A look back at 2014 in business

It was a year of change in the Quad-Cities with downtown redevelopments, a facelift for one of our major malls, and construction in many corners of the region.

Alcoa Davenport Works kicked off the year with the completion of a major expansion. New retailers were added to the landscape from Elmore Marketplace in Davenport to Sam's Club in Moline. Housing took center stage with new projects in downtown Davenport and across the river in Rock Island and on Moline's riverfront.

Economic development groups marked milestones withRenew Moline and Rejuvenate Davenport bothcelebrating 25 years.

Not all the news was positive as Deere & Co. laid off more than 1,000workers across several of its Midwest plants, including the Quad-Cities. And long-time restaurant favorites such as the Belgian Village Inn in Moline and the Ice Cream Palace in Silvis closed their doors.

Here's a look at some of the year'stop stories.

Alcoa expansion

Alcoa Davenport Works began the year with the completion of a $300 million expansion, and before year's end had announced another $190 million investment in the Riverdale plant.

In February, the aluminum maker celebrated an expansion designed to meet the automobile industry's increasing appetite for aluminum. The project created 150 full-time jobs, 200 temporary construction jobs and helped retain 200 full-time jobs.

Then in November, Alcoa revealed plans to invest in new product offerings for the aerospace and industrial markets. The plant will install manufacturing technology to enhance the performance of thick aluminum and aluminum-lithium plate in various applications, including wing ribs and fuselage frames.

Construction will begin in 2015 with the first customer production expected to begin in 2017.

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A look back at 2014 in business