Encompass Health to acquire Alacare Home Health & Hospice
Encompass Health Corp. announced Monday it is acquiring privately owned Alacare Home Health & Hospice. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the deal will put Encompass among the top 10 largest hospice providers in the country, based on Medicare reimbursements. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, subject to customary terms. – AL.com
$1m gift funds Michelob Ultra Terrace at USA stadium
The latest feature of USA’s new football stadium to bear a major donor name: Michelob Ultra Terrace, courtesy of a $1 million gift from Budweiser-Busch Distributing. On Monday afternoon University of South Alabama President Tony Waldrop and Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann thanked a trio of company leaders — Alexis Atkins, her brother Jim Fuchs and his son Chris Fuchs — for a “tremendous” gift to what will be known as Hancock Whitney Stadium. – AL.com
NASA awards $5.2M to Auburn’s Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence
Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering announced Monday that NASA awarded a $5.2 million contract to Auburn’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence. The 3-year contract is an expansion of a longstanding private partnership between Auburn and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Mike Ogles, director of NASA programs in the College of Engineering, will serve as the project manager. – Auburn Plainsman
Regions Financial bans clients from buying digital assets
The Regions Financial Corporation bank has decided to ban its clients from buying digital assets. The bank explained that it reserves the right to return or decline to pay for items related to virtual currencies. This is not the first that a bank bans users from dealing with digital assets, and in the future, there may be many others taking similar decisions. – BitCoin Exchange Guide
Study: Women paid 73 cents on the male dollar in Alabama
A new state-by-state analysis released on the eve of Equal Pay Day by the National Partnership for Women & Families finds that women employed full time, year-round in Alabama are typically paid just 73 cents for every dollar paid to a man in Alabama – a yearly pay difference of $12,785. Working women in Alabama lose a combined total of nearly $13 billion due to the wage gap each year. – News release
Department of Commerce to hire a rural development manager
In an effort to economically assist rural areas of Alabama, the Department of Commerce is forging a rural development manager position. Greg Canfield, secretary of the Department of Commerce, said he expects to have the new position filled in the next few weeks, held by a ready individual with professional experience. – Alabama Political Reporter
BancorpSouth Bank completes merger with Merchants Trust
BancorpSouth Bank has completed its previously announced mergers with Dallas, Texas-based Casey Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Grand Bank of Texas, and with Jackson, Alabama-based Merchants Trust, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Merchants Bank, effective Monday. – Magnolia Reporter
