The state of Alabama is known far and wide for its innovative work force training program, spearheaded by the Alabama Industrial Development Training Institute (AIDT).

An in-depth look at all that AIDT offers quickly reveals the program’s benefits to companies.

For starters, AIDT can help new and expanding companies with recruiting, assessing and training potential employees. The program also allows for customized services that include the development and production of training materials.

As far as training facilities, AIDT has three training centers located in Huntsville, Montgomery and Mobile. It also has a fleet of mobile training units that can bring training to any company site.

However, there is one feature that is perhaps the best of all: There is no cost to employers or trainees. This translates into major bottom line savings for companies operating in Alabama.

Alabama’s work force, paired with AIDT, played a major role in luring Gambro Renal Products, a business unit of The Gambro Group, a Sweden-based medical technology and health care company.

Gambro announced last year that it would establish a 100,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Opelika, where 10 million Polyflux dialyzers will be produced annually. About 150 new jobs are expected to result from the project.

It’s Gambro’s first plant located outside Sweden.

AIDT wasted no time in assisting the company with its startup training needs, and by October, AIDT had begun development of its recruiting and training program. AIDT also sent three of its staff members to Germany to prepare the training curriculum.

“As great as a business is, this is still a big investment for our company,” Tim Doone, senior vice president of operations for Gambro, told the Opelika-Auburn News. “It was very important to find the right partnership to make this a success, and we believe we have found the right partner in Opelika.”

Heiko Zimmermann, vice president of the Dialyzer Division of Gambro, further emphasized the importance of labor for the company.

“We believe Opelika is the right place,” Zimmermann said. “It has the right work force.”

AIDT assisted with the hiring of Gambro’s first 13 Opelika employees. The new employees arrived in Hechingen, Germany, in February to undergo further training for about 18 months.

Employees were sent to Germany because Gambro has no operation in the United States that produces dialyzers. The employees sent to Germany will become team leaders who will assist with on-the-job training after production begins in Alabama in 2008.

Auto Industry Races Along

It’s been more than a decade since Alabama began to build its economic dream machine: a thriving automotive industry.

Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda are among the auto industry players that have collectively invested nearly $7 billion in Alabama during the past 10 years, creating more than 38,000 new jobs along the way.

When it comes to auto production, statistics show that in 2005, automakers in Alabama sent close to 479,000 vehicles to the marketplace, and production shows no sign of letting up.

Rehau was behind one of the most recent industry expansion announcements in Cullman. The company said early this year that it would expand its plant to the tune of $20 million.

Rehau manufactures plastics that are used in a variety of applications including radiant heat, fire protection, plumbing and plastic parts for the automotive industry.

Elsewhere in the state, North American Lighting, a manufacturer of automobile tail lamps, said it would invest $21 million to build a factory in Muscle Shoals.

The project includes a new 200,000 square foot plant, which will eventually be staffed by more than 300 employees.

Operations at the facility are expected to begin in June 2007.

At the Detroit Auto Show in January, a DaimlerChrysler executive offered praise regarding the company’s 1993 decision to establish an M-Class All Activity Vehicle manufacturing plant in Tuscaloosa County.

“On the one hand, everything we were promised at that time stayed valid after we made the decision,” said Dieter Zetsche, CEO of DaimlerChrysler. “That’s not always the case. Secondly, what we expected to find has proven true, which is a committed work force and supportive state.”

Employment levels at the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa reached 4,000 last year.