Features

S ite Selection: Your recent comments on the need to re-evaluate certain incentives programs and the impact of state-vs.-state bidding wars over projects indicate that you would favor a change in public policy toward recruitment of large companies. Can you elaborate?         Gov. Sonny Perdue: We want to earn the business, not […]

S uppose you sold and leased back your office building 15 years ago and put the cash into your business. Say you received $10 million for a 50,000-sq.-ft. (4,645-sq.-m.) facility. Since you carried out the sale-leaseback in 1988, at the beginning of the economy’s descent into the 1990 recession, you might have offset a loss […]

n April 25, 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson launched the modern era of molecular biology with their discovery of the structure of DNA. Fifty years later, on June 23, 2003, President George W. Bush spoke at the Bio 2003 Convention Center and Exhibition and said, “Our biotechnology industry is the strongest in the world […]

S ite Selection: Describe the scope of your responsibilities as Masco’s Director of Property Management. David Hirsch: It means I’m responsible for 44,075,436 square feet [4.1 million sq. m.] of buildings in the world. That’s 32,935,061 square feet [3.06 million sq. m.] domestic and 11,140,375 square feet [1.03 million sq. m.] non-U.S. That’s 149 manufacturing […]

S ignificant growth in Masco Corp.‘s Delta Faucet division has prompted the expansion or initiation of several projects in the past 18 months. But few have been as influenced by Mother Nature as the construction of a new, 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,600-sq.-m.) central distribution center in Jackson, Tenn. Ground broke in July 2002 at a site adjacent […]

W hen is the last time you quantified your company’s entire real estate portfolio and its performance? If you haven’t done that in the past 12 months, then more than likely you are throwing money away.         That was the conclusion of Ronald P. Zappile, one of 15 presenters at a recent […]

T he effectiveness of state enterprise zone programs, which offer tax abatements and other incentives for businesses to expand or move to economically blighted areas, remains a source of debate more than 20 years after states began creating them.         Some state programs – like the Empire Zone program in New York, […]

I t’s less than a year before 10 new countries join the European Union, as the accession votes succeed like so many dominoes falling in a line. But they are not the only places active in attracting corporations: heretofore undervalued E.U. nations and the group of nations slated to arrive next are all making a […]

T he struggling economy battered the industrial real estate market over the past year and created opportunities for companies working to re-configure their supply chains. Many companies are taking advantage of these opportunities in the hopes of stealing a march on their competitors once the economy regains its balance.         Despite a […]

D alian, China; Tallinn, Estonia; Porto Alegre, Brazil. If these far-flung cities are not on your location radar screen right now, they may soon be. They are among 24 potential city winners identified in a recently released research report, Rising Urban Stars — Uncovering Future Winners from Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle Investment Management. The […]

T he experts agree. “Incentives will never make the wrong location right,” remarks Jay Biggins, managing director of Stadtmauer Bailkin Biggins LLC, an economic development consulting services firm based in Princeton, NJ.         “Incentives do not drive a project, but they are definitely a factor in the final decision making,” says Kathleen […]

“W e at Pfizer are here today with some good medicine: a shot in the arm for one of the greatest cities in the world,” Pfizer President and Chief Executive Officer Henry McKinnell said in May at a podium inside the drug-maker’s New York City headquarters.         McKinnell and Pfizer did indeed […]

I ndustrial activity south of the Rio Grande and north of the Great Lakes tends to rise and fall with the U.S. economy. In Mexico, border regions are beginning to benefit from optimistic manufacturers hopeful of a break in U.S. economic doldrums. Up north, regional organizations are working to alleviate traffic headaches and improve infrastructure. […]

Toyoda Gosei Ramps Up Czech Facility Toyoda Gosei recently began full production at its new facility in the Chomutov region of the Czech Republic. The plant represents an investment of about US$45 million and will eventually employ 700. Toyoda Gosei of Japan, the world’s third-largest manufacturer of airbags and steering wheels, has begun full-time production […]

M ore than 430 foreign firms – mostly U.S.-based companies representing service, manufacturing and retail industries and the offshore energy sectors – have set up shop in Atlantic Canada.         Whether their operations are in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island, most industry players are drawn to […]

  Dear Fellow Professional: IAMC has just completed its first year of existence and we already have more members than our most ambitious and optimistic founders thought possible in this time frame.         Moreover, we already have two incredibly successful Professional Forums under our belt and have our third Forum ready to […]

C all it coincidence, but much attention is being given of late to the importance of competitiveness in the context of economic development, including here at Site Selection. No fewer than three new resources are suddenly at the disposal of corporate real estate executives and others charged with selecting the best location in which to […]

A new benchmark now is in place that measures state economic development agencies’ competitiveness – the most important factor in an agency’s ability to attract capital investment and expand economic activity in the state. The inaugural Site Selection Competitiveness Award goes to the Tennessee Dept. of Economic & Community Development (DECD).         […]

Visteon Builds Facility in France Automotive supplier Visteon has invested 30 million euros (US$33 million) in its new factory next to the PSA Peugeot-Citroen assembly plant in Noyal/Chatillon-sur-Seiche near Rennes, France. The 177,600-sq.-ft. (16,500-sq.-m.) facility will support current and future business with PSA. The plant will employ 400 at full production, manufacturing and assembling HVAC […]

W ith the Site Selection Competitiveness Awards having been created to honor state economic development teams, our Top Groups designation has been reserved for those metro, town and county teams that are so often at the nexus of any deal. Why? Because they literally know the lay of the land better than anybody else.   […]

“‘T'” is for Texas,” goes the ancient country twanger.         But “T” is for a lot of other things, too – Tundra and prime-time truck turf, for example – in explaining Toyota’s decision to locate its 2,000-employee, US$800-million plant in San Antonio, Texas.         The assembly operation will annually […]

T he sun had already set on the Alabama State Capitol on April 1, 2002, when then-Gov. Don Siegelman received the phone call that would change Montgomery forever.         Dong Jin Kim, president and CEO of Korea-based Hyundai Motor Co., was on the other end of the line. Governor, he said, I […]

  Palm Harbor Program Highlights Proficiency and Profitability Here are some highlights of the highly successful IAMC Professional Forum held April 6?9 in Palm Harbor, Fla., covered by the Site Selection team of Director of Publications Ron Starner, Editor Mark Arend and Executive Editor of Interactive Publishing Jack Lyne. Look for further coverage at www.iamc.org. […]

W hoever said that Americans can’t build good cars hasn’t taken a tour lately through the heart of the United States.         From Michigan to Alabama, factories churn out millions of popular, high-quality vehicles every year. And the proof isn’t just in record sales numbers and customer satisfaction reports. It also comes […]