A new era of human space exploration is beginning and NASA managers will share details at the next U.S. Space & Rocket Center Pass the Torch lecture. In addition, NASA will showcase a full-scale test version of the Orion spacecraft at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Feb. 1-5.

Huntsville, AL – The Huntsville Museum of Art is proud to present a new presentation series titled Voices of Our Times. The three-event series will kick off Thursday, February 9, at 7 p.m. with Col. Matthew Bogdanos.

HUNTSVILLE, AL – Stratolaunch Systems announced today the ground breaking on a production facility and hangar at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Stratolaunch Systems, founded by Paul G. Allen, is a private aerospace development company that will construct a one-of-a-kind composite aircraft for launching medium class payloads to space.

Birmingham, AL– ServisFirst Bank has been recognized as a top performing bank in the U.S. and praised for its continued success in a difficult economy, according to the January issue of BankNews Magazine.

MTS, Huntsville, AL, successfully completed its ISO 9001:2008 audit and certification. ISO 9001:2008 is the current standard for quality management systems (QMS) worldwide.

Hartselle, AL – January 11, 2012 – Magnolia River International, Inc. has added Timothy Summey as Vice President of Civil Works and Jochen Floesser as Program Manager.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 17, 2012 – Dynetics recently achieved the most current quality management standard certification for the aerospace industry, AS9100 Rev C, for its Huntsville facilities.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 17, 2012 – Three staff members in the Dynetics Contracts Department have recently received promotions, and one new staff member has come on board. Promotions include Sallie Patterson to division manager of contracts, Paul Byrge to contracts manager and Hilary Richards to subcontracts manager. Debbie Williamson is the new purchasing manager.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Jan. 17, 2012 – Steve Lee, with more than 13 years devoted to running Dynetics’ computer operations, has been promoted to Director of Information Technology.

A recent change in the ownership structure of Torch Technologies has triggered charitable contributions from employees and shareholders. The Company converted to a 100% ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) Trust. Shares of company stock held by employees were sold back to the Trust.

HUNTSVILLE, AL – January 12, 2012 –Torch Technologies, Inc. (Torch) is pleased to announce the completion of its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) restructuring. The company has repurchased all outstanding stock owned outside the ESOP, which was the final step to complete the transition to a 100% ESOP-owned status. As of December 30, 2011, all shares had been sold back to the ESOP trust, and the company achieved its 10-year goal of 100% employee ownership.

1/6/2012 - Calhoun Community College has announced the names of those students qualifying for the President’s List and Dean’s List for the 2011 Fall Semester. Students are listed by hometowns.

Huntsville, Alabama ---- State-of-the-art equipment provided through a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) will provide Alabama A&M University students and electrical engineering professors some unparalleled research experiences.

AAMU Scientists Aiming for Better Nuclear Detection »

Huntsville, Ala. ---- Alabama A&M University researchers are using book sense, conceptual modeling and innovation to come up with improvements aimed at better nuclear detection for homeland security uses.

BID Designs will host its second annual BID-ConneX Conference on March 6 and 7 at the Jackson Center in Cummings Research Park. BID- ConneX is a business development training conference designed to connect federal contractors with the experts, tools, and processes needed to grow their business.

Huntsville, AL- enGenius Consulting Group, Inc. was founded in Atlanta GA in 1996. In the past 16 years, it has expanded to include offices in Washington DC and Huntsville AL. Six years ago the enGenius Huntsville operations expanded to include the President’s, Contracts and Proposal offices while other corporate operations remained in Atlanta. In a move to better support Redstone Arsenal customers, Huntsville will become Corporate Headquarters for the growing company in January 2012.

ATLANTA - The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding businesses in southern Alabama that working capital loans are still available to small businesses economically impacted by the severe storms, tornadoes, high winds and flooding that occurred from April 15 through May 31, 2011.

ARLINGTON, VA, January 4, 2011 – DECISIVE ANALYTICS Corporation announced today that Jess F. Granone has joined the corporation as an Employee Owner and appointed as Vice President of Huntsville Operations.

Huntsville, AL – November 29, 2011 - Ternion Corporation is pleased to announce the release of FLAMES, version 10.0. Users will find this new version both easier to use and more powerful, and developers will be able to add more custom capability with even less effort.

Decatur, Ala. – Red Sage Communications, Inc., of Decatur, Alabama received three international web awards from the Web Marketing Associations' International WebAwards competition, including a Marketing Standard of Excellence Award for their own website. Over 2,000 websites in 96 industry categories from 45 different countries were submitted in the 2011 competition.

December 15, 2011 – Deloris Smothers was named 2011-2012 Administrative Professional of the Year by the Huntsville Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) during a special ceremony.

HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA (December 22, 2011)–Becky Murphy, CPA, tax manager and Mark Pryzbysz, CPA, a senior tax accountant with Decosimo Certified Public Accountants (Decosimo), will be presenting a tax update for small businesses at the January Power! Lunch hosted by The Women’s Business Center of North Alabama (WBCNA) and sponsored by Diversified Business Solutions. The presentation will be held at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce 225 Church St. on Jan. 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Huntsville, AL (December 13, 2011) — Stratolaunch Systems, with corporate headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama, publicly announced today their quest to pioneer an air-launch space transportation system through design and development of the largest aircraft ever flown.

Huntsville, Ala. ---- An Alabama A&M University researcher and his colleagues have won a major contract from the Army Research Office. Dr. Satilmis Budak, an AAMU electrical engineering associate professor, is the lead on a contract involving improvements to thermoelectric power generation and cooling systems.

12/21/2011 - BP Decatur recently presented the Calhoun Community College Foundation with a newly endowed scholarship. The BP EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP will give priority to a Calhoun student who is a graduate of the 100 Black Men of America program.

Registration for 2012 Spring Semester Continues at Calhoun Students planning to attend Calhoun Community College for the 2012 spring semester still have time to register before the beginning of classes on Monday, January 9, 2012. Spring semester registration will re-open Thursday, December 15, 2011, and run through Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Please join NAITA in welcoming Major General Turner, Commanding General of USASAC – the Army's focal point for Foreign Military Sales – to North Alabama and in learning about this strategic command’s impact on our community. MG Turner will provide the keynote address for the NAITA Annual Meeting, sponsored by the Port of Huntsville and Excelerate.

HUNTSVILLE, AL, Dec 14, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Camber Corporation announces that John Lord has joined the company as the Senior Vice President and Manager of Contracts and Pricing. In this role, Lord is responsible for managing the corporation's contracts, procurement and pricing organizations, as well as providing strategic advice, and coordinating all legal and security activity.

Huntsville, AL, December 7 – QTEC, Inc. ‐ a Huntsville‐based systems engineering support firm has been recognized for superior performance in support of Northrop Grumman Information Systems as part of the team developing and sustaining the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Systems for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). QTEC provides program management, systems engineering, and operations and sustainment support.

HUNTSVILLE, AL – John Harbison will join Huntsville Country Club as its new General Manager & Director of Golf. Harbison has over 30 years of golf management and club operations experience, most recently as the General Manager of The Prairie Club in Valentine, Nebraska, which was named by Golf Week as “One of the Top 25 Golf Resorts in the United States.”

Emerging Education Franchise Secures 23 Territories in Texas to Total 29 Franchise Locations in First Year of Franchising

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – (Dec. 12, 2011) – According to Steve Caldeira, CEO of the International Franchising Association, in regards to successful businesses, franchising is doing better than most industries due to its proven business model with 40 percent growth over the past decade.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Research shows that only 57 percent of students who take the ACT more than once will increase their composite score on the test. Focused on changing the way Americans learn, Appleton Learning, a private education organization that provides individualized tutoring, test preparation, academic testing and assessments for students of all ages, announces a scholarship program to encourage junior and senior high school students to challenge that stat and improve their ACT scores as much as possible.

(HUNTSVILLE, AL – December 7, 2011) IERUS Technologies is pleased to announce the Small Business Administration has recognized IERUS as a HUBZone company. This designation is for companies that meet specific employment criteria ensuring contracting and employment opportunities are available in underutilized and underemployed regions. IERUS Technologies is now eligible to receive HUBZone contracting opportunities.

Madison, AL (December 7, 2011) – SEA Wire and Cable, Inc., a leading Military/Aerospace Wire and Cable distributor, announces the promotion of Marty Clark to President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Marty will be responsible for the strategic direction and daily operations for SEA.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., (Dec. 13, 2011) - LINE-X Protective Coatings, the nation’s leading developer and provider of high performance protective coatings, has “officially” been confirmed as the ultimate protection against C-4 live-fire explosions and police dog attacks.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Today, the National Institute for Rocket Propulsion Systems, or NIRPS, named four expert teams to tackle a series of key challenges facing the rocket propulsion industrial base. NIRPS is being established to maintain the nation's leadership in rocket and missile propulsion that is being threatened by industry downsizing, a shortage of new propulsion programs and the ability to attract and retain fresh talent.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Dr. Frank Six, assistant manager of the Academic Affairs Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., recently was honored with the Dr. Wernher von Braun Aerospace Educator Award for his outstanding contribution to Alabama aerospace education.

HUNTSVILLE, AL – Oakwood University had successfully completed the actions necessary to be registered as an ISO 9001 certified organization, making it the first and only historically black college or university (HBCU) to achieve such recognition.

Arcata Associates, Inc. received NASA’s 2011 Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year Award for its work on the Research Facilities and Engineering Support Services (RF&ESS) contract at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), Edwards, Calif. It is the second time in four years that Arcata has received this prestigious honor.

The Alabama Quality Award panel of judges has designated 11 organizations as recipients of the 2011 Alabama Quality Awards, honoring them for quality and performance excellence, among the 11 recipients, two are Chamber members.

Birmingham, AL - November 18, 2011—al.com, Alabama’s largest website with 2.8 million unique monthly visitors,* has launched a FREE iPad app with real-time local news, sports, entertainment, business, and opinion articles, photos and classifieds—powered by The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and Press-Register. The al.com iPad app is available in the iTunes App Store.

Huntsville, AL, November 15, 2011 – EpiQ (pronounced as ‘epic’) - a Huntsville-based technology development firm has been recognized for superior performance in support of Northrop Grumman Information Systems as part of the team developing the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) for the United States Army. EpiQ provides specialized support and services in the areas of Operational Subject Matter Expertise/Product Championship and Lifecycle Software Systems Engineering & Development.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Nov. 18, 2011 – One year ago on Nov. 19, 2010, FASTSAT-HSV01, the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite, successfully launched aboard a Minotaur IV rocket from Kodiak, Alaska. The micro-satellite, developed by Dynetics in partnership with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation (VCSI), has met significant milestones since its launch, resulting in an extension on orbit through April 2012.

On December 9th and 10th 2011, The Arts Council, Inc. will host nationally recognized sculptors Austin Collins and Craig Wedderspoon for a series of special events. This is a collaborative effort to raise awareness of public art including the eleven sculptures currently on the UA Huntsville campus and the thirteen sculptures located in downtown Huntsville.

HUNTSVILLE, AL – Huntsville’s Aeolians Choir of Oakwood University took top honors for second straight year, as the top choir at an historically black college or university (HBCU) at the November 4 iSing College Choir Scholarship Challenge, at the Reid Temple AME Church, Glenn Dale, MD.

Huntsville, AL - All across the U.S., fall season is synonymous with football. America gets “football fever” as college and professional teams hit the gridiron each week. Thanksgiving marks a time each November when football really takes hold as a brief break from work allows people time to enjoy friends, family, food, and football.

Surprise your children, grandchildren, family members, neighbors, students and friends with a personalized letter from Santa Claus. Each letter includes acknowledgement of a recent accomplishment and mention of a gift your special someone will definitely be receiving for Christmas.

Huntsville’s Village of Providence prepares for a Holiday celebration like no other. This year, in support of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, they will be collecting unwrapped toys to donate to help less fortunate children experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources – our children.

[Huntsville, AL] - The Alabama Career Center of Huntsville has partnered with the Women's Business Center of North Alabama (WBCNA) to provide office space to Veterans who want to start their own business.

Huntsville, Ala. ---- An Alabama A&M University community and regional planning professor is among a group undergoing the final considerations for membership on a chief panel of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

November 7, 2011 – Huntsville, AL – Cybersecurity threats originate somewhere and this year’s Rocket City Geospatial Conference will convene a plenary session on how location technology will be used to identify and map attacks. The City of Huntsville’s cybersecurity initiative, CyberHuntsville, offers a model through which to examine this important topic.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., (Nov. 15, 2011) – LINE-X Protective Coatings, the nation’s leading developer and provider of high performance protective coatings, recently returned from a very successful 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association Show (SEMA) show and is excited to announce that the LINE-X PREMIUM coated Ford F-150 SVT Raptor was awarded “Hottest Truck” notoriety.

Calhoun Community College recently received $5,000 from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Corporate Contributions fund for the college’s Criminal Justice program.

November 1, 2011 - Huntsville, Al. - The fifth annual Rocket City Geospatial Conference will host Spencer Collier, the director of Homeland Security for the state of Alabama, and Art Faulkner, the director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

HUNTSVILLE (November 4, 2011) – Ruth’s Chris Steak House celebrated its 5th anniversary in Huntsville by recognizing seventeen team members who have been with the company since the Huntsville restaurant’s opening on October 23, 2006.

On November 18, 2011, pARTy makes its return at 7:30 p.m. in the beautiful home of Linda & Gus Morard in The Ledges. The host home is transformed by the volunteer committee and TAC staff into a gallery showcasing over 200 works of art for purchase.This biennial fundraiser is Huntsville’s most innovative art sale and last chance until 2013 to purchase the work of selected regional artists. This year’s pARTy boasts a first-time ever silent auction of a textile piece by artist, Betty Grisham, an Alabama-native and lifetime patron, advocate, and volunteer for the arts.

Huntsville/Decatur, Alabama – Calhoun Community College, in partnership with PeopleTec, Inc., today announced the awarding of a 5-year, $18,833,652 contract from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) to fund the Adaptive Robotics Technology for Space, Air and Missiles (ART-SAM) program. Team funding for the project’s first year will be awarded in the amount of $2,717,990.

HUNTSVILLE--As minority students and women are gravitating away from science and engineering toward other professions, and employment in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields are increasing at a faster pace than in non-STEM fields, educational experts say the U.S. must increase proficiency and interest in these areas to compete in the global economy.