AT&T announced today its purchase of 1,200 Chevrolet Express compressed natural gas (CNG) cargo vans from General Motors. The vans, which are manufactured at the GM plant in Wentzville, will be deployed to AT&T service centers nationwide for use by its technicians, the company said. AT&T announced in 2009 that it planned to invest up to $565 million to purchase about 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over a 10-year period through 2018.   Read More...

By 2017, 39 million micro-hybrids will be on the road according to a new study.

  Read More...

St. Louis ranked fourth in Manufacturers’ News Inc.’s list of the top U.S. cities by number of manufacturing jobs as of Jan. 1.   Read More...

Both St. Louis and Kansas City ranked in the top 15 U.S. cities for literacy for 2011.   Read More...

Amgen and Celgene are separately acquiring two smaller companies that are harnessing novel technologies to develop drug treatments for leukemias and lymphomas.   Read More...

Unveiling of several new electric vehicles at Detroit Auto Show highlights need for EV charging infrastructure in St. Louis
Already responsible for installing the first networked electric vehicle (EV) charging station in the St. Louis area, Microgrid Energy is working to prepare the Gateway City for the influx of electric vehicles set to hit the market.   Read More...

Gov. Jay Nixon wants to offer better incentives to a wider variety of automobile parts suppliers as part of a plan to rebuild the automotive industry in Misosuri.   Read More...

A Kansas City company that makes motor scooters and other small-engine products is planning a $26 million expansion that will add 250 new jobs in the next few years.   Read More...

Edward Jones was ranked the 5th best company to work for in the U.S., the highest of any Missouri company. Burns & McDonnell (26th), Scottrade (31st), World Wide Technology (50th), and Build-A-Bear Workshop (62nd) also made the list.   Read More...

As the automotive industry rebounds, this year’s Detroit auto show features more dazzle, more optimism and more politicians winding their way through the exhibits.   Read More...

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he would propose tax incentives for companies bringing manufacturing jobs that had been moved overseas back to the U.S. and clip tax breaks for those taking jobs out of the country, the New York Times reports. The American economy has added manufacturing jobs for two years in a row, after more than a decade of losses. The president didn't offer details of the tax proposals.   Read More...

A vaccine being developed by Dr. Frank O’Donnell’s latest venture has been listed among the medical breakthroughs to watch in 2012. Among the top five medical advances highlighted in a report by MyHealthNewsDaily is the development of cancer vaccines. Tampa-based Biovest International Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of O’Donnell’s Accentia Biopharmaceuticals Inc., is working on developing BiovaxID, a vaccine for certain types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.   Read More...

It may be surprtsing to learn that Missouri, often considered fl-y-over country,is in fact a booming business destination and an information tedmology (IT) hotspot.

  Read More...

St. Louis-based Harbour Group Co.’s Auto Meter Products Inc. acquired automotive parts maker ProParts LLC for an undisclosed amount. Baltimore, Md.-based ProParts LLC makes sensors, controllers and instrumentation for race cars. Harbour Group, led by CEO Jeff Fox, is one of St. Louis’ largest privately-held companies with an estimated revenue of $1.3 billion in 2010. Owned by the Fox family, Harbour Group has acquired 168 companies in 34 industries since it was founded in 1976. It develops manufacturing firms for long-term growth.   Read More...

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. said this morning it will pay $350 million in cash to buy BioReliance Holdings Inc. from Avista Capital Partners, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. BioReliance is a Rockville, Md.-based biopharmaceutical testing company.   Read More...

Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to pay about $2.5 billion in cash to acquire Inhibitex, the New York Times reports. Inhibitex makes a treatment for hepatitis C. The move comes as large pharmaceutical makers such as Bristol-Myers are looking to boost their offerings with more profitable specialty products.   Read More...

Missouri is home to two universities on Kiplinger’s “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” list, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. Truman State University in Kirksville landed at No. 23 on the list, and the University of Missouri-Columbia grabbed the 79th spot. No Kansas schools made the list. The rankings appear in Kiplinger’s February issue. Kiplinger said it combines academics and affordability to produce its list. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill clinched the No. 1 spot.   Read More...

The U.S. Defense Department has awarded Boeing Co. a $3.48 billion, seven-year contract to develop, test, engineer and manufacture missile defense systems, the Chicago Tribune reports. Boeing beat out a team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. to develop the U.S. long-range missile shield. Boeing's defense unit is based in Hazelwood.   Read More...

Eighty four F-15 fighter jets, which are built at Boeing’s facility in Hazelwood, are being sold to Saudi Arabia at a cost of $30 billion, according to the Obama administration. The White House said the deal will support more than 50,000 U.S. jobs. It is still unclear as to how many of those jobs are located in the St. Louis area. The deal would provide the Arab country with the new fighter jets as well as upgrades for 70 others.   Read More...

Mylan Inc. said Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration approved the drugmaker's generic version of the high blood pressure treatment Teveten.   Read More...