Baldwin County, Alabama News and Discussion
May 17th, 2008 — Business
Alabama’s unemployment rate declined slightly in April to 4 percent. Alabama’s unemployment rate remains lower than the 5 percent U.S. figure.
Shelby County’s 2.3 percent marked the lowest figure in the state, just ahead of Madison County. Limestone, Baldwin and Tuscaloosa counties tied for the third lowest rate at 2.7 percent.
March 7th, 2008 — Business, Spanish Fort
On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, The Sharper Image commenced a case under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
The company intends to continue to conduct business as usual while it devotes renewed efforts to resolve its operational and liquidity problems and develops a reorganization plan.
The Sharper Image is suspending the acceptance of Gift Cards, Reward Cards, Gift Certificates or Merchandise Certificates as a form of payment.
There is a Sharper Image store at the Eastern Shore Center in Spanish Fort.
Bankruptcy makes gift cards worthless
Eastern Shore Center Sharper Image
So “business as usual” means taking money for gift cards but not honoring them?
March 5th, 2008 — Business
Baldwin County tied for fourth as the micropolitan area with the most industrial expansions in 2007, according to Site Selection magazine, after landing 14 new or expanded facilities creating 490 jobs.
“I think it really speaks to the pipeline of deals that we’re seeing and the industry activity in our area,” said Lee Lawson, director of economic development for the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance.
The magazine, which covers industrial recruitment, counts projects where companies invest at least $1 million, build a structure of at least 20,000 square feet or hire at least 50 people.
January 19th, 2008 — Business
Unemployment jumped statewide and across southwest Alabama in December as effects of a faltering national economy began to show up in the state.
Mobile and Baldwin counties have seen increases of 0.8 percentage points over those two months, with Mobile’s jobless rate rising to 3.9 percent and Baldwin’s to 3.1 percent in December. That reflects a shrinking number of jobs, down almost 1,000 in Mobile and about 350 in Baldwin last month.
Baldwin, where employment has grown rapidly in recent years, remains tied for the fourth-lowest jobless rate in the state.
January 4th, 2008 — Business
$2 million annual economic impact on Escambia County from scuba divers visiting the USS Oriskany, the world’s largest artificial reef sunk off Pensacola in 2006. When the impact to Baldwin County, Ala., is added, the economic impact increases to $3.6 million. The Oriskany generated more than 4,200 chartered dive trips during the year, attracting visitors from across the United States and abroad.
3.6-2.0=1.6
January 3rd, 2008 — Business, Daphne
Ruby Tuesday Inc. said Wednesday that it has closed its Daphne location at 28611 U.S. Highway 98.
Rick Johnson, senior vice president of the Maryville, Tenn.-based company, said there are no plans to close any other locations. “We’ve had that location for a long time, and that lease, frankly, came to an end,” he said.
Kimberly Grant, an executive vice president, said it is not out of the ordinary for the company to close a handful of restaurants each year as leases expire and other sites become available.
December 17th, 2007 — Business
It’s been a good year to be in the pecan business. Local growers say the southeastern United States experienced a bumper crop this season. Doug Bishop, who along with his family owns B&B Pecan Company, says that’s something pecan farmers in our area have not seen in more than four years. “Last year wasn’t much of a crop, but we did have a crop, and for two years Ivan and Katrina took our crop. So, we’re really thankful to get this crop in this year.”
Growers say the abundance of nuts this season has driven down the prices of pecans, so expect to pay less for your pecans this Holiday Season.
December 14th, 2007 — Business, Fairhope
L-3 Crestview Aerospace is closing its 41-worker Fairhope aircraft plant, a spokesman for parent L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. confirmed Tuesday.
Lance Martin, the spokesman, said all Fairhope workers have been offered jobs at the main factory in Crestview, Fla., about 110 miles east of Fairhope.
Crestview Aerospace, a unit of New York-based L-3, is sending assembly work on UH-1Y “Huey” helicopter bodies to the 1,000-worker-plus facility in the Florida Panhandle because it has room for the work, allowing L-3 to cut the expense of the Fairhope plant.
L-3 Crestview to close local plant
Who knew there was even an airplane plant in Fairhope?
November 19th, 2007 — Business
The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce is offering a new program to drive customers to businesses that promises to be a winning situation for everyone, especially the consumer, a chamber spokeswoman said.
This month, the chamber will kick off the Shore Rewards Card program in partnership with ProMedia LLC. The program will enable cardholders to earn and accrue rebates from participating area businesses. The cards will be on sale at the businesses and at the chamber for only $10.
Unlike typical discount cards, each time a consumer makes a purchase, a rebate will be added to the Shore Rewards Card. It’s as good as cash, according to the spokeswoman. The rebates are determined by the businesses. The consumer can use the accrued dollars at any other participating business at any time.
September 6th, 2007 — Business, Other News
Southwest Alabama elected officials met Wednesday in Mobile to continue discussing the formation of a regional alliance that would help recruit and support large industrial projects.
The consortium, tentatively called the Lower Alabama Economic Development Authority, got its spark during the state’s recruitment of ThyssenKrupp AG, the German steelmaker that is building a $3.7 billion steel finishing complex in north Mobile County.
Organizers initially hoped the authority’s members, including city and county governments from Baldwin, Clarke, Escambia, Mobile and Washington counties, could share costs associated with the $811 million incentives package used to bring the 2,700-worker steel mill to Alabama.
“The bottom line is there’s strength in numbers. We can all benefit if we pool our resources,” said Baldwin County Commissioner Wayne Gruenloh.
August 3rd, 2007 — Business, Schools
Software, school computer supplies, clothing and much more are among the list of items eligible for tomorrow’s back-to-school sales tax exemption.
State, county and municipal sales tax will be waived on such supplies beginning at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 3.
The sales tax holiday continues through midnight Sunday, Aug. 5.
July 23rd, 2007 — Business, Daphne
A 69-acre retail center is planned as a commercial improvement district along Interstate 10, and a council member was named to the development’s improvement board to have input on city-backed funding.
The Renaissance Center is the latest development planned using improvement bonds in a special-tax district. The center is adjacent to the Eastern Shore Park, where there is a new Sam’s Club and Lowe’s Home Improvement store, which was built with similar funding.
July 23rd, 2007 — Business
Baldwin’s economic strength is again among the top micropolitan statistical areas in the United States, but the county’s ranking dropped from eighth in 2006 to 34th in 2007, according to a national rating. That figure, however, still puts Baldwin in the top 5 percent among 693 counties included in regions defined as micropolitan statistical areas.
July 20th, 2007 — Business, State News
Nationally, unemployment in June was 4.5 percent, the same level as the previous two months.
The following Alabama counties had the lowest unemployment rates in June: Shelby, 2.6 percent; Baldwin, 2.9 percent; Blount and Madison, 3.1 percent; and Autauga, 3.2 percent.
July 20th, 2007 — Business, Foley, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach
Alabama’s Gulf Coast experienced a record-breaking spring for retail sales this year as it continues recovering from hurricane damage in 2005 - and the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau expects strong sales to continue into summer.
This spring, the taxable retail sales in the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area rose more than 33 percent, compared to spring 2004, the year before Hurricanes Rita and Katrina damaged Alabama’s coast and prompted years of storm recovery and unprecedented new construction, the bureau said.
The nearby Foley area experienced a more than 13 percent increase in taxable retail sales and a more than 31 percent increase in taxable lodging rentals
