Southeast Shoutouts | Southern Automotive Conference underway in Huntsville
Department of Energy announces a more than $15 million award to the Southern States Energy.
From Huntsville, AL:
The Southern Automotive Conference is underway in Huntsville.
The theme of this year’s event, which rotates annually between the states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee, is “Made in the South.” The theme showcases how the southern automotive industry leads the charge to embrace transformation, spark innovation, and blaze a trail into the future.
For the most part, the first day of the conference on October 7 was devoted to one-on-one meetings with industry executives and a Rocket City Welcome Reception. The main programming is on October 8 and 9. Keynote sessions feature:
- Joe McCabe, President and Chief Executive Officer of AutoForecast Solutions LLC, speaking about the “Industry Forecast in the New Administration”; and
- Mary lla Ward, President of Horizon Point Consulting, whose topic is titled “Driving Workforce Excellence in a Changing World.”
The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology announced it has been selected as a winner of the 2025 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant: Children’s Health Innovation Award, an opportunity designed to accelerate innovation to improve children’s health outcomes with the use of advanced cloud services.
By focusing on children’s health, AWS seeks to bring more focus and attention to a wide variety of causes and care organizations that are dedicated to helping children live longer, healthier lives through the strategic use of cloud technology. The grant will support HudsonAlpha’s efforts to help clinicians and researchers better understand rare diseases that affect children and their families.
HudsonAlpha was named a recipient in the Children’s Health Innovation Award category, which recognizes highly innovative, mission-critical projects accelerating children’s health innovation using advanced cloud services. HudsonAlpha will receive a combination of funding and AWS computing credits, along with implementation support from technical specialists. Proposals were evaluated based on several criteria, including the innovative and unique nature of the project, impact on mission-critical goals, and clearly defined outcomes and milestones.
HudsonAlpha will use the grant to further develop its medical analysis tool to help healthcare professionals and researchers better understand rare diseases that affect children and their families. The system utilizes cloud technology and artificial intelligence to rapidly analyze patients’ genetic information, enabling a more accurate determination of the cause of a child’s rare disease and the identification of more effective treatment approaches. The tool is updated with the latest medical discoveries, allowing families to obtain answers about their children’s health conditions.
From Little Rock, AR:
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses has welcomed 33 entrepreneurs from across Arkansas to the second cohort of its distinguished educational program.
The second cohort is a key part of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses’ $100 million Investment in Rural Communities, designed to empower entrepreneurs in underserved areas. The investment plans to support rural small business owners in 20 states over five years and to date, has reached 12 states. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, which first launched in Arkansas in 2023, focuses on empowering and supporting entrepreneurs by providing a comprehensive business education program and access to capital.
Small businesses drive the economy in Arkansas, making up 99.3 percent of Arkansas businesses and employing nearly half of the workforce in the state. Throughout the 10,000 Small Businesses program, business owners can expect to go through a 12-week curriculum that includes practical lessons on critical skills including financial management, leadership and negotiation that can be immediately implemented into their businesses. This foundation enables them to develop an actionable growth plan, specific to their business, as well as build a network of like-minded entrepreneurs through the alumni community which includes the 22 entrepreneurs who participated in the first cohort in Arkansas. Survey data found that since completing the program, 68 percent of rural small businesses grew revenues and 60 percent expanded their workforce.
Goldman Sachs welcomed the second cohort in Arkansas with a special event at the Robinson Center in Little Rock, attended by U.S. Representative French Hill, Goldman Sachs executives, and numerous 10,000 Small Businesses participants and community stakeholders. Goldman Sachs’ educational partner in the region is the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College.
From Peachtree Corners, GA:
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) announced that EM had awarded a non-competitive financial assistance agreement number DE-EM0005347, Transportation of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Emergency Preparedness, to the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB).
In turn, SSEB will provide technical assistance to certain states, as provided by Section 16 of the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act. The objectives include activities and resources that will ensure the continued safe and compliant transport of transuranic radioactive waste to WIPP.
The total estimated value of the agreement is $15,033,221 with a period of performance of five years from Nov. 1, 2025, through Oct. 31, 2030.
For more than 35 years, EM has remained focused on addressing the environmental legacy of nuclear weapons development and nuclear energy research that helped end World War II, win the Cold War and position the U.S. as a leader in nuclear energy. EM delivers results that are protecting the environment, supporting communities and enabling a concerted focus on safely completing the mission sooner and efficiently.
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