Tuesday, the University of Alabama board of trustees gave approval to the sale of Southern Research’s engineering division to Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc.
Kratos SRE, a newly-formed company, will offer jobs to current Southern Research employees.
Kratos, an aerospace defense company, has more than 4,000 employees nationwide and plans to establish a hub in Birmingham for innovation, research and development. According to a release, the company intends to create an additional 150 jobs over the next decade.
According to Josh Carpenter, Southern Research president and CEO, the sale will benefit the state’s economy due to the organization’s ability to allocate resources and staff its new biotech center at its Birmingham campus.
“This is a win-win for Southern Research and for our Engineering Division,” stated Carpenter. “The work our engineering team performs is consequential to our nation’s security, and this partnership will enable them to grow jobs in Alabama and enhance America’s defense capacity.”
The announcement advised that the investments would serve to position Alabama as a leading hub for research relating to infectious and chronic diseases.
“With support of our state and local leaders, we are laying the groundwork for this expansion by building a new biotech facility that will greatly increase our lab space,” Carpenter added. “This transaction enables us to hire the talent and secure the equipment to fill that new space, making us a national center of excellence in biomedical research and development.”
The transaction is expected to generate $80 million for Southern Research to support 350 additional permanent job with the new biotech center.
Carpenter concluded, “Our strategic vision for this new facility will build on our substantial success in life sciences and support Birmingham’s continued growth as a leader in the biomedical industry, especially in partnership with UAB. This was an important strategic step that we have been working on for a long time. We truly have an opportunity to create an exceptional biotech corridor that will fuel Alabama’s economy for future generations, and that is our goal.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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