Area Spotlights

Marjorie Taylor had a challenge. She needed to find a way to communicate to high school students the importance of taking the ACT WorkKeys assessment seriously.

Kids’ bikes and scooters can’t compete with a Boeing 787 or a BMW 4-Series in the expensive-transportation arena. And Kent International doesn’t try to compete with Boeing and BMW on the economic impact of their new facilities, either.

The mutual benefits that corporations and higher learning institutions can confer on one another were illustrated in December when Lilly Endowment awarded $5 million to Indiana University, one of a series of grants totaling nearly $63 million.

Citing a highly skilled workforce, the cost of doing business and the number of aerospace companies already located in the state, a report released in December 2013 by PricewaterhouseCoopers proclaimed Florida number one in aviation manufacturing attractiveness.

California’s automotive design cluster has 22 design centers in Southern California alone, including facilities from GM, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen (Santa Monica), BMW (Newbury Park), Volvo and Mercedes (Carlsbad).

If Maryland state leaders have their way, the aviation and aerospace sectors will blast off with new opportunities in high tech and high-paying jobs in the next few years.

Mark Twain found the Upper Mississippi otherworldly, serene and bucolic when he traveled through the region 130 years ago.

Think tax certainty doesn't matter to capital investors? Think again. Two of Oregon's largest corporations - Nike and Intel - just signed major expansion deals that will add at least 1,000 jobs to the state's economy in the next few years.

Direct investment by more than 100 foreign companies in his state has caught the attention of Maine Governor Paul LePage. They employ more than 30,000 workers, and many of these companies are expanding.

Asked to describe the house in Tupelo where Elvis was born, one local woman puts it this way: “You could spit in the front door, and hit the dog goin’ out the back.”

Indiana boasts the best business climate in the Midwest, say consultants who read Site Selection, but plenty of executives are voting for Chicago with their pocketbooks.

Governor Rick Snyder had a big economic development win in 2013 when Michigan became the nation’s 24th right-to-work state, but he’s not resting on his laurels.

Imagine not one, but two commercial aircraft manufacturers announcing new jetliner assembly plants in your state within a year.

Food and beverage is one of Virginia’s top industry sectors, with more than 33,000 people working at PepsiCo, Tyson, Boar’s Head Provisions, Lipton Tea and well over 500 other companies.

Travelers Insurance scoured the country and chose Sarpy County, Neb., for the giant insurer’s second major data center in the US.

Funds from 2008 disaster recovery bonds will support a US$2-billion fertilizer plant in Indiana, even though Gov. Mike Pence pulled state support earlier this year over concerns about potential disaster from its parent company’s products abroad.

Chances are if you’re reading this anywhere outside of Cheyenne, Casper or Laramie, you don’t know much about Wyoming.

Corporate site selectors want to see a single digit next to states in rankings designed to shed light on their suitability for investment.

Forging new collaborations between universities and corporate investors is the linchpin behind the new business growth strategy of the desert Southwest.

In late 2012 when Hostess declared bankruptcy, a long line of Twinkie and Ding Dong jokes predictably exploded across the airwaves.

Ten years tax-free. Five years income-tax-free for new employees. Proximity to a 64-campus system of higher education with ample research assets and enrollment approaching half a million students. What’s the catch?