August 2020 Group Watch: News & Views from the State House

• CARES Act Update: Governor Kay Ivey has announced additional awards in CARES funding. Fifty million dollars is available for grants of up to $15,000 to nonprofit organizations and faith-based programs to help mitigate operational costs resulting from COVID-19. Hospitals and nursing home were awarded $100 million to cover operating costs that are COVID-19 related, such as PPE, cleaning, personnel costs and other pandemic-related expenses; the specific amounts awarded to these facilities are listed on the state website, al.gov. The Department of Mental Health was awarded $7 million for its Crisis and Recovery Services program and the Community Provider Reimbursement program. These programs provide toll-free hotline services for persons in crisis and services to individuals with mental illness, substance use disorders and developmental disabilities. The Alabama Agriculture Stabilization Program received $26 million, which will be administered by the Department of Agriculture and Industries. Funds from all grants must be expended by December 31, 2020.
• Toyota Alabama installing 3.3-acre Solar Array: The Toyota engine plant in Huntsville is playing a key role in the automaker’s new solar energy plan, as part of a $9.3 million investment designed to cut the need for outside energy in its operations across three states. The company is adding almost 11 acres of new solar arrays in Alabama, Missouri and West Virginia, a setup that will offset 6,480,000 kWh of energy, or the equivalent of powering nearly 800 homes per year. In Huntsville, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama’s 3.3- acre solar array will be the largest built to date in Madison County. The $2.7 million project, expected to be complete by the end of the year, will generate 1.6 megawatts of solar-generated energy and reduce CO2 emissions at the plant by 1,732 metric tons annually.
• FedEx Ground to Build $40 Million Facility in Jefferson County: The Birmingham Business Alliance recently announced that FedEx Ground plans to build a $40.6 million facility in Jefferson County that would create 285 full and part-time jobs within three years of the project’s completion. The 300,000-square-foot facility will occupy a 46-acre site off Lakeshore Parkway, a growing logistics and distribution corridor that would place the new building next to a Dollar General distribution center. Construction on the facility is expected to begin around September 1, with completion scheduled for June 2021. The cities of Bessemer and Birmingham and the Jefferson County Commission have been close collaborators on what is being called one of the largest economic development projects this year for the region. 

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