Identify an opportunity, then seize it. Although an obvious oversimplification, that’s the formula for business success.
With real estate and facilities playing a critical role in writing corporate success stories, it’s essential that site seekers keep a close eye on where new business-location opportunities are cropping up around the world. And they’re turning up in places you might not expect. Never thought of Cleveland as a site for pharmaceuticals research and development? It is now.
A new Site Selection survey of more than 3,000 economic development organizations around the globe unearthed a large number of new corporate facilities that represent breakthroughs for the communities that landed them — and money-making opportunities for the savvy companies that sited and built them.
ABOVE RIGHT: Ford Credit recently chose Edmonton, Alberta, for a 400-employee call center. The city already had more than 130 call centers, but luring a blue-chip firm like Ford gives new momentum to the city’s effort to attract still more customer service facilities.
photo: Edmonton Tourism
Here’s a sampling of those projects.
Bryan, Texas: DecisionOne’s new 500-seat facility is the community’s first large call center. It also represents Bryan’s first use of tax-increment financing to develop a building and infrastructure for a new company.
Cleveland: Creative financing by state and local entities was essential in beating out competing sites for Gliatech’s US$15 million, 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,290-sq.-m.) pharmaceuticals headquarters and R&D facility.
Des Moines, Iowa: UPS’s new $43 million, 1,350-employee distribution center highlights Iowa’s national and international product distribution capabilities.
Detroit: Cabela, a major mail-order and Internet marketer of outdoor sporting goods, is building a $60 million, 2 million-sq.-ft. (185,800-sq.-m.) headquarters, catalog production and retail facility in Monroe County.
Eugene, Ore.: General Motors Acceptance Corp.’s new facility is Eugene’s first large customer service call center.
Geneva, Switzerland: Proctor & Gamble’s consolidation of the European daily management of its new Global Business Units will create about 900 jobs. The company cited Switzerland’s location at “the crossroads of Europe” and its multilingual population as key location factors.
Hazleton, Pa.: Local development officials say OfficeMax’s new $47.5 million, 600,000-sq.-ft. (55,740-sq.-m.) distribution center represents “a new trend in industrial retailing.” The facility is located on a reclaimed coal-mining site in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, with no state or local real estate tax bill for 12 years.
Huntington, W.Va.: Okuno International’s 150-employee hydraulic lift arms plant is the area’s first Japanese manufacturing investment.
Huntsville, Ala.: Target Stores’ 800-employee, 1.2 million-sq.-ft. (111,480-sq.-m.) facility is the first major distribution center in the Rocket City, a community better known for its prominence in advanced technology, including electronics, defense and space applications.
Idaho Falls, Idaho: CollabWare’s new software office is a major technology-transfer success that required a sophisticated labor force, advanced telecommunications and venture capital.
Manhattan, Kan.: Pioneer Hi-Bred International’s selection of Manhattan (home of Kansas State University, a top agricultural school) for its sorghum research center further cements the city’s position as a serious contender for agriculture-related facilities.
Marion, Ill.: Circuit City Stores’ 700,000-sq.-ft. (65,030-sq.-m.) distribution center is a breakthrough for this southern Illinois community. The company’s decision enabled Marion to access state funds to help pay for infrastructure development in a new industrial park, where the firm is building its facility.
McCook, Neb.: Development officials report that Valmont Irrigation’s $30 million, 275-employee plant is the first new manufacturer to locate in southwest Nebraska in many years.
Montreal, Quebec: Motorola’s decision to locate a major software development center is a breakthrough for Montreal’s Multimedia City project. The facility will employ as many as 500 researchers working on multimedia applications and second- and third-generation software for wireless telecommunications and satellite transmission.
Norfolk, Va.: INIT’s selection of Norfolk for a 100-employee office is a high-tech breakthrough for the community. The firm specializes in software for real-time vehicle location and computer-integrated intelligent transportation systems.
Pensacola, Fla.: Washington Mutual Finance’s new 300-employee facility is the Pensacola area’s first customer services center paying above-average wages.
Raleigh, N.C.: Lucent Technologies’ selection of North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus for a 120,000-sq.-ft. (11,148-sq.-m.) optical networking research center is a high-tech breakthrough. The facility ultimately will employ 500 researchers, with an average wage of $75,000 per year.
San Antonio: Amnitek is the first company to manufacture PC components in San Antonio. Its new facility will employ about 400.
San Diego: Novartis AF’s decision to site its genomic and agricultural research facilities in San Diego will make the city a world leader in both disciplines. The company plans to invest about $1 billion during the next 10 years.
— by Tim Venable
