Business briefs: A biotech supermarket

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Huntsville Times

A biotech supermarket

The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology opened its doors to 12 biotech firms and lured the head of Stanford's Genomics program to accept the position of scientific director. The institute built a 260,000-square-foot center that will house biotech firms and nonprofit biotech researchers.

Jim Hudson, the institute's namesake and president, said hiring Dr. Richard Myers, an Alabama native, "completely validates what we are about.

"Rick is head of one of the top five genome centers in the world," Hudson said. "We want to be a leader in genomics, and bringing in someone of Rick's caliber was essential.

"Successfully recruiting him was the high point of the year."

Restarting a reactor

The Tennessee Valley Authority completed its ambitious restart of the Unit 1 reactor at Browns Ferry near Athens. The $1.8 billion project met the five-year schedule TVA set in May 2002, returning to service in May 2007.

Since then, the reactor has shut down a number of times, prompting federal regulators to conduct more inspections to determine why the reactor has had the unplanned trips.

Cinram's world workers

The arrival of 1,350 unskilled laborers from overseas to work at Cinram enraged community leaders and volunteers who demanded that the company, which produces and distributes DVDs at its plant in Chase Industrial Park, hire locals instead. The Toronto-based firm said it needed the temporary workers from Jamaica, Bolivia, Nepal, Ukraine and the Dominican Republic to fill increased demand during the holidays, jobs the company had been unable to fill with local workers.

Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks introduced a resolution that would repeal tax breaks for companies importing employees from other countries. Brooks later dropped references in the resolution to Cinram, which employs about 2,800 from the Madison County area. The county commission let the proposal die at its Dec. 3 meeting.

Housing prices up

Despite a national trend to the contrary, the Huntsville area's housing market remained strong in 2007, with the average home price rising from $189,872 in 2006 to $196,549 this year, an increase of 3.5 percent. Building permits throughout the county for the first nine months of the year were 2,329, down just slightly from 2,588 for the same period last year, as builders worked to ready for Pentagon job transfers without glutting the market. Foreclosures here remained low, less than 1 percent, compared with a 5.59 foreclosure rate nationwide - the highest national rate in 20 years.

Airport improvements

A $13.16 million expansion at Huntsville International Airport is under way to give passengers and visitors more waiting room, with two new wings featuring 30-foot-high windows for a view of the airfield. The project will add 14,000 square feet to the terminal, bringing the amount of public waiting space to 20,000 square feet. An expanded concession area with retail and food and beverage operations should be ready after the first of the year.

Other improvements include a parking deck addition, baggage claim expansion and new flight information displays.

Plants announce closings

Delphi Corp. said in June it will close its Limestone County plant in March 2009, cutting some 1,900 jobs. Huntsville-based Wolverine Tube announced in November it was closing its Decatur plant, which had been in operation for nearly 60 years. The company said the plant closing would eliminate 420 permanent and 50 temporary on-site jobs, as well as 40 corporate jobs.

State-of-the-art call center

Verizon Wireless' $44 million, 152,000-square-foot call center in Thornton Research Park opened in September, and one month later was ranked second among Verizon's 24 call centers in meeting quality and efficiency standards. The center, which takes about 4,000 calls a day and also houses the telecommunications giant's Alabama headquarters, has 450 employees and expects to have about 1,400 by June.

Bridge Street Town Centre

Bridge Street Town Centre at Cummings Research Park, a 100-acre development with a hotel and residences, retail shops, an office building and movie theater, opened on Nov. 1 with 15 shops. Last week, 31 merchants had opened. By early next year, the project will have about 70 stores and restaurants, a Westin Hotel and a six-story office building.

A billion-dollar deal

Huntsville-based Vintage Pharmaceuticals and its sister distribution company, Qualitest, were acquired in September by a London-based private equity firm for nearly $1 billion. The buyer, Apax Partners, said it is interested in expanding the company's reach into international markets; company founder William Propst Sr. said the deal would help ensure "the long-term employment and prosperity of our employees and benefit this great city."

Parisian becomes Belk

Belk Inc., the department store chain that first entered the Huntsville market in 1941, held grand openings on Sept. 12 at its stores - two in Huntsville and one in Decatur - that were former Parisian locations. Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk bought 38 Parisian stores in the Southeast and Midwest from Saks Inc. last year in a $285 million deal. It sold some of the stores and has renamed 25 with the Belk name.

Most of those stores have had interior renovations, with $8.5 million spent to expand and renovate the Huntsville stores, at Madison Square and Parkway Place.

Honorable mentions

Analytical Services Inc., one of the nation's fastest-growing, Hispanic-owned businesses, was purchased by Maryland-based ASRC Federal Holding Co., becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of ASRC Federal and maintaining its current size and operational structure.

Siemens AG said it would sell its VDO division, including its Huntsville operations (the former DaimlerChrysler automobile electronics plants), to Hanover, Germany-based Continental AG for about $15.67 billion. A week after the acquisition was made final in December, Continental announced it would lay off more than 200 people at the automotive electronics plant, blaming a slowdown in production at Chrysler, which represents about 85 percent of the Huntsville plant's operations.

International Truck and Engine Corp. announced plans to build a 300,000-square-foot plant to assemble new "big-bore" diesel engines for heavy-duty trucks. The $42 million plant is expected to begin production in the spring and eventually employ 175 people.

Companies move to, and expand in, Cummings Research Park: Local high-tech firm Digium in October moved into its new 60,000-square-foot building in the park. Other firms added personnel and/or announced new facilities there, including Raytheon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Sikorsky, ATK, Northrop Grumman and Rockwell Collins.

Comcast Corp. executives announced a $17 million regional call center in Huntsville that will have about 325 employees and handle an average of 400,000 calls a month from residential cable, high-speed Internet and digital phone customers regarding billing, repair and sales. The 37,000-square-foot facility at 7027 Old Madison Pike will serve a five-state region.



Business briefs: A biotech supermarket Sunday, December 30, 2007 Huntsville Times A biotech supermarket The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology opened its doors to 12 biotech firms and lured the head of Stanford's Genomics program to accept the position of scientific director. The institute built a 260,000-square-foot center that will house biotech firms and nonprofit biotech researchers. Jim Hudson, the institute's namesake and president, said hiring Dr. Richard Myers, an Alabama native, "completely validates what we are about. "Rick is head of one of the top five genome centers in the world," Hudson said. "We want to be a leader in genomics, and bringing in someone of Rick's caliber was essential. "Successfully recruiting him was the high point of the year." Restarting a reactor The Tennessee Valley Authority completed its ambitious restart of the Unit 1 reactor at Browns Ferry near Athens. The $1.8 billion project met the five-year schedule TVA set in May 2002, returning to service in May 2007. Since then, the reactor has shut down a number of times, prompting federal regulators to conduct more inspections to determine why the reactor has had the unplanned trips. Cinram's world workers The arrival of 1,350 unskilled laborers from overseas to work at Cinram enraged community leaders and volunteers who demanded that the company, which produces and distributes DVDs at its plant in Chase Industrial Park, hire locals instead. The Toronto-based firm said it needed the temporary workers from Jamaica, Bolivia, Nepal, Ukraine and the Dominican Republic to fill increased demand during the holidays, jobs the company had been unable to fill with local workers. Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks introduced a resolution that would repeal tax breaks for companies importing employees from other countries. Brooks later dropped references in the resolution to Cinram, which employs about 2,800 from the Madison County area. The county commission let the proposal die at its Dec. 3 meeting. Housing prices up Despite a national trend to the contrary, the Huntsville area's housing market remained strong in 2007, with the average home price rising from $189,872 in 2006 to $196,549 this year, an increase of 3.5 percent. Building permits throughout the county for the first nine months of the year were 2,329, down just slightly from 2,588 for the same period last year, as builders worked to ready for Pentagon job transfers without glutting the market. Foreclosures here remained low, less than 1 percent, compared with a 5.59 foreclosure rate nationwide - the highest national rate in 20 years. Airport improvements A $13.16 million expansion at Huntsville International Airport is under way to give passengers and visitors more waiting room, with two new wings featuring 30-foot-high windows for a view of the airfield. The project will add 14,000 square feet to the terminal, bringing the amount of public waiting space to 20,000 square feet. An expanded concession area with retail and food and beverage operations should be ready after the first of the year. Other improvements include a parking deck addition, baggage claim expansion and new flight information displays. Plants announce closings Delphi Corp. said in June it will close its Limestone County plant in March 2009, cutting some 1,900 jobs. Huntsville-based Wolverine Tube announced in November it was closing its Decatur plant, which had been in operation for nearly 60 years. The company said the plant closing would eliminate 420 permanent and 50 temporary on-site jobs, as well as 40 corporate jobs. State-of-the-art call center Verizon Wireless' $44 million, 152,000-square-foot call center in Thornton Research Park opened in September, and one month later was ranked second among Verizon's 24 call centers in meeting quality and efficiency standards. The center, which takes about 4,000 calls a day and also houses the telecommunications giant's Alabama headquarters, has 450 employees and expects to have about 1,400 by June. Bridge Street Town Centre Bridge Street Town Centre at Cummings Research Park, a 100-acre development with a hotel and residences, retail shops, an office building and movie theater, opened on Nov. 1 with 15 shops. Last week, 31 merchants had opened. By early next year, the project will have about 70 stores and restaurants, a Westin Hotel and a six-story office building. A billion-dollar deal Huntsville-based Vintage Pharmaceuticals and its sister distribution company, Qualitest, were acquired in September by a London-based private equity firm for nearly $1 billion. The buyer, Apax Partners, said it is interested in expanding the company's reach into international markets; company founder William Propst Sr. said the deal would help ensure "the long-term employment and prosperity of our employees and benefit this great city." Parisian becomes Belk Belk Inc., the department store chain that first entered the Huntsville market in 1941, held grand openings on Sept. 12 at its stores - two in Huntsville and one in Decatur - that were former Parisian locations. Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk bought 38 Parisian stores in the Southeast and Midwest from Saks Inc. last year in a $285 million deal. It sold some of the stores and has renamed 25 with the Belk name. Most of those stores have had interior renovations, with $8.5 million spent to expand and renovate the Huntsville stores, at Madison Square and Parkway Place. Honorable mentions Analytical Services Inc., one of the nation's fastest-growing, Hispanic-owned businesses, was purchased by Maryland-based ASRC Federal Holding Co., becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of ASRC Federal and maintaining its current size and operational structure. Siemens AG said it would sell its VDO division, including its Huntsville operations (the former DaimlerChrysler automobile electronics plants), to Hanover, Germany-based Continental AG for about $15.67 billion. A week after the acquisition was made final in December, Continental announced it would lay off more than 200 people at the automotive electronics plant, blaming a slowdown in production at Chrysler, which represents about 85 percent of the Huntsville plant's operations. International Truck and Engine Corp. announced plans to build a 300,000-square-foot plant to assemble new "big-bore" diesel engines for heavy-duty trucks. The $42 million plant is expected to begin production in the spring and eventually employ 175 people. Companies move to, and expand in, Cummings Research Park: Local high-tech firm Digium in October moved into its new 60,000-square-foot building in the park. Other firms added personnel and/or announced new facilities there, including Raytheon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Sikorsky, ATK, Northrop Grumman and Rockwell Collins. Comcast Corp. executives announced a $17 million regional call center in Huntsville that will have about 325 employees and handle an average of 400,000 calls a month from residential cable, high-speed Internet and digital phone customers regarding billing, repair and sales. The 37,000-square-foot facility at 7027 Old Madison Pike will serve a five-state region. © 2008 The Huntsville Times © 2008 al.com All Rights Reserved.