WESTERN CANADA

Follow the HERD

For the uninitiated, that stands for higher education R&D. We drop in on the western provinces’ major research universities to find out what’s going on that’s of interest to global corporations.

ALABAMA

Workforce Programs Aim to Keep Local Talent Local

LaunchED and other initiatives take root in Birmingham.

CALIFORNIA

Sorrento, California–based rapid diagnostics testing firm Quidel Corp. early this month opened a new manufacturing facility in Carlsbad. The 128,000-sq.-ft. facility will be the company’s highest-volume production plant in the world and begins operations in the second half of 2021 with a mission to scale from the current 50 million to 600 million QuickVue® SARS rapid antigen tests per year for the detection and diagnosis of COVID-19 infections. “From the first days of the pandemic, Quidel has stepped up to meet the COVID-19 challenge head-on with innovative diagnostic technologies to detect coronavirus infections and expanded manufacturing to democratize access to affordable and high-quality testing,” said Douglas Bryant, president and CEO. “The opening of our massive new QuickVue® manufacturing plant is our boldest move yet and is expected to provide Quidel with the scale necessary to serve the needs of communities and institutions for frequent testing now and for years to come.” Quidel was the first company to introduce a visually read flu test, the QuickVue® Influenza A/B Test, which received FDA approval in September of 1999. “With the surging demand for COVID-19 testing, Quidel’s revenue tripled last year to $1.6 billion, up from $535 million in 2019,” reported the San Diego Union-Tribune, driven in part by expedited FDA clearance in December for its rapid-turnaround COVID-19 tests.

Source: Conway Analytics

FLORIDA

The PGA of America may have relocated its HQ to Frisco, Texas, but the PGA Tour is still alive and well and headquartered in Ponta Vedra Beach, where the tour’s new “Global Home,” approved two years ago, was completed and unveiled in January. The facility consolidates in one complex what used to take place across 17 different buildings. By tomorrow, February 16, the Tour expects the facility to be fully operational for more than 700 employees initially. (At this time, most Tour staff are working from home.) “Located to the south of the Clubhouse at TPC at Sawgrass, the new 187,000 square-foot headquarters will be nestled within the verdant landscape and surrounded by a large freshwater lake, echoing the iconic ‘Island Green’ 17th hole at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course,” said architects Foster + Partners when the plans were unveiled in January 2018. The PLAYERS Championship takes place March 11-14 this year.

Source: Conway Analytics

BUSINESS CLIMATE

Welcome to a New Way of Doing Business

An overhauled agency and a governor’s personal touch bring change to Kansas.

Q&A

What Down Year? Kansas Outperformed in 2020.

A conversation with Kansas Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland.

AEROSPACE & DEFENSE

Where Flyovers Are a Good Thing

Home to the highest concentration of aerospace manufacturing employment in the nation, Wichita has proved itself over and over ever since Clyde Cessna first moved his factory there from a farm in 1916.