USA and Canada

Small business confidence has improved for the fourth consecutive month in the United States, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Optimism Index.

For the second consecutive month, small-business optimism rose 1.8 points in December, leaving the reading at 93.8.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a $23 million contract by Spirit AeroSystems in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to produce winglets for commercial business-jet aircraft.

GDATP will produce and deliver composite winglets to Spirit AeroSystems, which then will assemble them onto wings for delivery. Production of the winglets will begin immediately at the company's Marion, Virginia, facility, with deliveries starting in the third quarter of 2012.

A recently released study has revealed that Arizona’s copper mining industry contributed approximately $12.1 billion to the state’s economy and an estimated 73,100 jobs to Arizona residents in 2010.

According to the study prepared for the Arizona Mining Association (AMA), the $12.1 billion economic impact represented a 31 percent increase over 2009. Contributing to the overall performance of the copper mining industry was a rise in copper prices, partially offset by a slight decrease in production.

American DG Energy Inc. has been awarded a $27.4 million contract to supply clean energy to multiple residential buildings located in New York.

Under the terms of the 15-year agreement, the company will install 14 combined heat and power (CHP) systems at multiple residential buildings. The CHP systems, totaling 1050 kW, will be owned and operated by American DG Energy.

American DG Energy offers clean electricity, heat, hot water and cooling solutions to hospitality, healthcare, housing and athletic facilities.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to purchase 84 new Boeing F-15 fighter aircraft from the US government and upgrade 70 of its existing F-15s.

Boeing chairman, president and CEO Jim McNerney welcomed the announcement. "For Boeing, this agreement represents the continuation of an enduring partnership between the company and the Kingdom that dates back to 1945 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented a DC-3 Dakota airplane to King Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he said.

ThermoEnergy Corp has announced the completion of a 28,000 square foot expansion of the manufacturing facility at its Worcester, Massachusetts corporate headquarters.

The expansion will more than double the manufacturing space available to ThermoEnergy, a diversified technologies company engaged in the development and sale of municipal and industrial wastewater recovery and clean power generation technologies.

Los Alamos National Laboratory announces top ten science stories of 2011

Los Alamos National Laboratory's top ten science stories of 2011 illustrate the broad variety of scientific excellence that's the hallmark of the Laboratory. This year's stories include alternative energy research, world record magnetic fields, disease tracking, the study of Mars, climate change, fuel cells, solar wind, and magnetic reconnection.

SPX Corporation has completed its acquisition of CLYDEUNION Pumps, a UK based global supplier of pump technologies used in oil and gas processing, power generation and other industrial applications.

In the final agreement as amended 22 December, 2011, the total purchase price comprises £500 million sterling, paid at closing, plus a potential earn-out payment in 2013 based on 2012 EBITDA performance.

Canadian business software company Intelex is to open its first overseas office in the United Kingdom.

The office will open in London in February 2012, and will serve as a beachhead for the company’s coming European and Eurasian expansion, as well as helping to serve existing clients in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Stephen Ross, Intelex’s vice president of sales and a 10-year veteran of the Intelex team, will relocate to London, England, to help launch the new office.

Peabody Energy today announced the completion of its acquisition of Macarthur Coal Limited, and has notified the Australian Securities Exchange to delist Macarthur.

Peabody is the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 28 surface and underground mines across the United States and Australia.