Unisys, a $3.5 billion global provider of information technology and services, plans to locate a new service center in Augusta, Ga., creating up to 700 jobs over the next five years.
Unisys will initially use the center to provide services to the U.S. Army, which recently selected Unisys for the Army Enterprise Service Desk, a single point of contact for Army personnel who need help desk or other end user IT support services. The company expects to hire approximately 250 employees within the first year and will work with the Fort Gordon Cyber Center of Excellence to recruit IT professionals for the center. Unisys expects that it will also serve commercial clients through the new facility.
Unisys is seeking to occupy a 60,000-square-foot plus facility in Augusta and is currently finalizing the precise location.
"A smart, motivated workforce and the vibrant local community make Augusta an ideal location for our new service center," said Unisys Enterprise Services President Ron Frankenfield.
Mobile home maker expands in Georgia
The mobile home manufacturer Live Oak Homes will expand to Broxton, Ga., creating 200 jobs through a $1.4 million project over the next two years.
The expansion will be the company's second plant in Georgia and will manufacture mobile home products for Live Oak Homes, Mossy Oak Homes and Plantation brands. The new plant will be completed by December. Once in operation, it will initially create around 130 jobs, reaching 200 jobs by 2016.
"We have outgrown our current production facility and feel blessed to have the opportunity to add this new plant in Coffee County," said Live Oak Homes General Manager of Operations Joel Scholten.
Anti-nuke groups blast subsidies
A coalition of 35 clean energy organizations submitted comments Monday to the U.S. Department of Energy, objecting to proposed changes in the federal loan guarantee program for new nuclear reactors begun by DOE in 2005.
Congress has authorized $18.5 billion in loans from the Federal Financing Bank or loan guarantees for commercial lenders to encourage the construction of new, "advanced" nuclear reactors. Only the Southern Company's Vogtle reactors in Georgia have received the loan supports so far.
But DOE wants expand what the program to offer funds for "small modular reactors" (SMRs) such as what the Tennessee Valley Authority is proposing to build in Oak Ridge, Tenn. DOE also is proposing to use the funds to help nuclear utilities pay for power uprates and safety upgrades to existing reactors.
"These categories are nothing more than an attempt to prop up -- at taxpayer risk -- current reactors that have become uneconomical due to age-related deterioration, poor reactor design, or simply lower-cost competition from electricity generation sources like solar and wind power," the 35 environmental groups wrote in a filing with DOE Monday.
U.S. investigating Honda for incomplete reports
Federal regulators are investigating whether Honda Motor Co. failed to report deaths and injuries that occurred in its vehicles.
Federal law requires automakers to report any claims they receive alleging that defective vehicles or parts caused a death or injury. They are required to submit those claims on a quarterly basis, along with consumer complaints, production information, warranty claims and other incidents.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that Honda may have failed to report incidents related to Takata air bags as well as other defective parts. Honda has recalled more than 5 million vehicles in the U.S. since 2008 to fix a potentially fatal defect in air bags made by Japanese auto supplier Takata. The bags can rupture after a crash and injure occupants with shards of metal.
In a statement, Honda said it ordered a third-party audit of potential inaccuracies in its reporting of injuries and deaths in September and will soon share its findings with NHTSA.
Honda said it has not always provided verbal claims of deaths and injuries to the government because it understood that only written claims were required. But Honda said it began including verbal claims in its reports last month.
"Honda continues to cooperate with the NHTSA on this matter," the automaker said in a statement.