Michael Randle, Author at Southern Business & Development

McMaster discusses workforce readiness at first Economic Growth Summit

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

The South Carolina Department of Commerce held its first economic development summit Monday, and workforce readiness was at the forefront of issues as thousands of jobs are headed to the Palmetto state. The theme of the day was ‘launch to legacy.’

With a more than $830,000 rebrand, the Department of Commerce looked back at why businesses chose South Carolina and looked ahead to attracting more.

“Well, certainly our plan is to have good companies come to South Carolina and also for good companies to be created in South Carolina,” Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey said. “You know we got the opportunity to hear today from entrepreneurs who started their businesses right here in South Carolina and they’re now global leaders in their particular areas.”

WLTX-TV Columbia

Duke Energy provides resource plan update to South Carolina regulators that reflects state’s booming population, economy

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Palmetto State’s population grew faster than anywhere in the nation in 2023
Company continues to pursue ‘all of the above’ generation strategy, which provides diverse energy sources to meet state’s growing electricity demand

GREENVILLE, S.C., Jan. 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — From population growth to the expansion of manufacturing and other major economic development wins, South Carolina is booming.

According to the Census Bureau, the Palmetto State had the fastest growing population in the nation in 2023, largely due to the tremendous impact of the state’s economic prosperity.

Duke Energy, a key player in supporting the region’s growth, today updated the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) on how expanding customer needs call for the addition of new energy generation resources to ensure South Carolina continues its leadership in both economic development and the clean energy transition.

PR Newswire

Firm acquires North Alabama industrial facility, eyes aerospace hub

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

MUSCLE SHOALS, Alabama — AE Industrial Partners (AEI), a private equity firm specializing in aerospace, national security and industrial services, today announced that its affiliate Rocket Shoals LLC has acquired a sprawling industrial facility in Colbert County with plans to redevelop it as an “aerospace center of excellence.”

Boca, Raton, Florida-based AEI acquired the facility — known informally as the “Shoals” — from the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Located at 1200 Haley Drive in Cherokee, the facility is situated on 638 acres and contains 2.27 million square feet of industrial zoned manufacturing capacity.

Currently unoccupied, the LEED-registered building’s previous tenants include National Steel Car, Navistar, and FreightCar America.

AEI says the space is well suited for aerospace manufacturing and will become the new headquarters for select portfolio companies as well as other aerospace suppliers, manufacturers and innovators.

In addition, AEI will be partnering with Poarch Band of Creek Indians, a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans with reservation lands in South Alabama, to provide joint capabilities and bring innovative solutions to federal customers.

“AE Industrial is a highly focused investment firm, with a strategy to drive value creation at the nexus of the aerospace, space and defense markets — all sectors that are currently thriving in Alabama,” said David Rowe, co-CEO and managing partner at AE Industrial.

“We look forward to building an aerospace center of excellence in Muscle Shoals that benefits the community, the state of Alabama and our portfolio companies,” he added.

Kevin Jackson, president of Shoals Economic Development Authority, said his organization is excited to work alongside the Rocket Shoals team as it develops the aerospace hub.

“This transaction opens the doors to many new possibilities for The Shoals,” Jackson said. “We can’t wait to get started on this new endeavor opening up Northwest Alabama as an aerospace destination.”

AEI said the greater Muscle Shoals area, as well as the corridor that extends east to Huntsville, is home to a well-educated workforce and a growing cohort of aerospace industry engineers and technology professionals.

“We are proud to call Alabama home as we expand several of our marquee companies in the Shoals area,” said Chris Emerson, senior partner at AE Industrial.

“Our collective experiences with past projects, including Mercedes-Benz and the Airbus final assembly line in Mobile, give us confidence in our strong regional relationships and ability to engage with local partners to establish north Alabama as an ‘aerospace corridor’.”

ALABAMA AEROSPACE

Over 300 aerospace companies from more than 30 different countries have operations in Alabama, including industry giants such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, GE Aviation and Raytheon, according to data from the Alabama Department of Commerce.

In Huntsville, Redstone Arsenal is a major research, engineering, and test center that houses the Army’s critical missile defense and aviation programs. The Arsenal is also home to the Marshall Space Flight Center, one of NASA’s largest and most historic facilities.

In addition, Airbus produces A320 Family and A220 passenger jets at its only U.S. manufacturing facility, located in Mobile, Alabama.

“Alabama’s aerospace sector is robust and ideally positioned for growth because of its many capabilities,” said Ellen McNair, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“I look forward to seeing how AEI’s plans for an aerospace hub in the Shoals area can contribute to the industry’s growth curve,” she added.

MadeinAlabama.com

Georgia wanted to attract more data centers. Now it needs more power

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Last fall, the state’s largest electric utility — Georgia Power — came to regulators with a surprising request.

Just months after placing the country’s first new nuclear reactor in decades into service, the company said it already needed to make more electricity, and fast.

Georgia Power said a wave of economic development of “unprecedented magnitude and speed” is heading for the state. To meet the coming demand, it wants to add huge amounts of new capacity, mostly powered by fossil fuels.

Incoming electric vehicle and battery factories have significant electricity needs. But in hearings this month, Georgia Power revealed the vast majority of its forecast demand crunch — roughly 80% — is driven by different kinds of facilities: data centers.

Whether you’re browsing Instagram, uploading photos to the cloud or using artificial intelligence, our digital lives are powered by data centers. But the often-stark warehouses packed with computer servers are electricity and water hogs, nearly as insatiable as the market’s demand for the facilities themselves.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

After battery plant win, Gov. Beshear plans to bring more money, jobs from South Korea to Kentucky. Here’s how

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Since Kentucky opened an office abroad in Japan, it’s helped attract 199 businesses and more than 45,000 full-time jobs in the commonwealth.

Now Gov. Andy Beshear sees similar potential with South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea.

Over the last decade, Kentucky has formed a business and trade partnership around electric vehicle batteries, auto parts manufacturing and bourbon, with the small Southeast Asian country some 6,900 miles away from the commonwealth.

Since 2020, that relationship has grown drastically, featuring $6.15 billion in investments into the state from South Korean companies including SK On, Ford Motor Co.’s partner on its Glendale battery park, and more than $100.5 million of Kentucky agriculture goods shipped overseas to the country.

Drawing on that success, Beshear wants to include $500,000 in each fiscal year in the 2024-26 state budget to open a business and economic development office in South Korea.

Louisville Courier Journal

Bill Lawrence Featured in Birmingham Business Journal Discussing Burr’s Sports Law Practice

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Burr & Forman corporate attorney Bill Lawrence was quoted in the article, “Local Firms Grow Sports Law Practices as NCAA Rules Change,” published on January 12, 2024, by the Birmingham Business Journal.

The article highlighted the Burr Sports Law team in discussing how local law firms have recognized the importance of handling collegiate name, image and likeness (NIL) issues for different entities affected by the relatively new and evolving rules.

“When it became clear the NCAA was going to change its long-standing amateurism rule and allow college athletes to accept NIL compensation, I wanted to lean on my past sport and entertainment experience and get in on the ground floor and hopefully become a leader in the space,” Lawrence said. “It’s a way to expand our client base. It gives us the opportunity to get in front of a lot of young athletes.”

Lawrence also noted the firm’s partnership with athletic branding company Steel City Sports and the Birmingham Legion Football Club franchise, which has provided opportunities to represent athletes who may eventually go pro.

“The exposure we had to those younger athletes provides us a potential client when they get into the business world, whether they form their own business or they’re working for somebody else,” he said.

To view the full article, please click here.

Burr & Forman

Honda sees 2024 U.S. sales climbing 10% due in part to Alabama-built vehicles

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Honda Motor Co. expects sales in the U.S. to hit 1.4 million vehicles this year for the first time in three years, fueled mostly by demand for its hybrid and gas-powered models.

The Japanese automaker aims to grow sales 10% in 2024, including as many as 1.3 million Honda brand vehicles and some 150,000 upscale Acura cars and SUVs, according to Mamadou Diallo, the top sales executive at Honda’s U.S. subsidiary.

The Honda Alabama Auto Plant in Lincoln employs more than 4,500 and produces the Odyssey minivan, Ridgeline pickup and Pilot and Passport SUVs, along with the V-6 engines that power them.

Alabama News Center

OPINION: Asa Hutchinson warns GOP is “headed toward a cliff.’

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

You get the feeling that Asa Hutchinson could have won the GOP nomination for president in the Before Times, namely before a reality TV star named Donald Trump hit the scene and upended what it means to be a Republican in America.

Hutchinson is a former federal prosecutor, member of Congress, and popular two-term Republican governor of Arkansas. He finished his second term as governor in 2023 and, with the timing just right, spent the next year running for president.

But on Monday night, Hutchinson finished with just 0.2% of the vote in the Iowa Caucuses. He dropped out of the presidential race the next day. His strategic error, he said, was telling Republican voters what they needed to hear.

“We’re headed toward a cliff, and we’re going to go off that cliff because Donald Trump cannot attract independent voters,” Hutchinson said in an interview from Arkansas this week. “It’s very clear he’s not going to expand the base with the rhetoric that he has.”

He said the GOP is “in a battle for its soul,” and at the moment, Donald Trump is winning. “But telling what is needed is not always a guarantee you’re going to win votes.”

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Ohio train wreck strains Norfolk Southern. Now there will be job cuts

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

It was nearly a year ago when a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, upending lives in the rural town. Twelve months later, the Atlanta-based railroad is still grappling with fallout from the incident.

Norfolk Southern said Friday its 2023 net income was down 44% compared to 2022, as the railroad has accumulated $1.1 billion in charges so far from the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials.

“Last year was historically challenging,” said Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw during an investor conference call Friday. “The eastern Ohio incident tested our resolve.”

Shaw also disclosed Friday plans to cut management staff to reduce costs. The company aims to cut more than 300 people in the next several months.

Revenue was down 5% in 2023 amid network disruptions — including technology outages — and a “stubbornly weak freight market,” Shaw said.

Its operating expenses were driven up by massive costs for the cleanup of the East Palestine derailment site that continues today, legal expenses and liability, payments to residents who relocated and donations to the community in the surrounding areas in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Atlanta Journal Constitution

Biden Pauses Approvals for LNG Exports

Posted on February 23, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

The Biden administration effectively froze the approval process for new plants to export U.S. liquefied natural gas, bowing to demands from environmental groups and angering oil-and-gas companies.

President Biden said Friday the administration will pause export application reviews as it takes stock of the country’s newfound status as the world’s largest LNG exporter.

“We will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment. This pause on new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” he said.

In a call with reporters Thursday previewing the announcement, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the process wouldn’t affect already authorized exports or gas exports to U.S. allies, including Europe, which has relied heavily on American gas since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Wall /Street Journal