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News Around Mississippi • July 2010 • Page 1
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The Voice of Industry
REPORTER
Volume 7 July 2010
News Around Mississippi
The stories featured in “News Around Mississippi” highlight positive
manufacturing news in the state. Company logos are added to stories
about MMA members. If your company has good news to share with
other MMA members, please send it to sheila@mma-web.org.
Worthington Cylinders announces expansion of New Albany
facility, adds 80 jobs over five years
NEW ALBANY — Officials from Worthington Cylinders, a global supplier of
pressure tanks and pressure cylinders, have announced the company is
expanding operations at its facility in New Albany. The expansion represents a company invest-
ment of more than $11 million, and it will create 80 new jobs over the next five years; 30 of those
jobs will be added this year. Currently, the New Albany facility employs 165 workers.
In 2009, Worthington Cylinders acquired Piper Metal Forming of New Albany. Recently, the com-
pany acquired Virginia-based Hy-Mark Cylinders and announced it will be relocating Hy-Mark’s
physical assets to its New Albany facility, where it will be increasing production of existing prod-
ucts and adding new product lines.
Worthington Cylinders is a division of Worthington Industries, which is a leading diversified metals
manufacturing company that employs 6,400 workers in 64 facilities in 11 countries. Worthington
Cylinders is the world’s leading global supplier of pressure cylinders. With 10 facilities in the U.S.,
Canada and Europe, Worthington Cylinders offers the most complete line of pressure cylinders
in the industry, including cylinders to hold liquefied petroleum, refrigerant, oxygen and industrial
gasses. Balloon Time™ and Worthington Pro Grade™ products are available at retailers nation-
wide and provide consumers products for grilling, party planning, outdoor leisure activities and
home repair. To learn more, please visit www.worthingtoncylinders.com.
Dennen Steel Corp. announces location of manufacturing facility in Iuka
IUKA — Officials from Dennen Steel Corp. have announced the company is locating manufacturing
operations at Yellow Creek Port in Iuka in order to better serve its customers in the southeastern
United States. The project represents a company investment of more than $7.4 million and will
create 50 new jobs in northeast Mississippi.
Dennen Steel will manufacture steel slit coil, precision stampings, fabricated metal parts and
tooling and assemblies from the Tishomingo County location.
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., Dennen Steel is dedicated to supporting customers with
its integrated supply chain management model. From direct steel mill purchasing through coil slit-
ting and low- and high-volume contract manufacturing, the company serves leading manufactur-
ers in a diverse range of industries. To learn more, please visit www.dennensteel.com.
DOE approves BlueFire Ethanol’s application
from The Mississippi Business Journal
FULTON — BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc. announced recently that the Department of Energy (DOE)
has determined that BlueFire Ethanol has met the requirements necessary for Phase I of the ap-
plication process and that the company has been invited to continue on to Phase II for the financ-
ing of its Fulton project.
The loan guarantee pursuant to this program would support the construction of BlueFire’s com-
mercial (cellulosic) biofuels plant planned in Fulton. Under this program BlueFire has requested
$250 million, which would be combined with the previously awarded $88-million grant and other
resources to provide sufficient capital for the project’s construction and launch of the facility.
The Fulton facility will produce 19 million gallons of ethanol per year from woody biomass, mill
residue and other cellulosic waste.
Continued on next page
News Around Mississippi • July 2010 • Page 2
Community college receives grant for job training
from The Mississippi Business Journal
DECATUR — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) announced a $1.77-mil-
lion federal grant to support a plan by the East Central Community College (ECCC) at Decatur to
expand its job training outreach in five rural Mississippi counties.
The Community-Based Job Training Grant issued by the U.S. Department of Labor is intended to
increase ECCC job training capabilities in Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott and Winston counties,
with a focus on training for advanced manufacturing, healthcare and information technology.
ECCC will apply the grant funding to its “Connecting College with Your Community” project, which
involves expanding distance learning technologies to provide job skills training. The college
intends to use the project to supply education and training to more than 1,600 people, including
unemployed, dislocated or incumbent workers.
The Labor Department grant program is designed on a “demand-driven workforce development
model” that relies on partnerships between community colleges and employers.
The ECCC job training program will be aided through partnerships with: District Workforce Devel-
opment Council; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Neshoba County Community Development
Partnership; Twin Districts Local Workforce Investment Board; Workforce Investment Workforce
One-Stop Center; and, Winston County Industrial Development Authority.
SmartSynch lands milestone project with TNMP
from The Mississippi Business Journal
JACKSON — Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) has selected SmartSynch Inc.’s Residential Smart-
Meter for 231,000 unit point-to-point deployment to residential customers throughout the utility’s
Texas market.
Terms were not disclosed.
This marks the first mass residential deployment of
smart metering solutions that use a public wireless
network as the communications backbone, according
to SmartSynch.
TNMP’s decision was propelled by the performance of
SmartSynch’s initial 10,000-unit deployment in 2009.
Omega Protein to build processing facility on Coast
from The Mississippi Business Journal
MOSS POINT — Omega Protein Corporation will build and operate a shrimp hull processing facility
at its Moss Point facility. The cost of the project was not disclosed.
The company plans to install and operate shrimp hull
processing equipment and then process shrimp hulls
at its facility into high quality marine ingredients. The
shrimp hull raw material will be provided for no cost
by Mississippi shrimp processors who will be able to
conveniently process those hulls at Omega Protein’s facility without fees, rather than pay disposal
fees to third-party landfills.
Construction on the project is expected to commence later in 2010, and the project is anticipated
to be completed in 2011.
“This project helps to provide an environmentally friendly solution for Mississippi’s shrimp proces-
sors,” said Omega chairman and CEO Joe von Rosenberg. “The project will provide significant
benefits for Mississippi Gulf Coast communities and illustrates how two industries can both ben-
efit when working together cooperatively.”
In 2000 and again in 2009, Houston, Texas-based Omega donated former vessels from its fishing
fleet to the Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks to be used as artificial reefs for recreational fishing.
The company has been a part of the Jackson County community for more than 50 years and cur-
rently employs more than 300 Mississippi residents. Continued on next page
News Around Mississippi • July 2010 • Page 3
Ole Miss to build another research facility
OXFORD — Three federal agencies have provided $31.7 million for construction of a second build-
ing at the Thad Cochran Research Center at the University of Mississippi.
The Cochran Research Center is the primary research
facility for the university’s National Center for Natural
Products Research.The new building will include a
facility for Food and Drug Administration clinical tri-
als, an expanded repository for botanical specimens
and various labs.
Funding came from grants from the Health Resourc-
es and Services Administration and the FDA totaling
$17.8 million, and a competitive National Institutes
of Health grant of $13.9 million.
Construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013.
Vessel built by VT Halter honors scientist
from The Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA — The second ship in U.S. Navy history named to honor a scientist was christened
Saturday at a ceremony held Saturday, June 26, at VT Halter Marine.
The 534-foot USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM 25) bears the name of the man referred to as the
“father of electronic warfare.”
The late Dr. Howard Lorenzen earned this distinction by developing devices to detect, deceive and
otherwise jam enemy radar.
The vessel will be home to a crew of 88 military and civilian technicians and mariners from many
U.S. government agencies. The 12,575-ton missile range instrumentation ship will replace the
USNS Observation Island, which was launched in 1953.
Susan Lorenzen Black, Lorenzen’s daughter, was named as the sponsor of the new vessel. She
christened the ship by breaking a bottle of champagne across its bow, and promised to keep
in touch will all those who will serve on the vessel. (Read the full story http://www.sunherald.
com/2010/06/26/2290901/vessel-built-by-vt-halter-honors.html)
CAVS honored by state auto makers
CANTON — Automotive manufacturers and suppliers in the Magnolia State are honoring the
Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University for its contributions to the
industry.
CAVS recently received the 2010 Award of Excellence from the Mississippi
Automotive Manufacturers Association for its leadership and support of MA-
MA’s mission to grow, develop and improve the auto industry in the state.
Given annually during MAMA’s general meeting, nominations are submitted
by the organization’s membership and voted on by the board of directors.
“Auto manufacturing is a vital and growing part of the region’s economy.
Meeting the needs of industry, fostering research opportunities, and boost-
ing the development of a highly skilled and tech-savvy workforce are essen-
tial priorities at CAVS,” said Roger King, the center’s director.
CAVS is an interdisciplinary center that provides engineering, research,
development and technology transfer teams focused on complex prob-
lems, such as those encountered in technologies designed to improve
human mobility. CAVS’ overall effort is focused on developing superior
computational, engineering, manufacturing, design, and information
technologies relevant to Mississippi industries.
Continued on next page
News Around Mississippi • July 2010 • Page 4
New and Expanded Industry Announced in Month
In June 2010, one manufacturer announced intentions to open new facilities in the state, and
eight manufacturers have announced plans to expand current operations, according to the Mis-
sissippi Development Authority. Total investment estimated from these nine new and expanded
facilities is $40.8 million, and total number of jobs estimated is 465.
The tables below provide details for each new or expanded manufacturing business announced
for June 2010.
Manufacturing # of Facilities Est. No. New Jobs Est. Capital Investment
Facilities
New 1 10 $705,000
Expanded 8 455 $40,095,000
Total 9 465 $40,800,000
New Manufacturers Announced June 2010
Co. Name/Location Products (SIC Code and Description) Investment Jobs
Moore’s Welding and 3441 Fabricated Structural Metal $705,000 10
Ironworks
Goodman / Holmes
Expansions Announced June 2010
Co. Name/Location Products (SIC Code and Description) Investment Jobs
BorgWarner, Inc. 3714 Other Motor Vehicle Parts and $20 million 120
Water Valley / Yalobusha Accessories for Gasoline Engines, New
3492 Fluid Power Pneumatic (Air)
Valves: Solenoid
Worthington Cylinders 3499 Medical Cylinders, scuba tanks $11 million 80
New Albany / Union and carbon dioxide
Southern Motion, Inc. 2512 Upholstered Wood Sofas, Daven- $7 million 200
Pontotoc / Pontotoc ports, Settees and Loveseats
2512 Upholstered Wood Reclining
Chairs, All Types
Gatlin Feed Mill 2048 Feed mill for deer feed $1.2 million 10
Bogue Chitto / Lincoln
Community Construction, 1623 Water, Sewer, Pipeline, and Com- $795,000 25
Inc. (CCI) munications Power Line Construction
Hazlehurst / Copiah 3443 Fabricated Plate Work
Rives & Reynolds Lum- 2421 Hardwood Lumber $100,000 0
ber Co., Inc. 2421 Railway Crossties and Mine Ties
Louisville / Winston
Davis International 2512 Wood Household Furniture, Uphol- $0 20
Houlka/ Chickasaw stered
Omega Protein, Inc. 2077 Shrimp hull processing facility $0 0
Moss Point / Jackson addition
UNION ELECTION UNION ELECTIONS
RESULTS PENDING
No union election results in No union elections pending in
Mississippi to report. Mississippi.