Southern Nuclear taps CEO to oversee Alabama, Georgia plants

Posted on by Michael Randle

Peter Sena, president of Southern Nuclear, will take over as chairman and CEO of the Southern Co. subsidiary.

Sena will replace Stephen Kuczynski, who plans to retire on June 28, Southern Co. announced.

Kuczynski joined Southern Nuclear in 2011 and was part of the utility’s efforts to bring Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 online.

“For more than a decade, Stephen has led Southern Nuclear and the entire industry in the pursuit of nuclear innovation, overseeing the premier performance of our nuclear power plants while ensuring Vogtle Units 3 and 4 were constructed safely and brought online,” said Southern Co. CEO Chris Womack in a prepared statement.

In his new role, Sena will be responsible for the utility’s three nuclear plants, Plant Farley in Alabama and Plants Hatch and Vogtle in Georgia. Sena joined the utility in 2019 as executive vice president and chief nuclear officer. He was appointed as president in 2023.

Birmingham Business Journal

Read More

City incentives approved for large manufacturing project

Posted on by Michael Randle

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United is making moves for its new headquarters and received a boost from the city for it this week.

The company plans to clean the site and redevelop the former Stockham Valve Property located at 1101 40th St. N. for use as a “corporate campus which is expected to include a new corporate headquarters, a state-of-the-art sales, distribution and warehousing center, region, division and local offices and a customer call center,” according to public records.

The Birmingham City Council gave the approval Tuesday for tax incentives to include construction of an access road to the site and funding of up to $400,000 for water infrastructure improvements. The city has been awarded $2 million in Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program funds and $2.1 million in Industrial Access Road and Bridge Grant funds for the access road work, according to a public notice about the hearing.

Birmingham Business Journal

Read More

Coca-Cola plans $338 million Birmingham headquarters you can see ‘from the sky’

Posted on by Michael Randle

Coca-Cola United continues to move closer to building a new $338 million campus that will be a gateway to Birmingham, city and company officials said today.

“It’s going to be phenomenal,” Coca-Cola United CEO Mike Suco said Tuesday after the City Council approved incentives for the project. “It will welcome everybody to Birmingham. You’ll love it.”

The City of Birmingham on Tuesday approved a development agreement with Coca-Cola Bottling Company United-Central LLC that will provide incentives for Coca-Cola keeping its new headquarters in Birmingham on the site of the former Stockham Valve property.

“You’re going to be able to see Coca-Cola from the interstate and you’re going to be able to see it from the sky,” said Cornell Wesley, director of innovation and economic opportunity for the City of Birmingham.

AL.com

Read More

From anonymity to Montgomery Whitewater, winning the $800 million Meta data center took Alabama teamwork

Posted on by Michael Randle

Bringing the $800 million Meta data center and its 100 jobs to Montgomery took connection through anonymity, teamwork, a whitewater park and some heavy lifting by Alabama Power.

Meta Platforms announced Thursday that it will build the 715,000-square-foot data center on a 1,500-acre site across Interstate 65 from the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama plant in Montgomery.

Two of Meta’s 20 data centers will be in the state, and the company said Gov. Kay Ivey is the first governor to ever be at two Meta data center announcements. Meta also has a data center in Huntsville.

“Meta has once again sent a friend request to Alabama and, folks, we are happy to accept,” Ivey said at the announcement, which was held at Montgomery Whitewater.

Menlo Park, California-based Meta operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Meta data centers are a key part of the global infrastructure that brings these technologies and services to life.

“Montgomery is the perfect home for Meta,” Brad Davis, director of Community and Economic Development at Meta, said. “It offers so much. Great access to infrastructure and renewable energy, a strong pool of talent and most importantly, a great set of community partners who have helped us move this project forward quickly. You all have been amazing from the beginning, and we thank you.”

Alabama News Center

Read More

‘Why is the South so afraid of unions?’ Alabama House debate stirs passion ahead of UAW push

Posted on by Michael Randle

Alabama lawmakers are poised to adopt a measure Democratic critics derided Tuesday as “anti-union” amid a rising current of unionization efforts at automobile manufacturers including a crucial vote next week at a Mercedes Benz plant in Vance.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey could soon sign SB231, after it received a 72-29 vote on the Alabama House floor following a spirited debate that included jabs at Alabama’s history toward thwarting unionizing efforts.

It was the second time in two weeks that the House debated and voted on the bill, as Tuesday’s version is considered a final version adopted out of a join House and Senate conference committee.

Alabama is one of 27 “right-to-work” states, allowing employees to refrain from union membership. The state enshrined its pushback from unions in 2016, when voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that guarantees that workers in Alabama cannot be forced to join labor groups or pay dues, even if their employer is unionized.

AL.com

Read More

How the Alabama Mercedes union fight is playing out on dueling websites

Posted on by Michael Randle

With less than a week to go before Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama vote on joining the United Auto Workers, the fight to win hearts and minds is playing out on pro-and anti-union websites.

Next week, workers in Vance will vote on union membership May 13-17, with vote totals available that Friday.

The vote comes after 5,200 workers at the plant signed union cards, requesting the National Labor Relations Board conduct an election.

Using cyberspace as a virtual union rally – or counter demonstration – is not new.

It’s a pattern that first played out three years ago in Alabama, when Amazon workers in Bessemer voted on joining the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU).

The union – and some affiliated pro-labor groups – packaged content, videos and FAQs into sharable tweets and social media posts. Amazon countered with a pro-company website, encouraging workers to “Do It Without Dues.”

AL.com

Read More

Mercedes-Benz denies Alabama union-busting activities at shareholders meeting

Posted on by Michael Randle

A Mercedes-Benz board member Wednesday denied claims the company is actively resisting efforts to organize workers at the automakers Tuscaloosa County manufacturing plant.

Reuters is reporting the company, however, would not comment on whether it has hired a specific “union busting” consultant as it prepares for a vote next week on employees joining the United Auto Workers (UAW).

The Mercedes-Benz group “respects the decision of the employees to establish a trade union organization, and it will monitor the election process and will make sure that every team member has the opportunity to cast a secret vote,” board member Renata Jungo Bruengger said at the annual shareholders’ meeting in Germany.

Next week’s vote will begin on Monday, with final results due on Friday.

The news agency reported that Jeremy Kimbrell, a union supporter at the Vance factory, said Mercedes had hired anti-union consultancy RWP, which has been linked to anti-union campaigns with companies such as Amazon.

A representative of Germany’s Association of Critical Shareholders (DKA), representing small investors on environmental, social and governance issues, read out the claims at the meeting.

AL.com

Read More

Australian company strikes land deal for $289 million Ascension, La. EV battery material plant

Posted on by Michael Randle

An Australian mining company that is considering building a $289 million plant to make electric battery components said it has secured a 35-acre site in Ascension Parish.

Element 25 said it expects to sign a definitive agreement for the property by June 30. It is located in Burnside, next to the Veolia North America sulfuric acid regeneration plant. Element 25 is buying the land from Veolia and will purchase sulfuric acid from the company.

Justin Brown, managing director for Element 25 said in a statement the Veolia site meets the requirements for the company to build the plant.

The plant would be the first in the Western Hemisphere to manufacture high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, or HPMSM, a critical component in electric vehicle batteries. A higher manganese content in batteries can lead to a better life spans and charging times, Element 25’s website says.

NOLA.com

Read More

Oracle plans ‘world headquarters’ in Nashville after moving HQ to Austin in 2020

Posted on by Michael Randle

Software giant Oracle Corp. may move its world headquarters from Austin to Nashville in a bid to seize on the Tennessee capital’s budding health care sector, co-founder Larry Ellison announced at the company’s health care summit Tuesday.

During a conversation with former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Ellison said the world’s second-largest tech company is developing a health campus in Nashville that will “ultimately be our world headquarters,” according to reporting by The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.

In Nashville, Oracle is developing a 70-acre property on the city’s downtown riverfront. Oracle officials have previously said the Nashville and Austin campuses will both be U.S. headquarters locations, according to The Tennessean. The company pledged to create 8,500 jobs by 2031 as part of a $1.35 billion office development in Nashville, according to the Nashville Business Journal.

Austin American Statesman

Read More

Zekelman Industries Unveils $120 Million Investment in Mississippi County, Ark.

Posted on by Michael Randle

Zekelman Industries, the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America, will invest up to $120 million to expand the manufacturing capabilities and product offerings of its subsidiary, Atlas Tube, in Mississippi County. The project will bring Zekelman’s total number of employees in the area to more than 300. During the unveiling, the manufacturer also announced it will partner with Arkansas Northeastern College on a new workforce training initiative.

“Education and skills training are crucial to developing the next generation of workers. Our goal at Zekelman is to prepare, nurture and inspire students entering the thriving and well-paying steel industry,” said Tom Muth, chief operating officer. “Our commitment is representative of our partnership with the Blytheville community and ongoing dedication to domestic-only manufacturing. We are particularly grateful to Mayor Logan and Mississippi County for their continued support.”

The leading manufacturer of hollow structural sections and steel pipe, Zekelman currently operates two Atlas Tube facilities in Blytheville. Its new project will allow it to manufacture inline steel tube galvanizing products in size ranges not currently available in North America. Arkansas EDC

Read More