Huntsville lands Bezos’ rocket engine plant
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A rocket company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos is coming to Huntsville.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced Monday that Blue Origin, a private spaceflight company, will build its BE-4 rocket engine in Huntsville. Ivey says the project will create 350 new jobs and be a $200 million investment.
According to the company’s website, the powerful BE-4 engine is designed to end dependence on Russian-built engines for launching payloads into space.
Ivey said on social media that the project will build on the historic role that Huntsville and Alabama have played in the development of the American space program.
Local gas prices drop for holidays
Chattanooga motorists preparing to travel for the holiday weekend ahead are enjoying the cheapest gas prices so far this year after prices at the pump fell another 3.8 cents per gallon last week to $1.90 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga.
Chattanooga gas prices are 12 cents cheaper than a month ago and are at the lowest price for the start of summer since 2005, GasBudy.com said in a report released Monday. Chattanooga prices are 9 cents per gallon below the Tennessee average of $1.99 per gallon and are 35 cents per gallon less than the U.S. average of $2.25 per gallon.
“As motorists pack their cars in preparation for the July 4 holiday, gasoline prices continue their widespread drop,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. “The downward momentum has continued and may do so again this week, so long as there’s no sudden reversal in the price of crude oil. It’s amazing we’re staring at some of the cheapest prices of the year as the holiday comes into view.”
For this date, gas prices in Chattanooga are 12 cents per gallon below a year ago, 58 cents per gallon cheaper than two years ago and $1.50 a gallon below what local motorist paid for fuel three years ago.
Buffett buys share of real estate trust
Warren Buffett’s company is spending $377 million to pick up 9.8 percent of a real estate investment trust called Store Capital.
The Scottsdale, Arizona, based real estate firm announced Berkshire Hathaway’s investment on Monday. Berkshire bought 18.6 million shares of Store Capital Corp. for $20.25 per share in a private placement sale.
Store Capital’s stock jumped nearly 11 percent to $23 after the investment was announced.
Berkshire is a conglomerate based in Omaha, Nebraska, that owns more than 90 companies, including Shaw Industries in Dalton, Ga., and Clayton Homes in Knoxville.
Airline vet hired to head AmTrak
America’s railroad is turning to an airline industry veteran to lead it through a summer of reckoning for congested tracks and crumbling infrastructure.
Amtrak on Monday named former Delta Air Lines chairman Richard Anderson as its new president and CEO.
He’ll take charge of the government-owned railroad on July 12 as it rushes to address years of deferred maintenance at New York’s Penn Station.
The project, hastened by recent derailments and rush-hour snarls, will disrupt and delay millions of commuters at Amtrak’s busiest station.
Amtrak says Anderson and current president and CEO Charles “Wick” Moorman will be co-CEOs through the end of 2017.
That’s when Moorman will become an adviser to Amtrak.
Anderson was CEO of Northwest Airlines from 2001 to 2004 and CEO of Delta from 2007 to 2016.