Features

W hen Concept Inc. went looking in 1988 for a site to manufacture arthroscopic medical devices, the company found what it needed in Largo, Fla., a town in the Tampa Bay Area on the Gulf of Mexico.         Today, the US$256 million-a-year company known as Linvatec employs 1,100 workers and occupies 235,000 […]

N ine out of 10 CFOs based in the U.S. believe that using outside resources to perform non-core functions increases shareholder value.1 Yet fewer than two out of 10 have empirically measured the return on investment (ROI) of their outsourcing initiatives. Those who have measured ROI report an average of 17 percent savings.     […]

T he queues were shorter, but the destinations more varied.         That is one conclusion to draw from the annual “European Investment Monitor” report from Ernst & Young. European new facilities and expansions dropped 12 percent in 2001, but it was a good year nonetheless for “gatecrashers, EU (European Union) accession countries […]

E merging industry clusters in such high-tech fields as life sciences and software engineering are driving demand for a new breed of business park. But more than futuristic laboratory and office space is required to catch the attention of industry players seeking suitable locations in which to research and develop tomorrow’s systems and services. The […]

S ite seekers evaluating California locations have used, for some time, the Kosmont Cost of Doing Business Survey, among other tools. Kosmont Realty Corp., Los Angeles, has gathered cost information on hundreds of communities in The Golden State.         This research has now been expanded to include 22 markets outside California, giving […]

Service Providers On the Move … Edward C. Lubieniecki has been appointed executive vice president for the Western Region Consulting Services of Grubb & Ellis Co., based in New York City. Lubieniecki will bring more than 20 years of industry experience to the firm’s San Francisco office. In addition to being selected to manage the […]

 “W e’re not getting what we need to out of these real estate benchmarks,” said my client, Scott Weas of SC Johnson, almost 10 years ago. What really bothered Scott was his perception that most of the benchmark information available for our planning efforts had little direct relevance to the core business and the strategies […]

 P fizer’s 600-employee expansion in Ann Arbor, Mich., looked deceptively simple — on paper, at least, once it was a done deal.         One number fairly leaps out in the postmortem: a whopping US$84.2 million in incentives, certainly enough to vacuum-seal most major expansions. And those bountiful incentives certainly did help seal […]

 T here’s a reason why Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford and General Motors all call the Southeastern U.S. home for some of the country’s largest automotive assembly plants. It’s because the South knows how to get the blockbuster economic development deals done.         Last year, the South accounted for three of […]

 I n an era of dwindling resources and a slumping economy, development officials are searching for new ways to attract industry and business. Many cities are offering incentives for such traditional industries such as heavy manufacturing and logistics. Economic development groups are looking to attract tried-and-true businesses with workforce development programs and site incentives. There […]

 W hy did Pfizer invest $600 million into a facility expansion in Ann Arbor, Mich.? Why did Citicorp Credit Service decide to add 2,100 jobs to its work force in Florence, Ky.? And why did Ford Motor Co. announce that it will invest $375 million into an expanded manufacturing plant in Norfolk, Va.?     […]

Site Selection recognizes 12 more economic development agencies for their successful efforts to attract business expansion activity. The groups mentioned here scored well in the same areas the Top Groups did — capital investment and new jobs created overall and on a per capital basis. Arkansas Dept. of Economic Development, Little Rock, Ark.www.1-800-ARKANSAS.com     […]

The new Conway Eco-Site project involves several elements: A small, privately maintained nature preserve, the Mockernut Botanical Garden. A family residential compound in a quiet rural area surrounded by magnificent vegetation. A private library and research facility away from distractions and interruptions. A farm for growing vegetables and fruit — and later, a greenhouse. A […]

 C orporate site selectors have a new tool to use in their next business location search. It’s the revamped Development Alliance web site, the product of a partnership between the International Economic Development Council and Conway Data Inc., publisher of Site Selection magazine.         Launched in early 2001, www.developmentalliance.com is the corporate […]

 T he medical technology industry – medtech for short – is very much in vogue in Europe. For one thing, corporate investors crawled out of the dot-com rubble and sought sanctuary alongside what they thought would be the next golden goose. But this sector is more complex than the financial world thought, being multi-faceted, capital […]

 D o you sometimes think that you receive too much information? In his excellent 1999 book, How the News Makes Us Dumb: The Death of Wisdom in an Information Society, historian C. John Sommerville laments the loss of truly wise people in an era in which meaningless daily news consumes us, and in which we […]

 I n an economic downturn, inexpensive, capable labor becomes even more important. India has both and offers call center site selectors the added bonus of a workforce dedicated to making a career within the call center industry.         “India offers a workforce of highly-dedicated, well-educated, English-speaking professionals, and the infrastructure needed to […]

 I f you’re not keeping score, then you’re just practicing, goes the adage. More and more economic development groups are realizing how true that is as they evaluate their performance relative to other locations. The heated Governor’s Cup contest covered in our March issue is testament to that. But other measures are emerging that can […]

 W hen national electronics retailer Best Buy needed to place a regional distribution center in the Southeast, the Georgia Center for Site Selection played a pivotal role.         What’s unique about the GCSS? It’s operated by a utility cooperative association — the Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (GEMC) in Atlanta. The center helps […]

 M ost Fortune 1,000 companies view corporate real estate as a strategic asset. This means it plays a primary role, along with human resources, technology and information, in helping the company achieve its long-run goals and objectives. In 1993, the International Development Research Council’s (IDRC) first Corporate Real Estate 2000 Program report said, “We have […]

Welcome to the 4th Quarter 2001 Johnson Controls USA Office Occupancy Costs Index, which provides a snapshot guide to the cost of providing and operating property and facility management services in the USA.         This cost index briefing is published twice a year and has become a powerful and dynamic business reference […]

Zurich, Vienna and Vancouver Top Quality of Life Survey The 2002 worldwide quality-of-life survey conducted by human resources firm William M. Mercer has found Zurich, Switzerland to be the best overall place to live in the world, trailed closely by Vienna, Austria, and former No. 1 city Vancouver, British Columbia.         The […]

 W hen manufacturer Superior Walls of Central Illinois opened for business in the Springfield Enterprise Community, it created job opportunities for 42 low-to-moderate-income neighborhood residents. “These employees show great pride in producing a quality product,” says Springfield developer Mike Suhadolnik, owner of Superior Walls.         Suhadolnik’s enthusiasm is matched by that of […]

  L  ook closely — there’s a new luster on Site Selection‘s Governor’s Cup this year, a gloss that began taking shape last fall, when a new set of competition criteria came into being. After all, the successful systems in place in the business world are those that are maintained and refined as necessary to ensure […]