Area Spotlights

Arkansas is surrounded by some business-friendly powerhouses. So it must try harder. And it’s doing just that, says a state business association executive. Bill Hannah is Chairman of Associated Industries of Arkansas (AIA), an association of Arkansas businesses that works with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to foster a business environment in which companies can compete and succeed. He is also CEO of Nabholz Construction Services, based in Conway, Ark., which was founded in 1949.

A leading reason companies locate where they do is proximity to their customers. That’s well documented, and it’s why Osprey Backpacks, Sitka Gear, LMS Defense, Quality Bicycle Products and LUCID (shooting accessories) all have sited new facilities in the Rocky Mountain region recently.Rocky Mountain Region:

How Oregon is winning the competition for the next generation of secure data facilities.Silicon Valley has seen the future of data centers, and it resides in Oregon. That’s the conclusion of John Sheputis, CEO of Fortune Data Centers, a San Jose, Calif.-based company that’s opening a 240,000-sq.-ft. (22,296-sq.-m.) data center on a 15-acre (6-hectare) site in Hillsboro near Portland.

Most buyers of Ford Motor Co.’s 2013 Escape won’t know specifically where their new mini-SUV was made. But, in fact, they will have Louisville labor and a labor-friendly Kentucky business climate to thank for their ride. Ford invested $600 million in late 2010 in its Louisville Assembly Plant (LAP). The project is adding 1,800 jobs to the 1,100 already in place.

Is it just coincidence that companies are realizing pioneering renewable energy success along Great Lakes shorelines? Or that territories in two nations are seeing progressive energy policies blend with their industrial heritage to spawn growth in corporate investment?

The state of Utah not only offers the best in outdoor activities. We have also found that the people who live here are very well educated and innovative,” says Albert Modrovsky, vice president of strategic initiatives for L-3 Communication Systems Group. “They tend to thrive in an environment of teamwork and are more than willing to mentor other employees by sharing their work experiences and industry expertise.

Iowa Gov. Branstad has a four-point plan to boost his state’s business climate. Branstad touts Iowa’s strong Midwestern work ethic, a robust job training program, a favorable tax climate and its status as a right-to-work state as among its biggest draws, but he says the key to continued success is getting companies to notice the state.

When Silicon Valley Bank scoured the U.S. for an information-technology and operations location, it didn’t take long for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company to find what it needed in Tempe, Ariz.

Colorado is ranked No. 3 in the U.S. in the Beacon Hill Institute’s latest State Competitiveness Report, based on 44 economic indicators in eight categories: government and fiscal policy, security, infrastructure, human resources, technology, business incubation, openness and environmental policy. Among those groupings, Colorado scored highest (No. 2) for infrastructure, which includes such indicators as mobile phones per 1,000, high-speed lines per 1,000 and air passengers per capita. Colorado scored No. 6 for technology and No. 8 for business incubation.

Warwick, R.I., might not be as well known as Providence, its neighbor 10 miles (16 km.) to the north, but it is starting to get attention for its new intermodal hub at the Warwick Station Development District near T.F. Green Airport.

BMW Manufacturing Company, South Carolina’s greatest economic success over the past two decades, continues to add chapters to its story with no end in sight. Since production began at the plant near Spartanburg in September 1994, it has been expanded four times, has produced more than 2 million vehicles and has provided more than US$5.8 billion in compensation to its employees.

Ohio’s vibrant metro areas are producing more than their share of downtown remakes and re-visions. Funded by a range of public-private entities, TIF arrangements and incentives, these projects’ campus-style atmospheres often have direct ties to university campuses.

Northeast States: There are reasons that New Jersey (second), New York (sixth) and Pennsylvania (ninth) all place among the top 10 states in total R&D. Certainly the region’s strength in the nation’s leading R&D recipient sector, chemicals, and its pharmaceuticals subsector is one.

Baltimore, Maryland is the location of two new headquarters projects — one involving construction of a new waterfront office complex for Constellation Energy Group, which is merging with Chicago-based Exelon, and one the expansion of Under Armour’s headquarters in the Locust Point area.

In 1995, Sanford Orkin, former president of Atlanta-based Orkin Pest Control and son of its founder, purchased 922 acres (373 hectares) of land near Athens, Ga., home to the flagship campus of his beloved University of Georgia, for $7 million. Since then the “Orkin tract” has experienced several close misses with major prospects, including an initial prospect in 2000, a never-built Daimler vehicle plant in 2002 and a Novartis vaccine plant that chose Holly Springs, N.C., over the site in 2006.

Healthcare, life sciences and medical equipment and devices continue to be leading industries in Minnesota, growing on a continuum that goes back several generations and into the 19th century.

Dirt moving continues on a large scale near the southern New Mexico community of Santa Teresa. Here, seven miles (11 km.) from the Mexican border and within shouting distance of El Paso, is the beginning of Union Pacific’s colossal new rail facility.

Boosted by projects — often in multiple phases — from such companies as ExxonMobil, Shintech, Honeywell and Westlake Chemical, East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana tops the project tallies of all counties along the Mississippi River from July 2010 through December 2011.

Life sciences, logistics among sectors showing vitality.

The aerospace industry has had a major presence in the Rockford, Ill., region for many decades, but it was only a few years ago that the industry came to the realization that a major cluster had developed.

Last year unemployment in California fell to the lowest level since 2009, as companies put 240,300 people to work, leading the nation in job growth.

The art of storytelling is providing some global fame for Louisiana’s blossoming digital media sector.

As this issue went to press in February, site selectors in the U.S. and globally were busy recasting their lists of finalist locations for manufacturing projects to include Indiana. The state may well have ranked high on some of those lists already — its business climate is considered robust by many evaluators of Midwest states, given its record of fiscal conservatism that includes a predictable and competitive tax structure among other measures.
But becoming the 23rd right-to-work state has energized Hoosier State efforts to escape the stigma, or at least perception, of Midwestern locations being less than business friendly to companies hoping to cultivate a work force free of union requirements their workers don’t embrace.

If North Dakota’s booming economy and 3.5-percent unemployment rate is any indication, there is prosperity to be mined in domestic energy production, and the rest of the Central Plains states are on the brink of realizing some of that prosperity. Much will depend on where the political football that is the Keystone XL pipeline project lands in the coming weeks as federal approval of the project rides the fortunes of pending legislation.