AlaBiz QuizHistory Take the May 2026 AlaBiz Quiz Challenge yourself with these Alabama business-related puzzlers from the past. By Nedra Bloom - May 20, 2026 Who bought the Birmingham-Southern College campus? Photo courtesy of Birmingham-Southern College. AlaBiz Quiz - May 2026 1) MAY 2026: Some new banks come into existence by purchasing the charter of an existing bank, while some are created through a multi-year process based on raising and holding cash and meeting additional stringent FDIC requirements – a process described as "not for the faint of heart." How many banks have started in Alabama with a fresh new charter in the past two years?(Required) One Five Two Seven 2) APRIL 2026 (one month ago): Birmingham-Southern College closed two years ago, leaving its 192-acre campus vacant. What organization recently acquired the campus for a training center?(Required) U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Army U.S. Space Command U.S. Air Force 3) MAY 2025 (one year ago): Austal christened the USNS Billy Frank Jr., a Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship. What milestone did that ship mark for Austal?(Required) Austal's first aluminum-hulled ship Austal's first ship built entirely by robots Austal's first ship designed for inland waterways Austal's first steel-hulled ship 4) MAY 2021 (five years ago): Boeing successfully completed the eight-minute test burn on its new SLS engine destined for NASA's Artemis missions. Where was the test burn done?(Required) Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville Stennis Space Center in Mississippi NASA - Houston Cape Canaveral 5) MAY 2016 (10 years ago): Business Alabama featured the nation's top 10 defense contractors, all of which have operations in Alabama. The biggest of those, with $5.35 billion in operating income, had 126,000 employees worldwide with 2,100 of them in Alabama, working on projects including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense program, U.S. Army Unmanned Aerial Systems and more. What company was the nation's largest defense contractor? (Careful – these are the top four.)(Required) BAE Systems Boeing Co. Lockheed Martin Raytheon 6) MAY 2001 (25 years ago): Although Alabama had lured two major automobile manufacturing plants and more in the previous few years, it still retained its status as a "winner" on federal taxes, ranking 10th among states receiving more in federal support than it contributed in taxes. Based on a Harvard study, while Alabamians paid an average of $4,531 in taxes, the state received more. Another study calculated it at $1.49 for every $1 paid. How much did that come to per capita?(Required) $4,750 $9,457 $6,610 $8,114 This quiz appeared in the May 2026 issue of Business Alabama.
