Industry News

Toyodabo Manufacturing Kentucky LLC is planning to construct a $9.8 million manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Ky. The facility will manufacture molded headliners for the automobile industry and is expected to begin production in 2004. The company is a division of Kariya, Japan-based Toyoda Boshoku Corp. Toyadabo's primary customer is Toyota Motor Corp.

Stewart & Stevenson Services will open a new 18,000-sf training center in Houston's Garden Oaks industrial area in May of 2003. The facility will house classrooms and labs for diesel engine and transmission training for Stewart & Stevenson technicians, customers, and dealers. Stewart & Stevenson, based in Houston, is a distributor of diesel engines and a diversified manufacturer of products including commercial aircraft ground-support equipment and U.S. Army vehicles.

South Korea-based Samlip Industrial Co. is planning a new 130,000-sf facility in Alexander City, Ala., for the manufacture of automotive lighting parts and systems. The $53-million facility will be sited on 50 acres in the Alexander City Airport Industrial Park and will employ 400 workers. The automotive supplier will begin construction on the facility in August 2003 with occupancy slated for September 2004.

Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) is constructing a new $35,000-sf facility at its Oregon National Primate Research Institute in Beaverton. Slated for completion in June 2004, the $11-million research facility will house 900 rhesus monkeys, adding 450 new animals to the site.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has been recognized for notable accomplishments by H2E (Hospitals for a Healthy Environment), a partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm. The Healthy Building Network has also awarded Kaiser for accelerating the shift to healthier building materials with its purchasing actions and policies.