Toyota to serve as title sponsor for SEUS-Japan meeting in Charlotte

Posted on by Michael Randle

Governor Roy Cooper announced that Toyota will serve as the title sponsor for the upcoming Southeast U.S./Japan Annual Joint Meeting (“SEUS/Japan”), an important economic development conference aimed at increasing Japanese investment in North Carolina and the Southeastern United States.  The conference will convene in Charlotte, October 27-29, 2024.

Last fall, Governor Cooper appointed Sean M. Suggs, President of Toyota’s new battery manufacturing plant in Randolph County to serve as chairman of the seven-state association that organizes the conference each year.  North Carolina last hosted the SEUS/Japan Conference in 2008 in Raleigh.

“With 3,775 new jobs announced since just last year, more than 30,000 North Carolinians now work here in our state for Japanese owned companies and that number should go even higher,” said Governor Cooper. “This conference is an important way we build relationships that lead to good paying jobs and I appreciate this commitment from Toyota to strengthen the bonds of friendship between Japan and the entire Southeast.”

EDPNC

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Site development efforts get $30 million boost with Alabama’s first SEEDS grant

Posted on by Michael Randle

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Governor Kay Ivey announced today that the State Industrial Development Authority (SIDA) has approved over $30 million in grants under the new Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act (SEEDS) to speed the development of much-needed industry-ready sites across the state.

The groundbreaking grant program — a key portion of the Governor’s “Game Plan” package of economic development bills approved by the Legislature last year — takes direct aim at the urgent need for quality industrial sites in Alabama at a time when other states are spending heavily to expand their site programs.

A total of $30.1 million in SEEDS funding will be matched with $38.4 million in local funds at 29 different industrial sites encompassing nearly 8,400 acres.

“SEEDS represents an important tool that will allow us to keep winning those economic development projects that trigger lasting impacts for Alabama citizens,” Governor Ivey said.

MadeInAlabama.com

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Southern Roots Nut Co. to create 120 jobs in Alabama

Posted on by Michael Randle

DOTHAN, Alabama —  Southern Roots Nut Co. plans to open a pecan processing facility in Dothan, where the New Mexico-based company will create 120 jobs in Alabama’s Wiregrass region, according to an announcement today by Governor Kay Ivey.

Southern Roots will invest nearly $16.6 million to outfit an existing building and construct a new facility in Houston County as a hub to process, store and distribute raw pecans.

“Year after year, the skilled hands working at Alabama’s food production businesses prove there is a good reason the state’s agriculture industry has earned a national reputation,” Governor Ivey said.

“Southern Roots Nut Co. is a welcome addition to the business community in Sweet Home Alabama, and I know that its planned facility in Dothan will find success thanks to a dedicated and skilled workforce,” she added.

MadeInAlabama.com

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Treasury Secretary: IRA Led To $650B In Clean Energy Investment

Posted on by Michael Randle

This week marks the third anniversary of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), and Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen marked the occasion with a visit to Elizabethtown, KY to tour the new Advanced Nano Products (ANP) facility. Secretary Yellen was joined at ANP by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

In August 2022, ANP — a supplier of carbon battery nanomaterials used in electric vehicle (EV) battery production — announced a $49.6 million investment in Hardin County. The project would create 93 jobs to supply battery producers including BlueOvalSK Battery Park.

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Bastrop, Texas, SpaceX and Corix strike deal that could mitigate Elon Musk-related pollution concerns

Posted on by Michael Randle

Long-standing environmental concerns regarding the dumping of treated wastewater into the Colorado River by Elon Musk’s companies are moving toward resolution.

The Boring Co. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. have for the last two years drawn the ire of neighbors and racked up violations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and from the county east of Austin. The companies committed over the last year to rectify the situation by tying into the city of Bastrop’s utility system, and a plan to do so has now been reached.

Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo told the Austin Business Journal on March 11 that the city has signed a tri-party agreement with Corix Utilities Inc., which has exclusive rights in the area to provide sewer services, and with SpaceX to construct a wastewater line along Farm-to-Market Road 969. The line would connect to the city’s new $33 million wastewater treatment plan and wastewater plant.

Austin Business Journal

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Rivian’s swerve of Georgia plant caught economic development officials off guard

Posted on by Michael Randle

That’s the reaction in state economic development circles last week when they heard Rivian Automotive Inc. would delay construction on its $5 billion plant near Social Circle. They were looking forward to the company unveiling its latest model, the R2, during a live stream event last Thursday.

The R2, its electric compact SUV, was set to be produced at the new plant, about an hour east of Atlanta, where site development is already underway.

Then, Rivian swerved.

Two days before the R2 announcement, Rivian contacted state officials to say the company was delaying construction on the Georgia plant indefinitely. On Thursday’s live stream, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said for now the R2, with a more affordable $45,000 starting price, would be built at its existing plant in Normal, Illinois.


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Georgia legislators grill top economic development official about Rivian factory delay

Posted on by Michael Randle

Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, was in the hot seat Monday as state senators pressed him for answers about Rivian Automotive Inc.’s decision last week to pause its $5 billion electric vehicle factory.

Last Tuesday, Rivian told state officials it planned to delay construction on the new plant near Social Circle, as Atlanta Business Chronicle reported today. The news came just 48 hours before Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe shared in a live stream that the company’s new model, the R2, would be produced at its existing factory in Normal, Illinois, rather than at the Georgia plant as planned.

“I was terribly disappointed,” Wilson told a Senate subcommittee on Monday, when asked how state officials found out. “It stings tremendously.”

Atlanta Business Chronicle

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Atlanta-based Southern Co. talks plans for more nuclear energy

Posted on by Michael Randle

To meet higher demand for electricity as more businesses and people move to the Southeast, Southern Co. is finishing the second of two newly built U.S. nuclear reactors in decades.

Southern Co. CEO Chris Womack told Atlanta Business Chronicle it may need to build more AP1000 reactors like those at Plant Vogtle. Womack will discuss the utility’s plans on March 20 at the Chronicle’s Clean Energy Forum.

About 70% of energy generation on the utility’s grid was once from coal, Womack said. The plants provide a large amount of continuous energy at once, known as baseload energy.

Due to environmental and economic costs, Southern Co. is retiring its coal plants. To replace that energy generation, the utility is looking at other energy sources to replace that baseload source.

“There’ll be more technology, more hydrogen, more fuel cells, more wind and solar,” Womack told Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Even so, Womack said Southern Co. will also increase nuclear and natural gas plants with carbon capture technology.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

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Site projects in 45 counties go to Round 2 of Kentucky Product Development

Posted on by Michael Randle

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Governor’s Office announced 46 site and building development projects in 45 counties have moved ahead to the due diligence stage for review in the second round of the Kentucky Product Development Initiative, with $68.8 million available to support the projects to create sites for business and industry growth in the commonwealth.

The Cabinet for Economic Development initiative provides funding for local communities to further investments in site and building upgrades to support future, well-paying jobs and economic growth across Kentucky.

Round one of the program concluded earlier in December 2023, with 53 projects statewide approved for $31.2 million in funding. Including local contributions, these projects are generating over $123 million in investments in Kentucky’s sites and buildings portfolio.

Currently, $68.8 million is available for projects entering the due diligence stage in round two. The projects have been reviewed by a third-party, independent site selection consultant, which evaluated, scored and submitted project recommendations to the Cabinet for Economic Development. 

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Tennessee announces INTOCAST to establish first U.S. manufacturing operations in the state

Posted on by Michael Randle

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter and INTOCAST officials announced today the company will locate its first U.S. operations in Tennessee.

INTOCAST will invest a minimum of $15 million and create 103 new jobs as the company constructs a state-of-the-art mega class factory at the Huntingdon Industrial Park South, a Select Tennessee Certified Site.

The Carroll County site will be dedicated to manufacturing magnesia-carbon (MgO-C) refractories and materials to support INTOCAST’s U.S. market. The company will host a groundbreaking today in Huntingdon and anticipates construction to begin in July.

Founded and globally headquartered in Germany, INTOCAST specializes in manufacturing and marketing refractory products for the iron and steel industries. Today, the company employs 2,000 people worldwide and is growing with its newest operations in Huntingdon,Tennessee. Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development

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