Free Republic

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky officials say a bus manufacturer plans to create up to 550 full-time jobs by opening a parts-production operation in Bullitt County. Gov. Matt Bevin’s office said Thursday that New Flyer of America Inc. intends to invest $40 million to lease and upgrade a facility in Shepherdsville. Officials say the company expects to begin work on the project this month and to be in full operation by the end of 2019....

Construction equipment: Terex Utilities and its dealer Xuzhou Handler Special Vehicles Co., Ltd. have signed a letter of intent for Xuzhou to purchase 5,000 units of insulated aerial devices from Terex over a five-year period, with a total value of more than USD 250 million. These products will support the continuing improvement and ongoing adoption of live line work practices in the Chinese public utility sector. The signing was completed during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing last week. John Garrison, President and CEO of Terex Corp., was among 29 U.S. business executives and officials joining Trump and Secretary of...

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC — Work has begun on a plastic bag manufacturing plant near Blythewood that will employ about 125 workers when it opens in a year. Charter Nex Films is building a 140,000-square-foot plant on a 31-acre portion of the former Sony property along I-77, said Jeff Ruble, Richland County’s economic development director. The county donated 25 acres, and is offering the company a 20-year tax break as an inducement, he said Tuesday. The plant will make film that is converted by its customers into plastic pouches such as those seen regularly on grocery store shelves. The cereal industry...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An information technology services company formed this year from a merger involving Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE.N) on Monday announced plans to establish a digital services center in New Orleans, bringing 2,000 new jobs to the city. Virginia-based DXC Technology Co (DXC.N) will develop the center to create digital services for its global clients, which total nearly 6,000 across 70 countries, the company said in a statement. DXC was formed in April by a merger between CSC and Hewlett’s Enterprise Services business. To secure the project, Louisiana offered DXC an $18.7 million incentive package in performance-based...

The words “artificial intelligence” often conjure up a sense of fear and apprehension. Fear for the unknown possibilities of AI, fear for the AI-fueled dystopian images brought about by movies like The Terminator, and most practically, fear for the possibility that AI will someday take our jobs. This fear is neither new nor totally unfounded. As with any disruptive technological invention, faster, more efficient machines are bound to replace human workers. However, those who fear AI will take their jobs can rest a little easier knowing they will at least have the potential to find a new job.A new...

Bombardier Inc. is forecasting its planned C Series assembly facility in Alabama will create as many as 2,000 jobs in the U.S. The plant, planned for Mobile, Ala., as part of its proposed partnership with Airbus on the program, would create 400 to 500 direct jobs, 550 to 700 indirect jobs at supplier and support companies and an additional 1,000 to 1,250 new jobs created in the communities where those other new direct and indirect employees spend their money. According to a report, Bombardier’s jobs forecast was part of a regulatory filing that also revealed the new assembly line would...

A New Jersey company plans to take over the former Dr. Leonard's Healthcare call center location and hire 200 people. iPacesetters, which provides telemarketing services to Fortune 500 and other companies, plans to open its operation Nov. 6 at 5945 Cornhusker Highway. The company said in a news release that it will hire 200 people for full- and part-time jobs. “We are thrilled to bring new career opportunities to Lincoln and add to the growth of iPacesetters," Penny Spaeth, who is the Lincoln site director, said in the news release. "We feel Lincoln is the right place to not only...

DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greater Des Moines Partnership has launched a new identifier for Downtown Des Moines: Downtown DSM USA. The Partnership launched the DSM USA identifier earlier this year for Greater Des Moines (DSM) to communicate the region's story with one voice. As the region's core, the new Downtown identifier is closely tied to the region's identifier. The Downtown DSM USA identifier is the result of significant quantitative and qualitative research. The Partnership used those findings to drive new creative direction in communicating about Downtown DSM. "The research-based identifier communicates that Downtown DSM is...

Foreign tourism to New York City is set to rise 3.6 percent this year — defying yet another of the many doomsday predictions about Donald Trump’s presidency. Back in February, the city tourism agency said Trump’s “travel ban and related rhetoric” would mean a drop of 300,000 visitors this year. But the NYC & Co. prophecy proved false. Of course, other predictions were more dire — particularly those about the stock market. Finance expert Steve Rattner foresaw “a market crash of historic proportions” under a President Trump. Moody’s warned of a “weaker” economy. Many said 2 percent GDP growth was...

KITTTERY, Maine — Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is seeking 160 individuals with experience in industrial work and is hosting a job fair at the Regatta Conference Center in Eliot to help find them. The Tuesday, Nov. 14 job fair will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Public affairs officer Jeremy Lambert said the shipyard is looking to fill roughly 160 positions in fields such as chemistry, electrical work, engineering, insulation, mechanics, pipefitting, radiological work, sheet metal work and many others. The shipyard is asking applicants to bring copies of their resumes, professional certificates, academic transcripts and for former members of...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates purchased 40 American-made Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners on Sunday at the start of the biennial Dubai Air Show, a $15.1 billion deal certain to please U.S. President Donald Trump who has touted the plane's sales as a job creator in America. The deal appeared to surprise Boeing's archrival Airbus, whose staff had attended a long-delayed news conference and left the room just moments before the announcement. Airbus has pinned hopes of continuing production of its double-decker jumbo jet on Emirates, the world's largest operator of the aircraft which took delivery of its...

CHARLESTON — After news broke that state officials had brokered an $83.7 billion deal with China Energy Investment Corporation to invest in West Virginia’s shale gas and chemical industries, one of the first questions to come up was how soon the Mountain State might see the fruits of the agreement. “We’re going full steam ahead, immediately,” state Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher said in a telephone call from China. According to U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Thrasher and others familiar with the memorandum of understanding, ground could be broken within six to eight months on two gas-fired power stations to...

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky (LEX 18) - One Kentucky company is hoping to change the lives of struggling families in a small Kentucky town by bringing the job opportunities to them. "It gives our younger generation an opportunity. They don't have to leave our small town. They can stay home, live local and work local," said Michelle Irvin, who works at the East West gas station. Williamsburg businesses are hoping to reap the benefits of people working locally. "It would help our small town. It would help our local economy. Especially with this gas station just, within the past 6 months or...

TAMPA — MetLife plans to add 430 new jobs and spend $25 million upgrading its existing campus in New Tampa, the nonprofit Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. announced Friday. The company has committed to hire for a range of new positions that will pay an average of at least $74,561 a year, according to city and county records. That’s 150 percent of Hillsborough County’s average private sector wage. MetLife, whose arrival in the 1970s raised Tampa’s national profile as a potential landing spot for corporate expansions and relocations, already has more than 1,500 employees in Tampa. The company will be...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Officials say packaging manufacturer M&M Industries plans to create 110 jobs with a $42 million expansion of its operations in southeast Tennessee. Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe said Tuesday that M&M will purchase and retrofit a building in Chattanooga and expand its current manufacturing facility in the city. M&M makes plastic pails, plastic containers and custom packaging for the chemical, pharmaceutical, health care and construction industries. Officials say the expansion will allow the company to support growing demand for its products....

Harbor Freight Tools is planning a one million-square foot expansion of its East Coast distribution facility in Dillon County, SC. The expansion is projected to create more than 500 new jobs, bringing the company’s total investment in South Carolina to more than $200 million. “Since we opened our first facility here in 2001, the company has continued to grow and so has our need for a larger distribution center,” said Harbor Freight Tools Founder and CEO Eric Smidt. “We’ve made an investment in Dillon, becoming part of the community, and we’re proud to expand our presence in this region. Dillon...

Trump’s initial grade was a B when we launched the report card in May. Strong job growth — including the manufacturing sector — and the seemingly unstoppable stock market pushed his grade to B+ over the summer, then to A- in September. The grade fell by one notch after a weak employment report for September, which was largely due to hurricanes that slammed Texas and Florida. But hiring came back strong in October, pushing the grade back to A-.

ATHOL – The town is negotiating an agreement for marijuana growing at a sprawling mill that has been mostly vacant for decades, and it could bring 500 jobs to town. Town Manager Shaun A. Suhoski said recently he is working on the host community agreement after a vote of non-opposition by selectmen last month for a medical marijuana indoor cultivation facility at 134 Chestnut Hill Ave., the former Union Twist Drill Co. mill. The building is owned by Bill Purple, 93, president of the L.P. Athol Corp., which purchased the building in 1986. Mr. Purple has been redeveloping the 365,000-square-foot...

The already existing AHT Cooling Systems U.S.A, Inc. manufacturer in North Charleston will be expanding its facility. The new expansion will add new assembly and distribution operations. This new project is expected to cost $5 million while creating more than 70 new jobs. “We celebrate the success of a company that already calls the Lowcountry home. AHT Cooling Systems’ decision to launch production operations and create more than 70 new jobs is a testament to the strength of our workforce and our competitive business climate here in South Carolina,” said Governor Henry McMaster Located at 7058 Weber Boulevard in North...

Its business bolstered by improvements in the global mining industry, Komatsu Mining Corp. has hired more than 100 employees so far this year at its plant in South Longview and is working to fill another 100 positions. "Orders are picking up, and we have the work," said Caley Clinton, a spokeswoman for the company in Milwaukee. The reason, she said, is that mining companies are coming out of the recent economic downturn "ready to invest in capital and new equipment." Komatsu bought Joy Global Inc. in April for $3.7 billion. The plant off Estes Parkway has hired welders, machinists and...