Eight Huntsville area companies have announced new investments and expansions valued at $71 million and bringing 510 jobs to the region.
Usually, the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, which functions as the economic development agency for the area, celebrates every such announcement.
“We want to celebrate every expansion, but this year, it has been challenging to do that in a safe way,” said Lucia Cape, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development.
So, instead of the ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings with dozens and dozens of company and government officials pausing for a photo op, the chamber issued one big celebration announcement.
Here’s the Chamber’s list of major announcements:
- Dynetics will add up to 200 new jobs associated with weapon development work and has hired hundreds of people this year in support of the Human Landing System and other projects, bringing their local employment to 2,740.
- Torch Technologies has had two recent expansion projects. The two projects total 120 jobs and $32.3 million in investment. The first project was the construction of the Technology Integration and Prototyping Center (TIPC), a two-story office space with an attached 10,000-square-foot high-bay facility. The facility was constructed by Freedom Real Estate & Capital.
- Invariant Corporation, a Huntsville-based engineering services and software development company founded in 2001, is creating 23 new jobs with investment of $430,000. The Invariant and second Torch expansions are a part of a mixed-use facility in South Huntsville. The 92,000-square-foot facility, also being built by Freedom, is slated to be complete in summer 2021.
- Nippon Express USA is located on the campus of Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A. Within the next two years Nippon Express will hire 101 new employees and invest $19.1 million.
The Chamber also identified four other companies making major investments — Aldez, Palco, Ridgeview Industries and TriRx Pharmaceutical Services.
Aldez, an inventory management and distribution company, working within the automotive industry, is moving into SouthPoint Business Park to support the Mazda Toyota project.
Palco, founded in Huntsville in 1986, works in the reverse logistics industry, specializing in post-sales support, integration and manufacturing support services.
Ridgeview Industries makes metal stampings and assemblies for the automotive industry.
TriRx Pharmaceutical Services, based in Connecticut, performs manufacturing, packaging, R&D and warehousing operations in Huntsville, where it specializes in liquid and semi-solid manufacturing and packaging.
“With COVID-19, this has certainly been a challenging year, but in spite of all that is happening, Huntsville still continues to see job growth in all parts of our City,” said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. “Whether it’s Torch Technologies in South Huntsville, Dynetics in Cummings Research Park, or TriRx in Chase Industrial Park, there are buildings going up and sites being delivered. When you combine that with the ongoing work at North Huntsville Industrial Park with Facebook and Toyota and the numerous projects at Mazda Toyota, it’s a remarkable statement to the resiliency of the Huntsville market and its industries.”
