What do the world’s largest retailer, an entrepreneurial steel industry executive and a French jet manufacturer all have in common?

In early January, automotive visionary and entrepreneur Paul Elio announced that his fledgling company Elio Motors would employ 1,500 people in producing Elio’s cute, green and ultra-high-mileage three-wheeled car in the giant former General Motors facility in Shreveport that used to produce the intimidating and gas-guzzling Hummer.

Governor Mary Fallin returned from Le Bourget Paris Airshow in June with a commitment from Australian aerospace supplier Ferra Engineering to locate an operation in Grove, in the northeast corner of the Sooner State. The company, which plans to hire 20 engineers, specializes in the custom design, manufacture, assembly and test of aerospace structures and sub-systems. It also produces medical devices for the healthcare industry, as well as components for renewable energy systems.

When Gov. Chris Christie and his family cut the world’s longest ribbon for the grand reopening of the Jersey Shore on May 24 in Seaside Heights, the event signaled more than the return of tourism to New Jersey’s once-devastated coastline.