Ground broken for Huntsville hotel

Hotelier John Q. Hammons joined Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, City of Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer and other state and local officials to break ground on a $40 million Embassy Suites convention hotel project in Huntsville.

The new, 300-room Embassy Suites, to be built adjacent to the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, will be completed by late 2005 or early 2006.

Plans call for a canal to connect Big Spring Lagoon with Pinhook Creek, providing a picturesque waterway flanked by sidewalks that will accommodate downtown visitors and hotel guests between the hotel, the South Hall of the Von Braun Center and Big Spring Park.

The groundbreaking was held in mid September.

Magazine ranks Carr, Riggs & Ingram in Top 100 list

Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC of Enterprise, Ala., was recently ranked 46th in the nation in revenue by Accounting Today magazine. The firm was included in the magazine's Top 100 accounting firms ranking.

The firm also ranked fifth in the southeast region thanks to revenue growth of about 16 percent.

Carr, Riggs & Ingram has 11 offices across Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.