Lines to Everyone: Corporate Responsibility Report
Southern Company
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Architectural rendering of the ThyssenKrupp facility.
Economic development departments at our operating companies offer growth and relocation information for businesses. Groundbreaking ceremonies like this one result when communities and companies fit. Shown here, Pepsi will invest $49 million in a 234,804 square-foot facility near Hattiesburg, Miss. The plant will employ about 54 people by October 2009. Mississippi Power economic development worked in conjunction with the Area Development Partnership and Mississippi Development Authority to bring the bottling facility to the area.

Economic Development

Our performance is tied to the economic health of the Southeast, specifically to the prosperity of the communities we serve. A growing economy means more jobs and a higher quality of life for the people in our region.

Economic development efforts by our utility subsidiaries to expand and attract business to our service territories average about $7 billion in capital investment and more than 23,000 new jobs each year.
Performance »

Economic and Community Development goes beyond recruiting businesses to the Southeast. We also work regionally to get communities ready for commerce, which includes educating the work force. For example, we support the Community Coach program in Georgia. Coaches are business volunteers who support local high school graduation coaches in their efforts to increase graduation rates. In several areas we offer new teacher assistance grants. These $1,000 grants go for classroom supplies to new teachers entering the classroom for the first time. We also work with the International Council of Shopping Centers to jump-start retail recruitment in underdeveloped communities.

For more on economic development visit:
Alabama | Georgia | Florida Gulf Coast | Mississippi Gulf Coast

Steel Deal

It's the largest industrial project the state of Alabama has ever seen.

ThyssenKrupp AG, a German firm known for high-quality carbon steel, is constructing a manufacturing complex 30 miles north of Mobile, Ala. The facilities will process carbon steel and stainless steel for high-value applications.

ThyssenKrupp started with 67 potential locations across the U.S., settling on a site on the Mobile and Washington county line. Alabama Power's Economic and Community Development team, along with other company experts, worked closely with state and local government representatives to recruit ThyssenKrupp. Reliable, affordable electricity was a key factor in the choice.

The project is believed to be one of the largest private industrial investments in the U.S. over the next decade and is a rare case of job in-sourcing in the U.S. while other companies are moving jobs overseas: The project will create an estimated 2,700 permanent jobs domestically when it becomes fully operational in 2010.
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