AUBRUN HILLS-Chrysler cleared two major hurdles this past weekend by reaching
a concession agreement with the United Auto Workers and winning ratification of
a cost-cutting deal with the Canadian Auto Workers. MORE
MINNETONKA, MN-The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week warned St. Jude Medical Inc. that its catheter manufacturing facility here had been using non-conforming manufacturing practices. MORE
WASHINGTON-General Motors is getting another $2 billion in federal loans, while Chrysler is trying to work out a deal to keep it out of bankruptcy courts. MORE
PLYMOUTH, MA-Aeronautica Windpower LLC has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Norwin A/S of Denmark to manufacture new, commercial-size wind turbines in the United States for the North American and Caribbean markets. The company expects to ship its first turbines later this year. In an industry dominated by foreign manufacturers, this announcement positions Aeronautica as the first U.S.-owned company that will build ‘sub-megawatt’ class (101 to 1000 kilowatts) wind turbines here. MORE
ROCKY MOUNT, NC-LS Tractor USA LLC has won nearly $1 million in incentives from North Carolina to establish its U.S. headquarters and build a distribution and manufacturing facility here. The company, which makes high-end compact tractors and implements, projects that it will spend almost $14 million on the project, which is expected to create 134 new jobs during the next five years. MORE
HILLSBORO, OR-SolarWorld is expanding its solar cell manufacturing plant here, less than a year after it opened in October. With the expansion, SolarWorld will be able to fully devote its existing 480,000-square-foot building to manufacturing solar cells. Currently, 44 percent of the facility is used for purposes other than manufacturing. MORE
VILLEMUR-SUR-TARN, France-Workers at a French subsidiary of U.S. firm Molex have detained two bosses in protest of plans to close the company’s assembly plant here. Molex Automotive announced in October that it was planning to close the plant and relocate the work to China and the United States. When assemblers heard the announcement, they detained their plant manager and human resources director. MORE