AEROSPACE

Engineered Fabrics Corp., a fuel tank supplier for the U.S. military, will expand its current location in Rockmart, Ga. , investing $5 million in a new building and add 150 workers to its present 700-member work force. The company, a subsidiary of K and F Industries, is the leading supplier of flexible bladder fuel tanks for the U.S. military, worldwide commercial transport and general aviation.

Engineered Fabrics Corp. will construct a 60,000 square foot expandable building on its current property in Rockmart. The company plans to begin construction this month and start plant operations in early 2008.

AUTOMOTIVE

Honda supplier Tomasco recently broke ground on the expansion on the company’s manufacturing facility in Winchester, Ind. The $29 million project will nearly double the company's work force and will add a parts manufacturing line that will supply the new Honda plant near Greensburg, Ind.

Construction of the 127,000 square foot expansion project will begin later this month, and company officials expect to begin full production at the site in late 2008. Established in 1999 as Tomasco Indiana LLC, the company specializes in stamping and welding, and is a Tier 1 supplier to Honda.

Michigan economic development officials recently announced a $350,000 Economic Development Job Training grant to support skills upgrading for 700 current Ford Motor Co. workers in Dearborn, Mich. The funding, provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., will underwrite cutting-edge training in advanced manufacturing applications specific to each company’s needs. The training for Ford workers will be provided by Henry Ford Community College.

Toyota Boshoku America recently announced that the company will locate its North American home office in Erlanger, Ky. The company received approval for $2.1 million in tax incentives under the Kentucky Jobs Development Act by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority on March 29, 2007.

Steeda Autosports, currently located in Pompano Beach, Fla., will relocate its corporate headquarters and production facility to Valdosta, Ga., and will make an investment of over $10 million in a new state-of-the-art facility and high tech robotic computer numerical control (CNC) and additional cutting edge equipment.

The company manufactures performance engine parts, chassis components, drivetrain parts, exterior and interior restyling parts for Mustang, Focus, F-Series and Fusion vehicle lines. Steeda also produces serialized Steeda vehicle, like the Q Series of Mustangs. In addition to the manufacturing facility, the complex will also serve as a distribution center for Nitto tires, as well as leading performance aftermarket products, like Tokico struts and shocks, Baer brakes and JBA and Magnaflow performance exhaust systems.

FOOD PROCESSING

MBM Foodservice, a Rocky Mount, N.C.,-based company, recently announced that it will expand its distribution center in Macon, Ga. The company will build a new $8 million, 91,000 square foot refrigerated and dry distribution center to serve the company’s customers in the Southeast.

The new facility will be completed in late 2007 and will serve the company’s major customer, Chik fil A, in the Southeast.

Sara Lee Corp. will receive $240,000 in Enterprise Development Zone tax credits from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to help expand its New London, Wis., facility, retaining 80 jobs.

Sara Lee, which currently has 38 locations within Wisconsin, is installing new production lines at its facility in New London. Total project cost $6.9 million.

Starbucks Coffee Co. recently announced that it will build the company’s newest U.S. roasting facility in St. Matthews, S.C. Construction on the approximately 150,000 square foot facility, which is approximately 15 miles from Columbia, will begin by the end of this year. Operations are planned to begin in early 2009 and, when operating at full capacity, the plant will create approximately 160 new full-time positions.

The new facility will house equipment and operations to receive, roast, package, and ship Starbucks coffee to distribution centers servicing company-operated stores, licensed stores, and wholesale accounts around the Southeastern U.S.

Nestlé USA plans to invest $20 million to expand its manufacturing capacity in Danville, Va. The company makes Buitoni refrigerated pasta and sauces and Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough at the facility.

The company is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will support the project with training assistance through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Texas economic development officials recently announced a $5 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant to Maxim Integrated Products as part of the state and local efforts to secure the company’s expansion to a new facility in Irving. Texas. This investment is projected to generate $200 million in capital investments and will create approximately 1,000 new jobs over the next seven years.

Qimonda AG, a leading supplier of memory chips, recently announced its plans to strengthen its footprint in the Asian market by building its first fully-owned 300mm manufacturing facility on the continent.

Depending on the growth and development of the world semiconductor market, Qimonda plans to invest approximately Euro 2 billion in the site over the next five years. The new fab facility will be built in Singapore, with construction scheduled to begin the end of calendar year 2007. Production is expected to start in 2009 and, when running at full capacity, the new fab will have more than 1,500 employees.

Google Inc. has announced plans to invest $600 million to build a data center complex at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, Okla. Google will begin site preparation and construction shortly, and the company plans to begin operation in the first facility within the next 18 months.

Once fully operational, Google expects the data center complex to be staffed by up to 200 workers.

LIFE SCIENCES

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development recently approved a $50,000 investment into RemeGenix, Inc. a bioscience company located in Rockville, Md. The investment will be made through DBED’s Challenge Investment Fund, a program designed to assist small start-up companies in the high technology sector.

Life sciences company Oxford BioSignals Medical recently announced plans to move its global headquarters to the U.S. and expand its capacity for future growth. The company will move its world headquarters from Oxford, England to Carmel, Ind., a community just north of Indianapolis. With the move, the company plans to create 120 engineering, clinical, technical, operational and commercial jobs within five years.

Amgen opened its new European Development Center in the Uxbridge area of London. The center can accommodate more than 300 new staff and forms a key part of a significant Research & Development (R&D) investment in the UK by Amgen.

Uxbridge, together with Amgen's expanded Cambridge, UK, facilities, will support the company's largest ever international clinical trial program. In 2007, Amgen expects that about 55,000 patients will be enrolled in more than 250 clinical studies worldwide.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Carestream Health Inc., a stand-alone company that will result from the sale of Eastman Kodak’s health group, will create 500 high-paying jobs at its Rochester, N.Y., world headquarters and bring its work force there to 1,300 over the next six years.

In return, Carestream Health will receive a $2 million grant and be eligible for other benefits associated with being given Regionally Significant Project status by the Rochester City Council. The grant is to be applied toward the estimated $12 million cost of renovations and infrastructure improvements at two buildings which will house the company’s office and manufacturing functions.

Being granted Regionally Significant status allows Carestream Health to apply for benefits under the State’s Empire Zone program. The $2 million structured grant is from the JOBS Now program.

Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc., a company specializing in electronic health records products and services, will occupy a new corporate headquarters facility in Fort Wayne, Ind. The company spent more than $550,000 to build out the 17,000 square foot space, and invested an additional $150,000 in new equipment.

METAL FABRICATION

ThyssenKrupp has selected Mobile, Ala. , as the home for its new state-of-the-art, $3.7 billion steel and stainless steel processing facility. The facility, a cooperative effort between ThyssenKrupp Steel and ThyssenKrupp Stainless, will be located in Northern Mobile and Southern Washington counties.

The new plant complex, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2010, is expected to be one of the largest private industrial development projects in the United States over the next decade.

Carver Machine Works will expand its manufacturing facility in Washington, N.C., creating 50 jobs and investing $2.8 million during the next three years. The project will receive a $75,000 One North Carolina Fund grant. Carver Machine Works is an industrial machine company providing component repair, rebuild and fabrication services to the pulp and paper, mining, chemical and other process-related industries.

Michigan-based Saginaw Control and Engineering will build a 33,000 square foot distribution center in the Roane Regional Business and Technology Park in Roane County, Tenn. Construction of the new Saginaw facility is expected to begin immediately and be completed by late summer or early fall.

The company was founded in Saginaw, Michigan in 1963 and its products include everything from small junction boxes to large enclosures that house electrical controls.

L.A. Darling Co. , a manufacturer of retail merchandising systems and fixtures, will open a facility in Rock Hill, S.C. , to refurbish used metal fixtures for retailers in the Eastern U.S. The company will employ about 50 people in a leased 181,500 square foot facility in Rock Hill. The Rock Hill plant is part of the company’s Specialty Metal Division and its first facility dedicated to fixture refurbishment.

PHARMACEUTICAL

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC recently announced a $181 million project that will expand the company’s laboratory and office facility in Spring House, Pa. The facility will provide the company with an additional 150,000 square feet of new laboratory, clinical development and office space, and will serve as its East Coast hub for discovery research and early clinical development upon completion in 2009.

The company will receive a $2,275,000 incentives package offer that includes a grant of up to $1.25 million through the Infrastructure Development Program, a grant of up to $400,000 through the Opportunity Grant Program, $125,000 in Customized Job Training funds, and $500,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits.

GlaxoSmithKline opened its new Medicinal Chemistry Laboratory in Singapore at its research and development facility in the biomedical research hub, Biopolis. GSK has invested an additional $20 million (Singapore) in its Centre for Research in Cognitive and Neurodegenerative Disorders for the construction of a medicinal chemistry laboratory and a near doubling of the number of researchers.

The new flexi-laboratory combines both biology research and chemistry research in the same facility, and the workbenches are modular, and can be configured to adapt to different experiments, needs and uses. Singapore is also the headquarters of GSK’s Asia-Pacific operations.

PLASTICS

CMI Plastics will open a manufacturing facility in Ayden, N.C., creating 165 jobs and investing $7.1 million during the next three years. The state of North Carolina will support the project with a $300,000 One North Carolina Fund grant.

Founded in 1939, CMI Plastics will move its operations from Cranbury, N.J., to Ayden. The company specializes in three-dimensional thermoformed plastics and packaging. North Carolina is the eighth leading state in the nation for plastics employment, according to the Society of the Plastics Industry.

Berry Plastics Corp. recently announced it will expand its operations in Evansville, Ind. , adding a 600,000 square foot distribution center and 49 new jobs throughout its Southwestern Indiana operations over the next three years.

The new $20 million facility will provide a state of the art distribution center with the potential of adding an additional 200,000 square feet of either light manufacturing or added distribution capabilities. In addition to the new facility, the company also plans to make an additional $23 million capital investment to its current Evansville operations.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered the company $500,000 in tax credits and $100,000 in infrastructure grants to encourage the development. Berry Plastics’ announced expansion in Evansville is the second in two years from the plastic packaging giant.

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