January 10, 2024 - Southern Business & Development

For NS, $3.1B in 2023 Economic Development

Posted on January 10, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

The projects created more than 4,150 new jobs, according to NS.

Scout Motors was among the customers in 2023 tapping the railroad’s industrial development and automotive logistics expertise, as the company announced it would invest $2 billion in a new Richland County, S.C.-based electric vehicle (EV) automotive manufacturing facility. Other EV activity located along NS lines, or with a short line partner, in 2023 include: General Motors and Samsung SDI’s $3 billion-plus investment in New Carlisle, Ind., to build an EV battery cell plant, which is expected to open in 2026; Albemarle’s $1.3 billion investment in a lithium hydroxide “Mega-Flex” facility in Chester County, S.C.; and Ford’s investment in Marshall, Mich., working with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited to build lithium iron phosphate batteries.

Metals and construction, and agriculture are among other growth areas for NS, the railroad said. Anchor Ingredients, for instance, announced in 2023 that it would invest $40 million in a new Richmond, Ind.-based pet food ingredient facility.

NS reported that it provided industrial development support to the following companies that began or boosted their rail service last year:

Pure Cycle: Investing $363 million in Lawrence County, Ohio, for a new polypropylene recycling plant.
Idaho Forest Group, LLC.: Investing $120 million in Lamar County, Miss., for a new lumber mill. NS’s partnership with the Mississippi Development Authority, Area Development Partnership, and local officials to support the company is “a prime example of how critical collaboration is to shared success,” according to the Class I. Because of that collaboration, Idaho Forest Group added nearly 200 new jobs in the region, and in November NS moved its first carloads.
International Paper: Investing $100 million in Chester County, Pa., for a new corrugated packaging plant.
Church & Dwight: Investing $50 million in Seneca County, Ohio, to expand its cat litter production plant.
Jasper Forest Products: Investing $45 million in Walker County, Ala., to expand its lumber facility.
Hollingshead Cement (a materials division of SRM Concrete): Investing $9.5 million in Delaware County, Ind., for a new cement distribution terminal.
Home Depot: Investing $8.5 million in Mecklenburg County, N.C., for a new rail-served lumber distribution facility.

Also in 2023, the Class I reported furthering other “strategic real estate investments and public-private partnerships.” They include:

NS entering into a lease agreement with Norfolk, Va.-based Fairwinds Landing, LLC, which it said will create “a world-class maritime operations and logistics center that supports the offshore wind, defense and transportation industries.” In 2023, stakeholders broke ground on the center, where Dominion Energy Inc. will be the flagship tenant, and the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the project a $39.3 million Port Infrastructure Development Grant.
NS selling 16.7 acres to Colonial Terminals for the development of breakbulk infrastructure along the Savannah River in Georgia. The new NS-served facility, it said, will allow more than a million tons of throughput. The facility, which is expected to open this year, will also support the development of a new wide-span berth to move steel, paper, and other forest products, and will be capable of handling any general breakbulk cargo, according to the railroad.

According to NS, 2023 also marked the addition of 41 new rail-served industrial development sites that are included on its database, NSites, which debuted in 2021.

“At Norfolk Southern, our customer service extends beyond the track,” NS Vice President Business Development and Real Estate Kathleen Smith said. “In partnership with our customers and allies in economic development, we are committed to unlocking the full value of rail to our nation’s supply chain. Together, our shared mission is to create a more environmentally friendly economic ecosystem that benefits communities along our 22-state network and yields smart, sustainable growth opportunities for our customers.”

“Scout Motors is planning a state-of-the-art production facility in South Carolina that brings together cutting-edge automotive manufacturing technology and logistics operations,” Scout Motors Vice President of Growth Cody Thacker said. “Norfolk Southern is an important link in the supply chain for Scout Motors that served as a valuable early planning partner and collaborator. Incorporating inbound and outbound rail service will allow Scout Motors to sustainably handle rapid production growth, to remain sensitive to the communities surrounding the plant, and to deliver hundreds of thousands of Scout trucks and SUVs to consumers across America.”

Railway Age

Terri Bradshaw named Vice President of State Economic Development Association

Posted on January 10, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Association for Economic Development (KAED) announced that Terri Bradshaw—an industry leader with three decades of experience spanning the economic and workforce development sectors—has been selected to become its next Vice President.

“We are elated to have Terri Bradshaw serve in this key leadership position,” said KAED President and CEO Haley McCoy. “Her extensive expertise and genuine commitment to KAED have been demonstrated over the years through her various roles in the association—from Executive Director of KIDC to serving as Secretary/Treasurer of our Foundation Board. I look forward to working alongside Terri in this new capacity and at this important time in Kentucky’s economic development history.”

KAED is Kentucky’s official economic development association, founded to represent diverse professionals across the Commonwealth who share a common interest in building and growing Kentucky. It is Kentucky’s premier professional development provider, a meaningful partner in Kentucky’s economic development and an advocate for practitioners of the state.

The Lane Report

Nation’s Top Economists Are Short-Term Happy, Long-Term Glum

Posted on January 10, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

SAN ANTONIO—The good news: the U.S. is headed for growth this year, not recession. The bad news: there is as yet little prospect growth will be any better than before the pandemic.

That, for now, is the consensus of economists speaking at the annual meeting of the discipline’s largest association.

A year earlier, when the American Economic Association met in New Orleans, attendees wrung their hands over their collective failure to spot the rise of inflation before it got out of hand, and assumed it would take higher unemployment and a recession to get it down.

This year, they are grappling with an entirely different question: how did they underestimate the prospects for what increasingly looks like a soft landing—tamed inflation without a recession? On Friday, the Labor Department reported payrolls rose solidly in December and unemployment remained close to a half-century low at 3.7%. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires expect the Labor Department to report on Thursday that consumer prices rose 3.3% in December from a year earlier.

The Wall Street Journal

Why the Southeast Is Winning EV Projects, With More on the Way

Posted on January 10, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

The southeastern United States has become a focal point for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and their suppliers as automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) place their bets on EV plants that will usher in the EV era. These new plants are essential to the long-term growth plans of the OEMs, and a company’s location decision is particularly critical.

Key Considerations for EV Projects
The Southeast has already landed a significant number of new EV projects from both OEMs and their suppliers, and it is very likely to win even more. Like many competitive economic development projects, key factors for EV projects include logistics and supply chain, available and trained workforce, real estate, utilities, and incentives. When OEMs and their suppliers weigh these factors in their location decisions, the Southeast emerges as an ideal location. Moreover, southeastern states are making a concerted effort to land these projects as they represent the next generation of major domestic automotive manufacturing.

Area Development

From Alabama to space: ULA’s Vulcan rocket blasts off on inaugural mission

Posted on January 10, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

APE CANAVERAL, Florida — United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket lifted off for the first time early this morning on a mission that marked a new era of space capabilities for the company’s Alabama-made rockets.

ULA said the successful launch of the Vulcan took place at 2:18 a.m. EST today from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Payloads are heading to the Moon and include the ashes of several deceased “Star Trek” celebrities.

“Vulcan’s inaugural launch ushers in a new, innovative capability to meet the ever-growing requirements of space launch,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO.

ULA assembles the Vulcan rocket at its sprawling factory in Decatur, where it has also built the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles being replaced by Vulcan.

ULA and its partner, Beyond Gravity, which makes payload fairings, are expanding the Decatur production site through projects valued at $350 million that will create a total of 200 jobs.

Vulcan’s first certification flight (Cert-1) mission included two payloads: Astrobotic’s first Peregrine Lunar Lander, Peregrine Mission One (PM1), as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface, and the Celestis Memorial Spaceflights deep space Voyager mission, the Enterprise Flight.

“The successful development and flight of this evolutionary rocket is a true testament to the unrivaled dedication and ingenuity of our workforce,” said Mark Peller, vice president of Vulcan Development.

“Vulcan’s purpose-built design leverages the best of what we’ve learned from more than 120 combined years of launch experience with Atlas and Delta, ultimately advancing our nation’s space capability and providing unprecedented mission flexibility,” he added.

ALABAMA DNA

ULA partner Beyond Gravity had four components on the Vulcan rocket: payload fairings, heat shield, interstage adapter and payload adapter.

“We started product development in 2015 and now are scaling up our production facilities in Alabama with our second factory coming online soon. The team of engineers and technicians have done a great job the last few years supporting this launch,” said Beyond Gravity Executive Vice President of Launchers Paul Horstink.

The Vulcan has another strong Alabama connection. Powering the new Vulcan rocket are Blue Origin’s BE-4 rockets, produced at the space flight company’s factory in Huntsville.

“The inaugural mission of ULA’s Vulcan rocket is another milestone that speaks to the immense contribution that Alabama’s aerospace workforce makes to the advancement of the nation’s space program,” said Ellen McNair, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“This is a great day for America, and a great day for the ULA workers in Decatur, Alabama who made this possible.”

ULA has sold more than 70 Vulcan launches to date, including 38 missions for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband satellite program and multiple national security space launch missions.

Amazon plans to deploy more than 3,200 Kuiper satellites over more than 80 missions, with ULA rockets booked for over half of those missions. Read about ULA’s first Kuiper mission.

MadeInAlabama.com