Build it and they will come.

The line from the movie Field of Dreams isn’t entirely the solution to the growing problem of the lack of workforce housing in the Huntsville metropolitan area.

But it is a start, according to city officials and business leaders who attended a meeting hosted about the issue by the Huntsville Committee of 100.

“Supply isn’t the only cure,” said Dennis Madsen, the city of Huntsville’s manager for urban and long-range planning. “But supply is part of it. We need to put units on the ground, plain and simple. To make sure you are getting folks at the lower end of the wage scale, in some cases you’ve got to be more creative about it. But step one is to get more housing on the ground because we have more people moving here.” AL.com

Lt. General Chris Mohan assumed duties as deputy commanding general of the U.S. Army Materiel Command on Dec, 2, 2022.

Mohan is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Army’s logistics enterprise. He also serves as the senior commander of Redstone Arsenal.

Mohan is a native of Carthage, North Carolina. He commissioned into the U.S. Army in 1989 from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where he graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice.

His military education includes the Ordnance Officer Basic Course, the Combined Logistics Officer Advanced Course, the Naval College of Command and Staff and the Army War College. He holds a master of science in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College and a master’s degree in military strategy from the Army War College. AL.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Six Japanese companies embarking on investment projects in Alabama were recognized Thursday night at a ceremony that highlighted the deep economic and cultural connections that link the Southeastern state and the Asian nation.

The Japan-America Society of Alabama (JASA) dinner at the Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa brought together leaders from government, economic development, education and culture in support of the Alabama-Japan relationship.

Birmingham’s Mark Jackson, who serves as Honorary Consul General of Japan, said last night’s event highlighted the multi-layered importance of Alabama’s relationship with Japan.

“From manufacturing, financial and insurance services to educational exchanges and cultural events, Japan has become a major part of Alabama’s landscape,” Jackson said. “Our leaders understand the importance of this relationship, and I am happy to work with them as it continues to expand. MadeInAlabama.com

A major biotech company is getting tax incentives from Hoover to expand its local research center.

The Hoover City Council approved a resolution Monday that provides the abatements to BioCryst Pharmaceuticals that will allow the company to expand its Hoover research and development facility by 42%.

The abatement, allowed for under the Tax Incentive Reform Act of 1992, contains non-educational portions of city, county and state sales use and property taxes. The total estimated benefit to Hoover City Schools through property tax is $971,616 over 10 years. The city’s estimated value of non-educational abated sales/use and property taxes is $753,146. The total estimated value of all abatements — non-educational city, county and state taxes — to BioCryst is $1,828,470.

BioCryst is a global biotechnology company focused on structure-guided drug design, which is used to develop oral small-molecule and protein therapeutics to target difficult-to-treat diseases. The company was founded in 1986 by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The company’s Discovery Center of Excellence was established at Riverchase Corporate Park in the 1990s and has been the research and development hub of the company since. The now Durham, North Carolina-based pharmaceutical company was previously headquartered in Birmingham. Birmingham Business Journal

Wage growth has been slowing in Alabama, but it was higher than national wage growth in October.

For workers who have stayed in the same job for the last 12 months in Alabama, median annual salary was $60,500 in October, 6% higher than one year prior. That’s according to data from ADP Pay Insights, which tracks wages and salaries of over 10 million employees over a 12-month period.

Nationally, those figures were $57,800 and 5.7% in October. Birmingham Business Journal