Area Spotlights

Silicon carbide in Starkville. Solar industry components in Senatobia, Grenada and Hattiesburg. Mission support for Lockheed in Clinton. Advanced composites for GE in Ellisville. Process equipment in Natchez. Biofuels from Columbus to Tupelo and beyond.

A Chinese solar company has big plans for a former IBM R&D facility. Linuo Solar Group expects to start shining new light in 2012 into the long-vacant IBM West Campus in East Fishkill, N.Y

A national laboratory expansion and a new yogurt manufacturing project will deliver significant economic impact to their cities and to Idaho. Several thousand jobs are being attributed to work now getting under way at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls, the centerpiece of which is a new, $50-million, 148,000-sq.-ft. (13,750-sq.-m.) research and education laboratory.

Maine life sciences firms run the gamut from animal care to cloud-based records. IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, Athenahealth, more.

Can the land of the wild, wild West become the next high-tech haven of choice? It can if more executives follow the example of Kent Holliday, the founder of Eleutian Technology in Cody, Wyo. The world's largest network of certified instructors who teach English as a second language, Eleutian recently made its home in the town.

Air cargo hubs in the Pacific Northwest help global firms streamline supply chains. For global companies using the Pacific Northwest as a gateway to the Americas, many are increasingly turning to air transport. One reason Anchorage is so popular as an air cargo hub is because it is 9.5 hours or less from 90 percent of the industrialized world.

Fifty-six counties and parishes define the U.S. shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, simultaneously dishing up the Gulf’s bounty and taking what it dishes out. Between October 2009 and October 2011, Greater Houston’s Harris County showed the most new plant and expansion activity among those jurisdictions by a very long shot, followed by Baldwin County, Ala., a slew of Louisiana parishes, and Pinellas County in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Brookings Institution's December 2011 MetroMonitor report includes Detroit and Grand Rapids in its list of the 20 metros with the strongest economic recoveries, crediting growth in manufacturing activity, particularly associated with production of autos, auto parts and related durable goods.

Pennsylvania-based stainless steel and premium alloy manufacturer Carpenter Technology Corp. in October chose a 230-acre (93-hectare) site near the Limestone County, Alabama, municipality of Athens, in the Huntsville metro area, for a US$500-million new plant that will make premium alloy products.

In late September, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new agreements with Intel, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, TSMC and Samsung that will result in US$4.4 billion of investments over the next five years to create the next generation of computer chip technology. The state said the investments were secured in competition with countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

A strong logistics network and vibrant cities drive growing global companies to thrive in Washington.

Two homegrown Omaha companies — TD Ameritrade and CSG Systems International — are building new headquarters campuses in their home town, adding hundreds of thousands of square feet of new work space to Nebraska’s chief commercial center. Both are consolidating operations from multiple locations around the metro — five locations in TD Ameritrade’s case.

Ohio River Corridor: Collection Points

When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently rated Montana the No. 1 state for business startups and the sixth best business climate in the nation, the news may have surprised some people.

State reaches new Amazon deal; automotive cluster grows.

Technology is pushing wind turbines higher and putting them into all sorts of new locations, including on top of skyscrapers, data centers and big-box retailers.

Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada lure high-tech firms seeking access to Western markets.

It didn’t take long for the Bioscience Connecticut initiative to bear fruit.

North Dakota’s economy is pulsating, thanks in large part to the Bakken shale oil boom, which has made the state the fourth largest oil-producing state.

With exports and alternative energy production rising in Nevada, the economic prospects of the Silver State glow with the golden hue of sunnier times.

Innovation spawns fast-growing companies.

Unemployment is at 12 percent in California. gavin newsom

San Antonio and its municipal utility join forces to establish a clean technology cluster.

New investments keep Pennsylvania green.