In October, Dana Corp. broke ground for its new Automotive Systems Group Technol-ogy Center. The facility, to be completed in November 2003, will be located on a 30-acre (12-hectare) site in Monclova Township, southwest of the company's hometown of Toledo, Ohio. The facility will house engineering, information technology, administrative, and sales and marketing functions from the company's light axle, driveshaft, and systems integration operations.
        "By building this state-of-the-art facility here, we are expanding upon a solid base of automotive technology in the area," says Bill Carroll, president of Dana's Automotive Systems Group. "The facility will employ some 500 people, most of whom are involved in highly technical, future-oriented work on the behalf of Dana and its global customers. These are 'knowledge workers,' who will play an instrumental role in growing innovation and helping to make Dana a more successful company moving forward."
        The center, which will include an advanced prototype and manufacturing/ assembly area, will feature 90,000 sq. ft. (8,361 sq. m.) of design and development space and an additional 80,000 sq. ft. (7,432 sq. m.) for offices and potential future expansion.

Dow's light-emitting polymers will gain their glow in Michigan.

Dow Chemical Company is nearing completion of the first phase of a multimillion-dollar expansion at its Michigan Operations in Midland, Mich., where it will make light-emitting polymers, essential to the production of polymeric light-emitting diode (pLED) displays, a next-generation display technology. The expansion, which will create up to 18 new jobs, will be designed, constructed and operated by Dow Haltermann Custom Processing, a part of Dow's Custom & Fine Chemicals global business unit.
        "We are proud that Dow AEM has chosen our Midland location for this significant investment," says Gary Veurink, Michigan Operations vice president and site director. "This expansion positions Dow's Michigan Operations as a globally competitive hub for the display materials industry, and we are confident that this new growth will help Dow continue to attract new business opportunities to Midland."
        Between Michigan Operations and corporate headquarters, Dow already employs more than 6,000 people in the area, and has a local economic impact of almost $700 million annually.

Following on the recent announcement of a 40-million standard-cubic-feet per-day hydrogen facility in New Orleans, Pennsylvania-based Air Products and Chemicals announced that in conjunction with a new long-term hydrogen supply agreement with ConocoPhillips, it would build yet another facility in Lake Charles, La., with a capacity in excess of 100 million standard cubic feet per day.
        "This supply arrangement is one of over 20 that the company has undertaken for refiners worldwide within the past 10 years," said Jeff Byrne, Air Products' regional vice president for Chemical and Process Industries in North America. The project will help ConocoPhillips meet new federal guidelines for cleaner-burning gasolines. Byrne added that a second long-term hydrogen supply agreement has been signed with another major Lake Charles area refinery and would be served by the new Louisiana facility and pipeline network. The facility will be the 19th to be built through the Air Products and Technip-Coflexip Group alliance.

As of mid-November, the associate membership of the Industrial Asset Management Council broke down according to the following categories: 48.8% economic developers 21.4% real estate brokers 15.6% consultants 7.1% construction companies 7.1% real estate developers

        The company also just brought on-stream the world's largest ultra high-purity bulk gas production facility, pipeline bulk gas distribution network and a related state-of-the-art electronics specialty materials production center to serve electronics customers in the Tainan Science Based Industrial Park in southern Taiwan. The total investment by Air Products was in excess of $50 million.

Franklin Gray has been appointed president of James N. Gray Co., a Lexington, Ky.-based design-build firm with yearly revenues approaching $500 million. He takes over the reins from his brother Howard, who served in the post for 30 years. The company, which recently opened an office in Prague, the Czech Republic, has secured contracts to build a $40-million distribution facility for Best Buy in Nichols, New York, and the 300,000-sq.-ft. (27,870-sq.-m.) Nissan Logistics Center at the OEM's burgeoning complex in Canton, Miss. Nissan will own the facility, and lease space to suppliers as needed in order to assure just-in-time delivery of key components.

CSX Transportation is rolling out a major marketing push to lure food manufacturers into using rail to deliver their basic ingredients in bulk shipments. Company spokesmen estimate that the 1,200 targeted food companies can save as much as 60 percent on their inbound shipping by going to rail.