Defense and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. appears to be expanding in Fort Worth.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) signed a lease for 136,165 square feet of industrial space at Fort West Commerce Center at 3101 NW Centre Drive in Northwest Fort Worth, according to Dallas-based real estate firm Holt Lunsford Commercial.
The newly built, three-building industrial park along Interstate 820 includes 531,601 square feet of space on about 32 acres.
The company said the new space will primarily be used as a storage facility.
The Maryland-based company has been pumping out aircraft from its Fort Worth factory about seven miles away at 1 Lockheed Blvd. since World War II.
The plant specializes in the production of the F-35 fighter aircraft and employs about 18,000 workers, according to a report last year from the U.S. Department of Energy.
A defense appropriations bill approved by the U.S. House in September included funding for production of 86 new F-35 aircraft out of the Fort Worth plant, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — A firearms manufacturer on Thursday announced a $30 million expansion of its facility in western Arkansas, a project expected to create 76 new jobs over the next five years.
Walther Manufacturing said its expansion in Fort Smith will begin in the first quarter of this year and will add 40,000 square feet to its existing 185,000 square foot facility.
“Walther Manufacturing is making a substantial investment in our Fort Smith factory to facilitate the expansion of our research development and manufacturing of U.S.-produced firearms and accessories,” Tom Goike, Walther Manufacturing President and CEO, said in a news release.
Walther established its operations in Arkansas in 2012, making Fort Smith its U.S. headquarters. Walther Manufacturing is the fabrication entity that manufactures all U.S.-based products for the companies Walther Arms and Umarex USA. All three companies share a campus in Fort Smith.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders met with the company during her European trade mission last year. Walther is receiving $300,000 in incentives from the state, along with sales tax refunds and rebates based on the payroll for new employees, according to the state Economic Development Commission.
The policies on returning to the office versus working from home vary widely among different workforces and companies.
Here’s what a few of metro Atlanta’s largest and highest-profile companies have to say about their policies for returning to the office:
Coca-Cola Co.
“Our purpose, to refresh the world and make a difference, is best served when we are together in person, more often. We strive to cultivate a culture and environment that optimizes the synergy of in-person collaboration with the flexibility provided by remote work. To achieve this balance, our collective commitment is to come together in person a minimum of three days a week, either in the office, out in the market, or in face-to-face meetings with teams, customers, partners, suppliers or bottlers.”
Dominion Energy North Carolina, a subsidiary of Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D), acquired 504 acres in Person County in recent weeks, according to county deed records and confirmed by Dominion spokeswoman Persida Montanez. The total price for the land across different parcels comes out to more than $12 million. It will be used to build the Moriah Energy Center off Helena Moriah Road southeast of Roxboro.
Montanez said the company will break ground on the liquified natural gas storage facility some time in the first quarter of this year.
Qcells has agreed to supply the tech giant Microsoft with 12 gigawatts of solar panels that will be built at its second north Georgia factory, in what the companies say is the largest such deal in U.S. history.
Last year, Qcells announced it had reached a deal to provide Microsoft with 2.5 gigawatts of solar capacity, enough to power 400,000 homes. The new agreement, which runs through 2032, is a major expansion of that partnership: Counting the 2.5 gigawatts that was previously announced, Qcells will now provide Microsoft with enough solar modules to power 1.8 million homes annually over the next eight years.
The deal gives Qcells’ still-under-construction Cartersville plant a major customer for the panels it will build when it opens later this year.
Unlike its existing Dalton factory — which recently completed an expansion allowing it to crank out 30,000 panels a day — the Cartersville factory will boast a fully-integrated solar manufacturing supply chain, capable of producing everything from solar ingots and wafers to cells and finished panels. The company has said the new plant will create 2,000 jobs in and around Bartow County.
The Greater Memphis Chamber was recently selected to participate in a workforce development program with the goal of increasing credentialing for justice-impacted individuals.
The Greater Memphis Chamber is one of nine organizations chosen by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). The ACCE Equitable Credential Attainment Cohort will be made up of the Chamber and its partners, including the Shelby County Office of Re-Entry, Tennessee College of Applied Technology Memphis, and Southwest Tennessee Community College.
The cohort plans to work with Memphians who were convicted, incarcerated, detained, or otherwise affected by the justice system to earn industry-approved credentials that will qualify them for high-quality skilled careers.
Alabama’s labor force participation rate ticked up to 57.2% in December, an increase of .1 percentage point from November.
And more “prime-age” workers, those ages 25 to 54, were working last month. Their labor participation rate rose from 78.4% to 78.5%, the Alabama Department of Labor announced today.
ADISON CO., Miss. (WLBT) – Comments made Thursday afternoon at the Mississippi State Capitol could be signs a major economic development project is in the works for Madison County.
Members of the Black Caucus said they weren’t opposed to economic development, but said they’d like to see more economic development for the areas they represent.
“They’ll probably be an economic development project for Madison County next week,” said Rep. Robert Johnson, the House minority leader. “And they would tell Bryant Clark and Holmes County, ‘Oh, that will help your area because you drive over to Madison County and take advantage of those jobs.”
Clark represents Attala, Holmes, and Yazoo Counties. He also is a member of the Black Caucus.
“If they could drive over to Madison County, let them drive over to Holmes County,” Johnson continued. “He has all the land, all the resources, all the workforce development training you need. Let somebody drive to our areas and take advantage.”
It’s unclear what type of project Johnson was referring to.
Joey Deason, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority, would not comment.
During his press conference, Gov. Tate Reeves didn’t speak specifically on Madison County.
However, he did say more economic development news could be coming down the pipeline.
“I don’t think this is going to be the last announcement made of a major economic development project in the great state of Mississippi,” he said. “We’ve had some tremendous prospects and projects west of I-55 over the last four years, and it is my expectation we’re going to continue to see wins east of I-55, west of I-55, north of I-20, and south of I-20 because we’ve got good people in every region of our state.”
“I can’t guarantee you where the next project may locate, but I can tell you this: I’m real confident that wherever the next project comes, most people are going to be happy about it.”
Wells Fargo is starting to see losses roll in from commercial real estate loans going bad, especially in the troubled office sector, a top executive said. But so far, the bank isn’t seeing the stress spread to other types of commercial real estate in its loan portfolio.
“It’s a long movie. We’re past the opening credits, but we’re still in the beginning of the movie,” Mike Santomassimo, Wells Fargo’s (NYSE: WFC) chief financial officer, said on the bank’s earnings call last week. “It’s going to take some time for this to play out.”
Commercial real estate was a topic that analysts kept circling back to on the bank’s earnings call. Wells Fargo’s commercial loan charge-offs were spread among a number of properties across the country rather than being concentrated in a few properties or markets.
A tri-venture of big brand names in American commercial trucking plan to build a $1.9 billion battery facility, bringing 2,000 jobs to Marshall County.
State of Mississippi legislators approved a $365 million incentive package to finalize the deal this afternoon. The operation would produce batteries for medium and heavy duty commercial electric trucks and industrial applications. It is set to be located in the 3,600-acre Chickasaw Trails Industrial Park near U.S. Hwy. 72, Miss. Hwy. 302, and I-269 in Byhalia, Mississippi. Jobs are expected to have an average wage of $66,000.
The three publicly traded companies of the tri-venture are Cummins, Daimler Truck, and Paccar. Work is set to begin this spring or summer, with a targeted launch date of 2027.
.jpg)
