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Huntsville Economic Development

jmanhsv

By jmanhsv
in Huntsville-Decatur

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jmanhsv Hamlet

jmanhsv

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Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne is expanding its Huntsville operations. The company announced that it was consolidating its rocket engine operations to Huntsville. 200 engneering jobs are expected to come here, with 40-50% of the jobs coming from the company's Florida and California operations, which are being consolidated into the Huntsville office. Pratt and Whitney's engines are being used on the Ares I, the crew launch vehicle that NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon in 2018.

Huntsville Times article

I bet this will be the first of MANY companies relocating to the Huntsville area in the next decade because of NASA's moon and Mars programs.

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HSVTiger Hamlet

HSVTiger

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1,300 jobs coming to Huntsville

Verizon Wireless will build a "headquarters and service center" with 1,300 jobs in Huntsville, Gov. Bob Riley and company officials announced today.

Riley said the company will build a $44 million, 150,000 square foot center in Cummings Research Park. The jobs are expected to pay about $10 per hour.

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rnc Whistle-Stop

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I thought the research park was suppose to be for "research"? What other major companies there pay their employees $10/hour and are doing service related work? I don't know, that seems like a perfect fit for an office downtown, not the research park. I would think the city could have made a pretty attractive package for them to build something downtown. Personally, I don't think 1300 jobs that pay $10 an hour is that big of a deal for Huntsville.

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AlabamaGuy2007 Hamlet

AlabamaGuy2007

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I thought the research park was suppose to be for "research"? What other major companies there pay their employees $10/hour and are doing service related work? I don't know, that seems like a perfect fit for an office downtown, not the research park. I would think the city could have made a pretty attractive package for them to build something downtown. Personally, I don't think 1300 jobs that pay $10 an hour is that big of a deal for Huntsville.

No research park is a true research park. Research parks are really just places where high tech companies and huge Fortune 500 companies locate. The utilities are usually very advanced, and the places look like, well, a park. So, RPs are just really nice, convenient places that companies like to locate.

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rnc Whistle-Stop

rnc

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I understand the concept of the research park, I'm an engineer and do work with companies on the park regularly. However, is there any other employer near that size on the park that isn't doing R&D, program management for defense/aerospace, or high-tech manufacturing? The land out there isn't cheap, it seems a little odd to build a Verizon call center surrounded by Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, BAE... Maybe the Bridge Street development was part of the attraction.

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AlabamaGuy2007 Hamlet

AlabamaGuy2007

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I understand the concept of the research park, I'm an engineer and do work with companies on the park regularly. However, is there any other employer near that size on the park that isn't doing R&D, program management for defense/aerospace, or high-tech manufacturing? The land out there isn't cheap, it seems a little odd to build a Verizon call center surrounded by Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, BAE... Maybe the Bridge Street development was part of the attraction.

Ehhh, I don't know. Judging by where Verizon has built all of it's other large buildings, think it's more of just where looks the best. They've got a HUGE, I mean HUGE, office building in Alpharretta, GA off of Old Milton. Land there is really not cheap, compared to Cummings, I'd say it's more expensive. Think about it though, do you think that Verizon would locate somewhere like the Mallard Fox Creek Industrial Park?? Nope. The article said Huntsville was up against some steep competition, so, the area had to have it's best foot forward.

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rnc Whistle-Stop

rnc

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Ehhh, I don't know. Judging by where Verizon has built all of it's other large buildings, think it's more of just where looks the best. They've got a HUGE, I mean HUGE, office building in Alpharretta, GA off of Old Milton. Land there is really not cheap, compared to Cummings, I'd say it's more expensive. Think about it though, do you think that Verizon would locate somewhere like the Mallard Fox Creek Industrial Park?? Nope. The article said Huntsville was up against some steep competition, so, the area had to have it's best foot forward.

At some point land in the research park will run out. When Lockheed Martin (fill in the company) wants to expand and add 1000 more jobs paying an average of $30+/hour but we have companies like Verizon taking up space paying $10/hour, what do we do, tell Lockheed to find somewhere else in town? BRAC is coming to town adding thousands of jobs and the associated contractor facilities will need space on the research park. There is plenty of available land for offices around town outside of Mallard Fox Creek Industrial Park. I just don't think it is wise for the future of the park to start selling off properties to non-technical, low paying companies, when Huntsville is getting ready to explode with BRAC coming to town.

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Shawn35816 Unincorporated Area

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Actually Verizon is not locating in the Cummings Research Park but the Thornton Research Park. Thornton has a huge DirecTV call center in it and probably other call centers. Face it though the Research Parks will run out of space and when that happens Huntsville is bound to be known as a nice place for companies to start or locate. By then companies will be falling over themselves trying to put a facility in and around Huntsville.

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HSVTiger Hamlet

HSVTiger

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Actually Verizon is not locating in the Cummings Research Park but the Thornton Research Park. Thornton has a huge DirecTV call center in it and probably other call centers. Face it though the Research Parks will run out of space and when that happens Huntsville is bound to be known as a nice place for companies to start or locate. By then companies will be falling over themselves trying to put a facility in and around Huntsville.

that is a valid concern, but there still is a large amount of land available in the park. HSV already has that

reputation, one reason we are seeing at least 10 large projects under construction or planned in the park.

This is why I think a core of high tech, high rise buildings downtown,(north of Clinton, south of I-565)

would be perfect for smaller companies (100 or so employess) link it with Cummings by high speed rail.

Research Park/Downtown.

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jmanhsv Hamlet

jmanhsv

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More on this will be announced by Governor Riley tomorrow. From the Huntsville Times:

"A new 300,000-square-foot facility for International Diesel of Alabama is to be built near its existing plant in Jetplex Industrial Park near Huntsville International Airport.

According to sources familiar with the project, diesel engines for heavy-duty trucks will be built at the new location.

An announcement for the new facility and the number of jobs it will create is to be made Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 by Gov. Bob Riley at the existing plant. International currently has about 500 workers at its plant here."

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jmanhsv Hamlet

jmanhsv

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175 jobs, should begin production by 2008

International to build new engines, add 175 jobs

International Truck and Engine Corp. said today it will build its new "big-bore" truck diesel engines at a 300,000-square-foot plant near its existing Huntsville plant, International Diesel of Alabama LLC, at Jetplex Industrial Park near Huntsville International Airport.

The engines will serve the Class 8 truck market, the largest commercial truck segment in North America.

About 175 employees are expected to work at the new plant, where full production is to begin in Huntsville in the spring of 2008.

Marian Accardi

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HSVTiger Hamlet

HSVTiger

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http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/04/news/inter...sion=2007010406

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. may name a site in the southern United States for its eighth North American assembly plant as early as this month, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Toyota (Charts) is considering three to five locations, including Chattanooga, Tenn., and Marion, Ark., the Journal said.

Other sources told the paper that locations near Alamo, Tenn., and in North Carolina also are possibilities.

The new plant would have annual manufacturing capacity of 200,000 vehicles and start production in 2009, sources told the Journal.

Toyota will likely expand its existing engine-manufacturing facilities in the United States, most likely by beefing up its engine plant in Alabama, the Journal said, citing sources.

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nowensone Burg

nowensone

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Was just discussing this at lunch since NC is a possibility, though SC typically wins those battles when NC is in consideration. I am wondering why they don't just occupy one of the plants that are being vacated by Ford and GM. There would need to be some retrofitting, but otherwise cheaper than building a whole new facility. Or is that assumption wrong? If a retrofitting can be done then I would vote for Atlanta winning the Toyota expansion.

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Huntsville_secede Whistle-Stop

Huntsville_secede

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Was just discussing this at lunch since NC is a possibility, though SC typically wins those battles when NC is in consideration. I am wondering why they don't just occupy one of the plants that are being vacated by Ford and GM. There would need to be some retrofitting, but otherwise cheaper than building a whole new facility. Or is that assumption wrong? If a retrofitting can be done then I would vote for Atlanta winning the Toyota expansion.
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nowensone Burg

nowensone

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Am referring to the assembly plants of which Ford is closing it's St. Louis, Wixom MI and Atlanta plants, and GM it's Doraville GA, Spring Hill TN and Oklahoma City OK. As of the latest I've seen, most jobs to be cut are in the South, though that could be out of date.

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