Google Fiber seeks applicants for Digital Inclusion Fellowship in Huntsville
In May 2015, the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) — a Portland, Ore.-based nonprofit facilitates the global exchange of knowledge and information helping nonprofits use all aspects of technology more effectively — and Google Fiber launched the first-ever Digital Inclusion Fellowship. The goal of the program was to bridge the digital divide in America, where an estimated 60 million people do not have Internet. Throughout the course of the year-long Fellowship, Fellows and program staff help nonprofits get their communities online, empowering them to meet their social, economic, and civic needs. Fellows work with their organizations to provide programming to their communities aimed at building technology skills and identifying avenues for access. Now in its fourth iteration, the Digital Inclusion Fellowship is once again looking for applicants. Implementing lessons learned in previous Fellowship cohorts, the program has limited applicants to those currently working for nonprofits and social service agencies located in the program areas. Huntsville, Ala. has one fellowship position, sponsored by Google Fiber, open. “Nonprofit staff selected for the Fellowship will create and expand digital inclusion programs to help bring their communities online,” explained Drew Pizzolato, Digital Inclusion Campaign Manager at NTEN. “These programs empower communities in innumerable ways: They can help parents connect with teachers, instruct job seekers on how to craft a professional resume, promote low-cost internet offers, show seniors how to video chat with family, and so much more.” Applications are due by Nov. 17.
Google Fiber launches community connections program, provides computer lab in Huntsville
Founded with the goal of making the web better and faster – for everyone, Google Fiber is taking its mission to the Rocket City. There, they’ve partnered with the Harris Home for Children (HHC), a non-profit that provides full-time foster care for neglected and dependent adolescent males and females, and have provided a new computer lab with high-speed, fiber optic internet access and digital literacy programs that will give the HHC the tools and resources needed to be smart and safe surfers of the web. The initiative is part of Google Fiber’s Community Connections program. The program endeavors to support and promote digital inclusion, particularly in the most underserved communities by working closely with nonprofit organizations, local government agencies and community leaders to develop education, training and entrepreneur programs unique to each Google Fiber city.
Alabama business roundup: Headlines from across state – 2/20/17 edition
What company is downsizing again in the Yellowhammer State? Who holds the key to auto industry boom in the state? Which Alabama company has purchased a defunct power plant in Maine? Answers to the these questions and more in today’s Alabama business roundup. Alabama NewsCenter: Mercedes holds key to Alabama auto industry boom In the 20 years since Mercedes-Benz began producing the M-Class SUV in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama’s auto industry has roared to life in communities across the state. Vehicle production has steadily risen to make Alabama one of the Top 5 auto-producing states in the U.S. Last year, for the second year in a row, workers at Mercedes, Honda and Hyundai combined to build more than 1 million vehicles. Jobs are on the rise, too, growing by more than 200 percent over the past 15 years. In 2016, there were 38,730 jobs at auto, engine and motor parts manufacturers in the state, up from 12,760 in 2001, according to data supplied by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA). The average annual earnings of all of those jobs combined is $70,680. Meanwhile, the economic output of the state’s auto and parts manufacturing industries has grown from an estimated $1.1 billion in 1997 to about $6.2 billion by 2014, according to the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama. On Feb. 14, 1997, the day the first customer-ready M-Classes began rolling off the assembly line, no one dreamed where it would lead, said Steve Sewell, EDPA executive vice president. “The growth and economic impact have far exceeded our expectations, and the industry’s extraordinary success has earned the state a reputation as a top business location,” he said. ‘Fertile ground’ While Mercedes started it all, the industry would not be what it is without the major contributions of Honda and Hyundai, which built their own auto assembly plants in the state in the years following the M-Class debut, as well as Toyota’s engine plant and hundreds of suppliers and support businesses. But Mercedes’ decision to build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Alabama was a signal seen around the world that the state was fertile ground for new business opportunities, said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “That decision was the key that opened the doors to an industry that continues to create new opportunities today,” he said. “It was a vote of confidence from a premium automaker with a long and storied history of innovation and excellence that saw great potential in Alabama.” That signal is still reverberating globally, as Mercedes has completed multiple expansions at its Tuscaloosa County operations, Canfield said. Today, the facility, known as Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc., has seen investment valued at more than $4.5 billion and has the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles per year. Another expansion, which includes a new body shop, major enhancements to the SUV assembly shop and upgraded logistics and IT systems, is in the works. The project is valued at $1.3 billion and will create 300 jobs. “Mercedes’ initial vote of confidence in Alabama has been proven correct time and time again, thanks to the company’s strategic vision and the skill and dedication of their workers here who have helped them achieve and surpass those goals,” Canfield said. ‘Transformational impact’ Alabama’s business recruiters often say the Mercedes success story helps in courting other companies, and not just those in the auto industry. The automaker’s presence here helped usher in a new era of foreign direct investment in Alabama, in industries including automotive, aerospace, chemical and more. In 2015 alone, the state’s FDI topped $3.4 billion. Mercedes has lifted other areas of the state’s economy, too. The company is consistently Alabama’s top exporter, and in 2015 alone shipped more than $5 billion in products to 135 markets around the world. Overall auto exports for that year, the latest for which data is available, topped $7 billion, a record annual total and a 5.8 percent growth from the previous year. Exports of motor vehicle parts reached $1.2 billion, an 18 percent increase. “Mercedes has had a transformational impact on Alabama’s auto industry, as well as the state and its economy as a whole,” Canfield said. “With new growth on the horizon for the company in Tuscaloosa County, we anticipate even more opportunities for Alabama workers and support businesses throughout the state.” AL.com: Google Fiber downsizing again, says it’s still coming to Huntsville Google Fiber is losing hundreds of employees, according to press reports, but it still plans to bring its Gigabit Internet service to Huntsville. Google Access, the part of the larger Google empire that oversees fiber, is moving hundreds of fiber employees to other jobs, the website Business Insider reports. The report says no employees will be laid off, but they will be moved to divisions that are growing such as cloud and hardware. Earlier reports said Google wouldn’t expand to several cities as originally planned, and there has been speculation that Alphabet, the Google parent company, will sell the fiber division. Business Insider discounted the sale reports on Wednesday. “Google Fiber is committed to Huntsville. Once the Huntsville Utilities fiber network is built we intend to bring Google Fiber to Huntsville as planned,” a spokeswoman said Wednesday. “We can’t wait to share Google Fiber with the Rocket City.” Birmingham Business Journal: Alabama company buys defunct Maine power plant A newly formed Alabama company recently purchased a mothballed biomass power plant in northern Maine and plans to create about 300 jobs there. The company, 42 Railroad Ave LLC, plans to bring the former Sherman Development Power Plant in Stacyville, Maine online as a renewable energy facility. The company was recently established by CEO Steven Johnson, a longtime renewable energy investor and redevelopment entrepreneur, and focuses on heavy industrial and small-town revitalization projects. The company bought the 24 megawatt power generation station from Niagara Worldwide LLC after more than four years of negotiations, according to a press release. A purchase price was not made available. Johnson said
