Industry Insight

A unit of Lafarge said Wednesday that it will move its offices — and 50 jobs — to Kansas City, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. Lafarge Cement North America’s River Business Unit will move to space in the Executive Hills East Business Park, 903 E. 104th St. The offices, which employ 50, are moving from Lee’s Summit. The Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City said that it assisted in recruiting Lafarge but that the relocation does not involve city incentives.   Read More...

Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines plan new nonstop flights from Kansas City International Airport. On Monday, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) announced what will be Kansas City’s only nonstop flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The flight starts in June. Justin Meyer, manager of air service development for KCI (Code: MCI), said it’s been almost two years since Kansas City had a nonstop flight to JFK.   Read More...

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has signed a 10-year deal with U.S. industrial group Caterpillar under which the American company will recondition turbine parts to boost Vestas' servicing capabilities.   Read More...

Union Pacific unveiled today its new AutoFlex rail car, built and designed at the company’s De Soto plant.   Read More...

Missouri's once robust auto industry is making a comeback, with more good news Thursday: General Motors will add pickup trucks to its line of products made in Wentzville, creating more than 1,200 new jobs.   Read More...

Just a few months into the development of its miscanthus-growing Biomass Crop Assistance Program project areas, solid biofuels producer Aloterra Energy LLC sees the BCAP program’s job creation goal rapidly coming to fruition.   Read More...

Procter & Gamble and Teva unveiled details of a joint venture to develop branded generic medicines. P&G also boosted its full-year earnings guidance to include contributions from the venture, as well as a gain from the planned divestiture of Pringles.   Read More...

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said he closed today on a third Chinese trade deal, this time a $200 million agreement with the government of Zhejiang Province, bringing the total deals reached this week to $4.8 billion. In addition to the $100 million in export opportunities, the agreement signed today also calls for the provincial government to help facilitate $100 million in direct investment in Missouri businesses, Nixon said.   Read More...

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon today signed another trade agreement with China, this time for $200 million with Hebei provincial officials. The agreement includes $100 million in Missouri exports to the Chinese province over the next three years and another $100 million investment in Missouri by Chinese businesses as well. Two St. Louis companies, Arcturis, an architecture and design firm, and Mediomics, a biomedical research firm, also signed agreements with customers in Hebei this morning.   Read More...

Emerson’s new Industrial Energy Group plans to convert huge power plants used in manufacturing facilities, refineries and foundries into bio-mass-burning hybrids to produce the needed energy to run these giant plants more cheaply and cleanly.   Read More...

Missouri has inked a $4.4 billion trade deal with China, Gov. Jay Nixon announced today from Beijing. The deal between the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade will increase Missouri’s exports by $1 billion from 2012 to 2014, Nixon told reporters on a conference call.   Read More...

Gov. Jay Nixon today signed Senate Bill 7, the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA), passed by the General Assembly during the special session. Passage of the MOSIRA bill was one of the key elements in Gov. Nixon's call for a special session, and he praised the bill as an important tool to create the jobs of the future in Missouri.   Read More...

Investments in startups by venture capitalists increased in Missouri in the third quarter but declined in Kansas, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. Venture capitalists signed five deals for a total of $92.1 million in the third quarter, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association. That compared with three deals worth $7.7 million during the second quarter.   Read More...

Abbott Laboratories is spinning off its branded drug business and will become two separate medical companies, the Chicago Tribune reports. The spinoff will exclusively sell Abbott's branded pharmaceuticals. Abbott CEO Miles White will continue to lead the rest of the medical device company.   Read More...

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center said today it won a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the oilseed plant camelina as a sustainable source of biofuel and an alternative to oil. Investigators at the Danforth Center’s Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels will work to develop an enhanced variety of camelina that produces more oil per acre.   Read More...

Solutia Inc. said today it will buy Southwall Technologies Inc., which makes films and glass products for automotive, electronic and architectural markets, including screens for smartphones and e-readers, for $113 million. The deal to acquire Palo Alto, Calif.-based Southwall for $13.60 per share of Southwall common stock will be funded by Solutia from existing cash on hand, the St. Louis-based company said.   Read More...

Cerner Corp. has agreed to buy Clairvia Inc., a North Carolina company whose software helps health care organizations coordinate staffing, the Kansas City Business Journal reports. Cerner, a health care technology company based in North Kansas City, said the purchase of Clairvia should close in October.   Read More...

Climate scientists and their billionaire backers, like Bill Gates, are trying to turn down the global thermostat - and make money doing it.   Read More...

The Department of Defense awarded a contract worth up to $11.7 billion to Boeing for support and maintenance of its C-17 aircraft to the U.S. military and global allies, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. Boeing's defense unit, which builds the C-17, is based in St. Louis.   Read More...

A northern Missouri college of osteopathic medicine has approved a $26 million bond issue to build a dental school.   Read More...