Governor Riley Visits Austal’s Headquarters In Australia

Australia Bob Riley Riley thanked the Austal shipbuilding company for creating 1000 jobs in Mobile.

by WKRG Staff/The Associated Press

Published: Mon, June 22, 2009 - 3:19 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, June 22, 2009 - 5:47 pm CST

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's industrial
development trip has taken him to western Australia, where he
thanked the Austal shipbuilding company for creating 1,000 jobs in
Mobile.

The governor visited the Austal headquarters in Henderson on
Monday. He said Alabama has benefited tremendously from the Austal
shipyard in Mobile, and Austal has helped recruit other companies
to Alabama.

Austal’s shipyard in Mobile is the largest aluminum shipyard in the world. They built the Hawaiian Superferry, the largest-ever aluminum ferry in the United States, as well as the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). In November, Austal will vbegin building the first of ten Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV) for the Navy.

“The people of our state have benefited tremendously from the partnership we've forged between Alabama and Austal,” Riley said. “Austal is a world class company that has created more than 1,000 jobs in Alabama. My visit to the company's headquarters helps promote and strengthen that partnership.”

Governor Riley said that building and maintaining relationships with existing companies is key to bringing new ones to Alabama.

“Through the years we have found that our best industrial recruiters often times are international companies currently operating in Alabama,” Riley said. “Companies like Austal, Mercedes, and countless others have seen first-hand the benefits of locating in Alabama and they take that knowledge and share it with other firms in their home countries. Building upon our relationship with Austal and the people of Australia can only help us as we try to bring more international companies to Alabama.”

Austal got established in Mobile in 1999. Since then, Riley says
the State of Alabama has provided more than $10 million in economic
incentives in exchange for the company creating 1,000 jobs. The
state is also preparing to break ground on a maritime training
facility in Mobile that Austal will use.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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mob1 Says:

Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 4:50 am

To me this has nothing to do with republican or Democrate. We would be in the same situation if a Democrate was governor. However 1400 jobs add by this company over 1 year is no big deal compared to the number of unemployeed but I understand the rehiring has to start somwhere.
My whole point of this is that I feel Bob did not have to fly to another country just to say thank you and BS with the big wigs.

aguyfromnothere Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 11:28 pm

i “know” someone who works @ austual usa. they told some reporters i do recall a while back when they had a lay off of employees that they wouldn’t have anymore lay offs. since then they have had a couple more and laid off over 150 people. austal usa is only out to make money. they are not concerned about their employees and families. they are only concerened about money. they have taken more time than they needed for lcs to have been built, waisting tax payers dollars due to it being a government contract. they have more “chiefs” than “indians”. they need more “indians” to do the work than “chiefs” telling people what to do. that place is full of politics. someone besides me please do the math. if you have 100 people and 60 of them are supervisors, 40 of them laborers, how fast will it be completed?

eee222 Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:47 am

dougtech,now your true colors come out.As I knew given enough time you would resort to your real issue,and it has nothing to do with Austal,Alabama or Riley. It wouldn’t matter if the state had 0% unemployment you wouldn’t give anyone credit if it didn’t come from your so-call “savior”

dougstech Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:36 am

eee222, and thats YOUR response?

Typical republican to resort to attacks instead of addressing an issue. Just take a look at the presidential debates. Mccain simply used the time to do nothing but attack Obama, while Obama answered the questions. He resorted to mudslinging because he knew he was losing bad.

eee222 Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:33 am

dougtects, That’s your response?.....LAME

dougstech Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:27 am

Talk about pushing an agenda and not helping the state, and at the same time abusing press releases.

http://governorpress.alabama.gov/pr/pr-2009-05-29-01-playing_politics.asp

eee222 Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:26 am

dougstech, You see once again it has nothing to do with the article,but rather your personal agenda.I may have missed it in one of your earlier post but I can’t find your ideas or solutions,just attacks.Typical democrat mode of operation.Please share with us what you’ve got to offer. And stating “wasting time and money” don’t get it. Please be specific.

dougstech Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:07 am

eee222, we will recover as soon as the republicans are done wasting all our time and money

eee222 Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:06 am

dougstech, You’re beyond belief. How can somebody in this economy complain about jobs being created.You act as if this is unique to Alabama.Where were you when the unemployment rate was at 4.7%.Yea we’ve lost jobs just as everywhere else in this county has, but we will recover and it will be a lot sooner than most. I can’t believe you laughing at 1400 jobs.

dougstech Says:

Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 9:51 am

Oh wow. 1400 jobs! Only 207,000 to go! Good luck with that Riley.

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