Alabama Sees Capital Investment Gains throughout Manufacturing Sector

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Companies planning new facilities or expanding their existing operations in Alabama announced capital investments of more than $7 billion in 2015, according to the state's Department of Commerce. Industrial Info is tracking 41 active Industrial Manufacturing sector capital projects totaling nearly $3.5 billion in the state.

In Huntsville, Limestone County, GE Aviation (Evendale, Ohio) has announced it will spend more than $200 million in the construction of two manufacturing facilities to produce silicon carbide materials (silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic fiber and unidirectional ceramic matrix composite, or CMC, tape) that will be used to manufacture ceramic matrix composite components for jet engines and land-based gas turbines. Groundbreaking for the adjacent facilities is expected to take place this month, with construction slated for completion by the first half of 2018. GE Aviation is a subsidiary of General Electric (NYSE: GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut).

In Tuscaloosa County, Mercedes-Benz US International (Vance, Alabama), working with a joint-venture of B.L. Harbert International (Birmingham, Alabama) and Gray Construction Company (Lexington, Kentucky) as general contractor, is in the process of a $1.3 billion expansion and modernization project to its existing campus. The project involves constructing a 1.5 million square-foot body shop expansion, rebuilding part of the existing body shop and building a 139,930 square-foot expansion of the SUV Assembly Shop as well as logistical and IT systems upgrades. The project is set for completion by late 2017 and is expected to bring 300 new jobs to the facility.

MAAS Aviation (Dublin, Ireland) is building a twin-bay aircraft painting facility located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley within the Airbus manufacturing facility campus in Mobile. MAAS Aviation is working with Jesco Incorporated (Tupelo, Mississippi) as general contractor. The newly constructed Maintenance Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facility is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of this year.

Back in Limestone County, Polaris Industries Incorporated (NYSE: PII) (Medina, Minnesota) recently completed the construction phase on a $142 million production facility in Huntsville. The company is working to find employees as preliminary production activities start up in the 725,000 square-foot facility. Initially, the plant will manufacture the four-wheel Ranger off-road vehicle with manufacturing of the three-wheel Slingshot vehicle to follow shortly. The facility houses several manufacturing processes including vehicle assembly, painting, welding, fabrication and injection molding along with a production logistics center to handle parts. The plant is expected to employ nearly 2,000 employees.

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