Construction of a new oversized vehicle tunnel and premium RV infield parking section at Talladega Superspeedway is still on schedule to be completed in time for the April NASCAR race, despite large amounts of rainfall and unusual groundwater conditions underneath the track.
Track Chairman Grant Lynch, during a news conference Wednesday at the track, said he’s amazed the general contractor, Taylor Corporation of Oxford, has been able to keep the project on schedule.
“The amount of water they have pumped out of that and the extra engineering they did from the original design, basically to keep that tunnel from floating up out of the earth, was remarkable,” Lynch said.
Alabama’s auto workers built nearly 1.6 million engines last year, as the state industry continues to carve out a place in global markets with innovative, high-performance parts, systems and finished vehicles.
Last year also saw major new developments in engine manufacturing among the state’s key players, and more advanced infrastructure is on the way in the coming year.
Hyundai expects to complete a key addition to its engine operations in Montgomery during the first half of 2019, while Honda continues to reap the benefits of a cutting-edge Alabama engine line installed several years ago.
Political and business leaders gathered for a groundbreaking at Alabama’s newest aerospace plant gave credit to the formation of the many key partnerships that made it possible.
Governor Kay Ivey and several other federal, state and local officials attended the event which celebrated the construction of rocket engine builder Blue Origin’s facility in Huntsville.
"Frontier Airlines will begin direct flights from Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport on April 11, the airline announced today. Frontier Airlines will start by offering direct service to Denver, Orlando and Philadelphia from Birmingham. Introductory prices will start at $39."
"The Pittsburgh Steelers are hiring Crimson Tide defensive line coach Karl Dunbar as their defensive line coach, according to a source."
"This gets Dunbar back to the NFL, where the 50-year old had been for most of his coaching career before heading to Alabama in 2016 as the replacement for Bo Davis."
"It will be the fifth NFL team he's worked for after stints as the defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears (2004), Minnesota Vikings (2006-11), New York Jets (2012-14) and Buffalo Bills (2015)."
"At 87, Clint Eastwood is not only trying new things, he’s trying daring new things, and his new film 15:17 to Paris represents one of the most audacious gambits of his career. To dramatize the tale of three Americans who tackled and subdued a heavily armed Islamist terrorist on a train out of Amsterdam in 2015, Eastwood cast the young men, none of whom had professional acting experience, as themselves. It’s a decision with little precedent in the entire history of motion pictures."
Helping people eat healthier is a growth business for Alabama’s Papa Vince and family
(Doing More Today/Contributed)
When it comes to extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), Vitina Feo knows her stuff.
“We hand pick everything, which is very costly, but what it does is it keeps your tree happy and they keep producing good olives,” Feo said.
As CEO of Papa Vince, a small, family-owned business based out of the Alabama coastal town of Gulf Shores, Feo knows her product from growing up around olive oil production in Sicily. Her family has been making olive oil since 1935, but it wasn’t until decades later, when she was now living in the United States, that the idea to actually sell that olive oil came to be.
“When we started Papa Vince, we were committed, but the biggest problem we had is we were short on capital,” Feo said. “In the beginning, our brand was unknown; the sales were slow and when you have slow sales, your fixed costs eat the profits. That’s when Regions really helped us.”
Feo says her cousin Vito in Italy, who suggested to begin the brand, provided the initial inventory. Then, along with her husband Stefano, she carried out the legwork of launching the business. Selling at food festivals and in some local grocers eventually led to selling on their own website, and finally, Amazon. When five-star review after five-star review put their product in a prominent placement on Amazon, sales took off. But the increased demand for inventory led to cash-flow challenges.
“I had a relationship with Regions, and I was in Regions one day updating an account for Papa Vince and the officer at the bank said, ‘Do you by chance need a credit line?’” Stefano Feo recalled. “I said, ‘Well sure it would be very handy right now because our inventory is growing; we can’t keep up with the growth of inventory so the extra cash flow will help a lot.’”
Vitina credits the quality of her family’s EVOO with its stateside success.
“We use Nocellara del Belice (olive), that’s what Papa Vince used to like, and the reason is because of all the varieties, it’s the one that has the least amount of bitterness,” Vitina Feo explained. “Then the thing is how you press it – if you don’t take the juice of that olive the best way, you’re not going to have the nutritional value.”
Feo says Papa Vince learned the art of making EVOO when he was working as an apprentice for the Knight of De Stefani at the medieval Castello of Rampinzeri. This experience, she shares, helped him really know how extra virgin olive oil was meant to taste.
“When we entered the market in the U.S., we really wanted to bring a product that delivered the nutritional values that people expected from it. I believe in excellence – I believe that when you give your best, you are bound to bless everybody around,” Vitina Feo said. “It wasn’t about money; it was about keeping our family tradition. We really wanted to keep alive this olive oil because we felt it important.”
Vitina Feo says talking to her customers is one of the best parts of her job.
“The part of this business I really enjoy is we can make a difference in people’s life by bringing an EVOO that actually delivers the benefits they expect,” she said.
But most importantly, it is providing a product that gets families around the table.
“I’m giving people an opportunity to get around the table and have fellowship, and it’s just an opportunity to restore family time.”
