Alabama Trust Bank shut down by regulators - Fri, 18 May 2012 22:19:41 +0000
Alabama Trust Bank NA was shut down today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was appointed as receiver by the OCC, entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Southern States Bank in Anniston to assume all of the deposits of Sylacauga-based Alabama Trust Bank. The sole branch of Alabama Trust Bank will reopen during its normal business hours Saturday as a branch of Southern States Bank. As of March 31, 2012, Alabama Trust Bank,...

UAB's inDegree wins Alabama Launchpad funding - Fri, 18 May 2012 19:49:32 +0000
A team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham took home $100,000 in seed funding for winning the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama's Alabama Launchpad competition. According to a tweet from the EDPA, UAB's inDegree took home the grand prize. The team is developing an alumni-tracking service that helps universities to build stronger alumni communities and students to leverage their alumni networks in the job market. Alabama Launchpad is a business plan competition to encourage high-growth...

SEC, Big 12 agree to bowl game deal - Fri, 18 May 2012 19:38:44 +0000
The Southeastern Conference and Big 12 Conference have agreed to a deal that will allow their conference champions to square off in a New Year's Day bowl game. The deal between the Birmingham-based SEC and Big 12 will begin in 2014, coinciding with the proposed four-team college football playoff expected to begin that year, according to ESPN. If either conference champion makes the playoffs, another team will be selected for the game. The host site, financial payout and other details of the game...

Top of the List: Birmingham's largest tourist attractions - Fri, 18 May 2012 19:01:37 +0000
This week’s print edition of the Birmingham Business Journal featured our list of Birmingham’s largest tourist attractions, ranked by 2011 attendance. Here’s a sneak peek at the top five companies. 1.) Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park - 540,1252.) Birmingham Zoo - 498,6233.) Oak Mountain State Park- 402,0004.) McWane Science Center- 381,1915.) Talladega Superspeedway - 352,500 The top five attractions saw a total increase in attendance of 230,321 over 2010 attendance numbers. This...

Hostess layoffs may top 200 in Alabama - Fri, 18 May 2012 18:47:01 +0000
Hostess Brands Inc. has filed a public notice that it could lay off some 253 employees in Alabama, including 63 at its Birmingham plant, beginning in July. In addition to the Birmingham employees, the company could lay off 18 in Chickasaw and 172 in unspecified parts of the state, according to notices filed May 7 with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The Birmingham News today reported that Hostess, which makes Twinkies and Wonder Bread, could be considering a sale or plant...

Alabama unemployment rate falls to 7.2% - Fri, 18 May 2012 18:39:33 +0000
The unemployment rate in Alabama dropped to 7.2 percent in April from March’s revised 7.4 percent. The preliminary rate for April represents 154,307 unemployed persons, down from 157,494 in March and 203,520 in April 2011, according to the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. Governor Robert Bentley said Alabama hasn’t recorded an unemployment rate this low since the start of the recession. Jefferson County’s rate fell to 6.2 percent in April from 8.4 percent during the same month...

Real estate roundup: A tale of two office markets - Fri, 18 May 2012 18:18:27 +0000
Looking at the ups and downs of metro Birmingham’s office market over the past year, the word “bipolar” comes to mind. And the first quarter of 2012 wasn’t the exception, according to a new market report by real estate research firm Xceligent. The area only had 5,757 square feet of positive absorption in the quarter after a large amount of negative absorption in the last quarter of 2011 due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency pulling out of the area after tornado recovery efforts. But...

Hibbett Sports reports 23% increase in profits - Fri, 18 May 2012 17:02:30 +0000
Hibbett Sports Inc. (Nasdaq: HIBB) reported net income of $26.4 million for its first quarter, up from $21.3 million in the first quarter a year ago — a 23.5 percent increase. The sporting goods chain recorded an 11 percent increase in comparable store sales for the quarter compared to the same period last year. Net sales increased 14.4 percent from $204 million in the first quarter of last year to $233 million this year. Hibbett opened seven new stores and closed 4 underperforming stores this...

Just 7% of Birmingham jobs are in manufacturing - Fri, 18 May 2012 15:09:01 +0000
It's no secret that Birmingham isn't quite as dependent on manufacturing than it once was. That is confirmed by the latest report from On Numbers. The report, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ranked the nation's 100 largest metros by their concentration of manufacturing jobs. With 7.28 percent of its nonfarm jobs in the manufacturing sector, Birmingham ranks No. 60 on the list. The metro has 35,400 manufacturing jobs. Nashville ranks 48th (8.41 percent), Memphis ranks 59th...