eighteen suppliers to be located on the site of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas (TMMTX) will employ 1,500 and invest about $150 million, Gov. Rick Perry said in a news conference late last year. Employment and investment are 50 percent greater than earlier estimates.

TMMTX will employ about 2,000 team members and invest $800 million in a plant that will produce 150,000 Tundra pickup trucks annually. When production begins late next year, on-site suppliers will provide a myriad of parts, materials and logistics services.

“The advantages of locating these suppliers on-site include holding down logistics costs, as well as the ability to work closely with Toyota in assuring quality,” said T.J. Tajima, president of TMMTX. “The suppliers appreciate the support provided by the city, county and state to help them create these jobs.”

Among the 18 suppliers are several joint ventures involving business partners from San Antonio.

“Toyota’s expansion in Texas is having a huge impact on the Texas economy,” Perry said. “Not only will Toyota’s $800 million new plant eventually create 2,000 direct jobs, it is already attracting parts and service suppliers who will add thousands of additional jobs to that total. In addition to the direct jobs created by Toyota, 18 Toyota suppliers will soon open shop on the grounds of the Toyota plant, creating 1,500 new jobs and making an additional capital investment of $150 million.”

Valero Energy Chooses San Antonio to Supply Retail Stores

Valero Energy Corp., a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio with about 20,000 employees and expected annual revenues of around $500 billion, announced in October its intention to develop its own distribution center in the San Antonio area to supply the majority of its U.S.-based convenience stores with retail merchandise. Valero operates 4,500 retail outlets in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean under various brand names, including Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultamar, Valero and Beacon.

“With the new center, we will have more flexibility and control over the supply chain supporting our retail business,” said Bill Greehey, CEO of Valero. “As a result, we’ll be able to supply our stores with the right products at the right time, more quickly and more often.”

Valero is in final negotiations to lease a 130,000 square foot distribution warehouse in Northeast San Antonio and is planning to invest more than $7 million in the facility, which is expected to generate 200 new jobs. Core-Mark International will manage the facility, which is expected to be operational in April.

After capital improvements are completed, the warehouse will include offices; frozen, refrigerated and dry-storage space; and a chilled dock for receiving and shipping perishable products. The plan also calls for the construction of additional freezer space in the center’s second year of operation to accommodate product-line expansions.

A fleet of more than 30 tractor-trailers will deliver merchandise to the stores throughout Texas, and will be outfitted with global positioning systems to track deliveries and optimize scheduling.

San Antonio’s Hispanic Heritage Attracts Company

Last year, Meximerica Media decided to establish its headquarters in San Antonio. The company is the creator of Rumbo (pronounced room-bo), a new network of Spanish-language daily newspapers distributed in select Texas locations, including Houston, San Antonio, Austin and the Lower Rio Grand Valley.

“While San Antonio provides exceptional facilities and infrastructure, its commitment to maintaining its Hispanic heritage and the significant number of first-generation Hispanics in the city convinced us this was the place to grow our business,” said Edward Schumacher Matos, CEO and editorial director of Meximerica Media. “San Antonio residents understand and live the Hispanic traditions, language and lifestyle. That, coupled with its rich history, places our company in a setting where we will be able to attract professionals from various parts of the world who are media experts in developing publications targeted toward the Hispanic reader.”

Schumacher Matos said that the growing economic and cultural force of Hispanics in the United States is influencing everything from retail marketing to food selections. He believes San Antonio is well-positioned in the marketplace to launch a venture aimed at a Spanish-speaking public.

Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, said Meximerica Media’s interest in San Antonio stemmed from the city’s well-known roots in the Hispanic culture but also was swayed by the city’s ability to provide a distinctive insight into its target market and greater access to other markets throughout the United States.

“San Antonio has always been known as a bicultural city, and new corporations such as Meximerica confirm that the city is well-positioned to take advantage of its heritage,” Hernandez said.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.expansionmanagement.com/smo/articleviewer/default.asp?cmd=articledetail&articleid=16070&st=1

Kokomo, Ind., Leads U.S. Cities in European Expansions
The expansion of Daimler-Chrysler’s automotive complex in Kokomo, Ind., has propelled that city to the top of Expansion Management’s fifth annual survey of European capital investment in the U.S. manufacturing sector. The automaker began production in a new $378 million transmission plant in December.

7/18/2004
By: Ken Krizner and Rachael Hedgcoth

Daimler-Chrysler operates two transmission plants totaling 1.8 million square feet in Kokomo. The facilities employ about 2,000 workers and have the capacity to produce 710,000 units annually. (The automaker also operates two other facilities in Kokomo that predate the merger between Daimler-Benz AG and Chrysler Corp. in 1998.)

The state of Indiana has provided numerous incentives to DaimlerChrysler for the Kokomo complex. The latest incentive is $2 million in work force training funds.

The majority of the funding, more than $1.3 million, comes in the form of grants from the state’s Skills Enhancement Fund. The grants help the company train existing workers.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is providing additional support through its Incumbent Worker Training Fund.

The funds can be used to train the 8,000 employees at all four DaimlerChrysler facilities.

“The DaimlerChrysler expansion is more evidence that the state’s economic development initiative is having a positive impact on our economy,” said Tim Monger, executive director of the Indiana Department of Commerce. “Advanced manufacturing operations like DaimlerChrysler are a core component of Indiana’s economy, and we are pleased with the investment it has made in Kokomo.”

DaimlerChrysler is also eligible for tax abatements on real property, and machinery and equipment in the new facility.

“I believe DaimlerChrysler’s selection of Kokomo for its capital investment is because of our community’s support, work force and the incentives provided,” said Greg Aaron, president of the Kokomo/Howard County Development Corp. “Kokomo is recognized as a world class manufacturing community with a highly productive work force.”

Detroit Metro Shares in Euro Expansions

Nearly 30 European companies have invested in the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., metro during the past two years, making it No. 2 on this year’s list. Many of the expansions are related to the automobile industry. Germany-based Karmann Manufacturing received a single business tax credit valued at more than $2.9 million to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Plymouth Township. The project is expected to create more than 250 jobs.

The automotive supplier plans will $13 million to build a plant near its existing technical center for the manufacture of convertible roof systems for two automakers.

Another company based in Germany, ZF Lemforder, plans to expand its operations in Lapeer. The company will invest nearly $35 million in the project, creating 219 new jobs.

ZF Lemforder is the car chassis division of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a worldwide supplier of driveline and chassis technology. Based in Friedrichshafen, Germany, ZF is among the 15 largest automotive suppliers in the world.

The company considered North Carolina, Kentucky and South Carolina as potential sites for the expansion. A single business tax credit worth $1.1 million during the next 10 years helped convince ZF Lemforder to expand in Lapeer.

L’Oreal USA Expands in Ohio

Other industries have seen their share of expansions in the United States.

Beauty care products company L’Oreal USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Paris-based L’Oreal SA, is expanding its operations in Streetsboro, Ohio, in the Akron metro (No. 25). The beauty icon is expanding its distribution center capacity in support of its professional products division.

The company looked at sites in Kentucky and Ohio but ultimately chose Streetsboro for the 650,000 square foot warehouse and distribution facility. L’Oreal plans to consolidate operations from its Hebron, Ky., and Solon, Ohio, facilities at the new site.

The $9.5 million project is expected to create close to 70 jobs and retain about 190 positions.

The state of Ohio provided the company with a $50,000 Business Development grant to help offset the costs associated with acquiring and installing new machinery and equipment for the project.

One state over, more than 285 companies in the Pittsburgh metro (No. 35) are based in Europe or owned by a European entity.

The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) maintains bilateral partnerships with economic development organizations in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

If one of its European partner organizations is working with a local company seeking to enter the United States, PRA will create a “soft landing” for that company in the Pittsburgh region by assisting with introductions to peer companies, identifying real estate options and professional service providers, and seeking funding assistance and work force training services, said Ronnie L. Bryant, president and chief operating officer of PRA.

One of those companies, medical device manufacturer Medrad Inc., has expanded its operations in the Pittsburgh metro.

Medrad, a subsidiary of Germany-based Schering A.G., has invested $2.8 million to further automate production of one of its core products, disposable syringes that are used to inject patients with contrast media needed to produce diagnostic images.

The company employs more than 1,000 workers at a 154,000 square foot manufacturing facility in O’Hara Township.

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.expansionmanagement.com/smo/articleviewer/default.asp?cmd=articledetail&articleid=16359&st=1

Manufacturer To Site New Plant in Cullman, Alabama
Highly educated work force helps attract North Vernon Industry to Alabama metro.
2/14/2005
By: Tricia Hyland

North Vernon Industry Corp. (NVIC) will build a 350,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Cullman, Ala., to produce gray iron castings for heavy industrial applications.

NVIC will invest $60 million in the new facility, which will be located on a 32-acre industrial site in south Cullman.

The company will be incorporated in Alabama as Cullman Casting Corp. The plant will produce castings for off-road vehicles, forklifts and other applications.


NVIC is establishing operations in Cullman to serve the needs of existing customers and to offer the company the potential to capture a larger share of the Southeast U.S. market.

Site work began last month, and the facility is expected to start production in December with about 300 employees.

Cullman Casting will employ the latest technology in casting apparatus and will feature state-of-the-art pollution control devices that guarantee the company will be environmentally friendly, said Jack Bodi, vice president of the North Vernon, Ind.,-based company.

The plant will purchase fine iron shavings and borings generated by manufacturing facilities producing parts used in the assembly of drivetrain components.

NVIC considered sites in five communities in northern and central Alabama, along with sites in Georgia and southern Indiana, before deciding on Cullman.

Between three and five employees may relocate to Cullman from Indiana, said Bodi, who will relocate himself and become vice president of operations for the facility. The remaining work force, including management and factory employees, will be recruited from the Cullman metro area.

“Our impressions of the local community college, technical educational programs and the strong public school system all played an important role in determining whether qualified individuals would be available,” Bodi pointed out. “We believe in hiring local people.”

The Cullman Economic Development Agency worked with the city of Cullman, the Cullman County Commission, the Cullman Electric Cooperative and local industry to convince NVIC to site the facility in the metro.

On the state level, officials in the Alabama Development Office played a role in coordinating the effort to attract the project, Bodi noted.

“They did a great job of bringing in all of the state agencies and the Tennessee Valley Authority to address our concerns and convince us that Alabama was the right state for our new operation,” he said.

Topre, Axsys Open Facilities in Cullman

Cullman’s location midway between Huntsville and Birmingham puts it right in the middle of one of the fastest-growing automotive regions in the world.

A decade ago, no automobiles were manufactured in Alabama. In 2004, automakers around the state produced 800,000 vehicles and that figure will only increase in the coming years.

Honda continues to expand its operation in Huntsville and Hyundai will begin vehicle production in Birmingham early this year and gradually increase production until full capacity is achieved in 2007.

This makes Cullman a good location for automotive suppliers.

Topre America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Topre, opened a 250,000 square foot facility in the metro last year to produce metal stamping components for Honda, Nissan, Toyota and other automakers.

The company currently employs more than 100 workers at the plant.

The company already has expansion plans on the drawing boards and will eventually have 700,000 square feet. The facility will employ up to 300 workers when fully operational.

“We planted our American roots in Cullman,” said Shiro Uchigasaki, president of Topre America.

Alabama also has roots in the exploration of space, and Cullman is part of that quest.

Cullman-based Axsys Technologies is building a portion of a $1.9 billion telescope in a 20,000 square foot facility that became operational last year.

Axsys is manufacturing the mirrors that will be used on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is scheduled for launch in 2011 and will explore deep space.

The project is a joint effort between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Using beryllium, Axsys will construct 18 4-foot hexagonal segments that will comprise the mirrors.

The company employs nearly 250 workers in Cullman, and it is looking to add another 20 employees in 2005.

The telescope will allow scientists to gather information about the formation of stars and galaxies, the evolution of galaxies and how planetary systems were formed.

“JWST is an epic project, and we are proud that our company’s capabilities are fundamental in the ongoing challenge to develop increasingly advanced optical solutions,” said Stephen Bershad, chairman and CEO of Axsys.

[Bond James Bond]

And here's some more follow-up to the San Antonio Toyota plant, as well as news related to a new plant in Alabama that Hyundai is building. I'll only highlight the items in this article that haven't been mentioned in any of my previous ones . . .

http://www.expansionmanagement.com/smo/articleviewer/default.asp?cmd=articledetail&articleid=16056&st=1

Toyota, Hyundai Building New Manufacturing Plants in U.S.
Boosted by increasing sales, foreign automobile manufacturers continue to expand their presence in the United States.
6/9/2004
By: Ken Krizner

This expansion mode will increase during the next several years as Hyundai and Toyota launch operations at new manufacturing plants.

When an automobile manufacturing facility is sited, the trickle-down effect of suppliers wanting to gravitate to the region means thousands of additional jobs to those already slated for the plant itself. That’s happening at the anticipated facilities for Toyota and Hyundai.

At least 10 parts suppliers, plus several service companies, will locate at the site of Toyota’s new manufacturing plant in San Antonio, Texas.

Supplier companies will add at least 1,000 jobs to the metro, on top of the 2,000 jobs at the automaker’s plant, which is expected to begin operations in 2006. Supplier investment will be at least $100 million for buildings and equipment.

Construction began in May on a 100,000 square foot facility in Georgetown, Texas, for TASUS Corp., a tier-two supplier to Toyota. The supplier will create 150 jobs within five years.

The Bloomington, Ind.,-based company produces plastic injection-molded parts that will be used in the assembly of the Tundra. The company will also supply other existing customers in the region.

TASUS expects to be operating in the new plant in January.

Toyota broke ground earlier this year on the 2000-acre site, where it will build 150,000 Tundra full size trucks annually. The new plant will represent an $800 million investment.

“Toyota considers its suppliers true business partners who are equally responsible for providing quality to our customers,” said Hidehiko Tajima, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas.

The automaker will receive $133 million in incentives, including funds for work force training and to build a utility infrastructure. In addition, the state of Texas will create a rail district, which will connect the plant site with existing rail lines about 7 miles away.

Toyota is expanding elsewhere. The automaker announced that it will expand its plant in Buffalo, W.Va., by 184,000 square feet. The expansion means an additional $80 million investment in the facility, plus 50 new jobs, pushing employment to more than 1,000.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America and its subsidiary, Bodine Aluminum Inc., began construction in for a new engine block casting plant in Jackson, Tenn.

The facility will eventually employ 200 and produce 1 million units annually. Production is expected to begin next year.

Suppliers Gear Up for Hyundai Plant
At least 23 suppliers are building facilities to be near Hyundai’s new manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Ala., which is expected to fully operational next June. These suppliers are expected to create more than 4,000 new jobs.

At full capacity, the $1 billion plant will produce 300,000 vehicles per year, including the next-generation Sonata mid-sized sedan and the Santa Fe sport utility vehicle (SUV). Hyundai expects to employ more than 2,000 in Alabama.

Several suppliers from South Korea are building facilities in Alabama.

Mobis will employ 430 workers at its plant near Montgomery. Mobis will supply completed cockpits, front- and rear-chassis modules and instrument clusters to Hyundai.

Shin Young Metal Industries Co. will employ 300 workers in Luverne, Ala., to provide metal stampings.

Also in Alabama, Honda dedicated the production startup of its new assembly line in Lincoln and the production of the first Alabama-built Honda Pilot SUV.

Demand for Honda’s light truck products is strong, which led the company to begin production of the Pilot in April, just 17 months after Honda began construction of the 1.3 million square foot expansion of the facility.

Both Hyundai and Honda are receiving customized work force training from Alabama Industrial Development Training.

Nissan Expands Mississippi Plant
In October, Nissan began production on its first full-sized pickup truck, the Titan, at its manufacturing site in Canton, Miss. By the end of this year, production on the Altima and the Infiniti SUV will begin.

The plant had previously began manufacturing the Quest minivan and Pathfinder Armanda.

The original 2.5 million square foot facility was expanded by 1 million square feet, and Nissan increased its $930 million investment in Mississippi by $500 million.

The facility was expanded to accommodate an increase in sales in North America.

By 2010, more than 26,000 additional high-wage jobs will be created, including those directly employed by the facility, suppliers, retailers, and service and support operations.

The state of Mississippi announced in April that its junior colleges will receive $2.48 million in federal funding for the Mississippi Automotive Training and Skills Enhancement Program. Money from the grant will train workers for Nissan and its suppliers. The funding should provide training for about 1,500 workers.

[Suncity]

What a change of pace from the usually downbeat news that we keep getting. Good job Bond James Bond!

[Bond James Bond]

^Thank you. :)

[Bond James Bond]

I posted this in a thread about Milwaukee a few days ago, but in case some people didn't see it, I'll put it here, too. It's a good example of how China's growing economy, even indirectly, can benefit companies in the US.

The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Investors Love the Big Machines

In the commodity boom like the one that gripped the world over the past year, many investors see a gold mine in . . . equipment makers.

It's a far cry from Internet highflyers, but digging gold, iron ore or copper out of the ground takes huge amounts of expensive machinery, which is why the share prices of companies such as Caterpillar Inc., Terex Corp. and Japan's Komatsu Ltd. Have risen over the past year.

But among this group are two lesser-known names that are even more specific to this niche; they have the distinction of being strickly mining-machine companies. One is Bucyrus International Inc., which has soared 97% from the offering price of the company's initial public offering of stock last summer. Bucyrus makes mining drills, shovels and most of the world's "draglines," humongous machines used to move soil in open-pit mines. The other is Joy Global Inc., Bucyrus' main competitor, which has seen its stock rise 60% since the start of 2004.

The question for investors is how long the current good times will last and whether it is too late to jump into these stocks. The answer to that hinges almost entirely on what happens to commodities, which are prone to roller-coaster ups and downs. Recent attempts by China to slow its booming economy and signs of moderating prices for certain commodities have made some investors cautious.

"These stocks all across the board have had a tremendous run, so we've pulled back," says Steve Allen, portfolio manager at Preservation Capital Management LLC in Frankfort, Ill. His company doesn't hold any shares in mining-equipment makers, though they have owned them in the past. Similarly, Mark Keeley, vice president of research and marketing at Keeley Asset Management Corp. in Chicago, says his company isn't looking to add to its position in these stocks. Keeley owns shares in Joy, Bucyrus and Terex.

Headquartered only a few miles apart in greater Milwaukee, Bucyrus and Joy Global were considered industrial-age dinosaurs only a few years ago, when unprofitable mines were being closed all over the globe. Both went through bankruptcy-court procedings in the past decade but are riding high now as the revival of the world's industrial economies and the emergence of China as a major importer of raw materials have fueled a surge in commodity prices.

Joy specializes in equipment for underground mining, with roughly 70% of sales going to the coal industry world-wide. James Margard, principle at Rainier Investment Management Inc. in Seattle, says that as long as the prices of oil and natural gas stay high, there will be heavy demand for coal. And even if China's economy slows, he adds, that country is is short of power it will continue to consume vast amounts of coal even through a broader economic slowdown.

Few people see the machines made by these companies, but their work helps make possible huge gains in productivity in mines, which in turn, helps contain some of the inflationary pressures at that end of the production chain. At Bayrus, for instance, the company has developed computer systems that allow technicians on the sixth floor of the company's South Milwaukee headquarters to monitor machines anywhere in the world and help them become more efficient.

"Customers use this like film in the NFL," says Tim Sullivan, the company's president and chief executive, pointing to a computer screen showing real-time movements of a dragline in northern Canada. Mine operators can use this to pinpoint bottlenecks or help machine operators deal with problems that slow production.

But it is in the cavernous factory halls nearby the companies like this see the most obvious impact of the boom. Bucyrus, which shuttered large portions of its plant during the slump, continues to reopen buildings and said last week it plans to lease a plant nearby to handle further expansion. Outside one factory building one recent winter day stood a 65-foot-tall rotary blast-hole drill, a machine used to drill into rock and set explosives. The machine, which was going through final inspection, is destined for an iron-ore mine in Mauritania.

Across town at Joy's headquarters, Chief Financial Officer Donald Roof says his company does well when his customers do well. "U.S. coal in Appalachia is selling for $62 a ton, a year ago it was $30 or $35," he says.

Joy and Bucyrus produce a relatively small number of large machines each year, but each sells for millions of dollars. For instance, Bucyrus last year sold a dragline to Ensham Resources for use in its Australian coal-mining operation that analysts expect will generate $70 million in revenue for the equipment maker and take two years to complete. [My note: For comparison, in the Seattle paper today I read that a 737 costs about $65 million each. So, one of those big mining machines costs more than a jet airplane!!]

There is a crop of investors who are convinced that there is still upward potential. Rainier Investment's Mr. Margard is one. "What's going on in the world in terms of energy demand appears to us to have a long tail and will likely mean a lengthy cycle," he says. Joy is the largest single holding in Margard's Small/Mid-Cap Equity Portfolio mutual fund.

In 4 p.m. composite trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Bucyrus's stock eased 11 cents to $35.51, giving the company a market value of about $711 million. Shares of Joy Global, which has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, were at $27.87, up 60 cents or 2.2% each, as its 3-for-2 stock split took effect.

To be sure, nobody expects commodity prices to keep soaring. The question is whether they will simply moderate – or plunge. Eventually, enough new mining capacity will open or global demand will slump and prices will come down, and with it the stock of equipment makers. But some analysts believe the world economy has entered an extended period in which commodity prices will have higher highs as well as higher lows.

Barry Bannister, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker in Baltimore, says he expects the emergence of a vast new middle class in China and other developing regions – and the growing demand for manufactured goods that comes with it – to help bolster commodity prices until about 2015. He also sees the possibility of hoarding of commodities by users worried about shortages. Mr. Bannister has a "buy" rating on Bucyrus and Caterpillar, a "hold" rating on Joy. His company provides investment-banking services to Bucyrus. Legg Mason says it doesn't hold more than 1% in any of these three stocks.

Frank Husic, chief investment officer of Husic Capital Management in San Francisco, own shares in both Bucyrus and Joy and says he believes equipment makers have "begun a major secular bull market." He likens these investments to owning companies that make machines to make semiconductors duing the technology rally. "When semiconductors boomed in the late 1990's," he said, "you did even better in the semiconductor capital-equipment companies."

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Here's some pics of the machines - really cool, giant monster machines!!!!

Some of Bucyrus' machines . . .

http://www.bucyrus.com/680W.jpg

And here's some from P&H Mining, which is a subsidiary of Joy Global . . .

http://www.phmining.com/photos/images/9020.jpg

http://www.phmining.com/photos/images/4100xpb-1.jpg

Here's what it looks like inside of one of Joy Global's factories that makes smaller equipment:
http://www.joy.com/photo_gallery/photos/12CM12.jpg

[Bond James Bond]

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3394241

August 12, 2004
IBM Hiring Forecast Brightens
By Roy Mark

Driven by growing demand for its global business consulting services, IBM said today it would almost double the number of new hires it originally projected for 2004.

The tech bellwether said it plans to add an additional 8,800 workers to its previous forecast of 10,000 new jobs. The majority of the jobs will be in Linux services, grid computing and business transformation services, according to IBM spokesperson Clint Roswell, who added that about two-thirds of the jobs would be in business consulting.

"The number one hire is a consultant at the intersection of IT and different industries," Roswell said. "The hiring pace has accelerated. In the month of July, we added about 3,000 new jobs."

About one-third of the jobs will be based in North America with another third each in Europe and Asia.

The hiring projections do not include employees gained through acquisitions or jobs outsourced to IB