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When nine out of the top 10 corporate facility projects in a sector are valued at more than US$1 billion, you've officially arrived as a force to be reckoned with.

RK Motors decided to put pedal to metal when the vintage muscle-car restoration business needed room to expand beyond its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.

America's energy boom has been kind to Houston, the country's fastest-growing job market. As new discoveries of underground shale rich with pockets of natural gas create fertile fields of exploration and harvest for many of the world's largest energy companies, Houston is reaping a windfall of investment.

Not so fast, Buckeyes. Texas is back in a big way with a commanding first-place finish in the 2012 facilities race to claim the Governor’s Cup after a 34-project loss to Ohio last year. Not only did Texas reclaim the coveted trophy, but it did so with a whopping 761 projects, 270 more than first runner-up Ohio, which held its own relative to last year’s tally with just seven fewer projects (491).

The voters have spoken. The U.S. election of November 2012 resulted in very little visible change — Democrats retain control of the White House and the Senate, Republicans the House of Representatives and most governors’ mansions — 30 as of this month.

When it comes to physically demarcated free trade zones, look to Singapore or Hong Kong as shining examples. Or look to eastern China, where boundaried zones have proliferated. The Republic of Korea’s internal competition among zones has led to several excellent models such as the Incheon Free Economic Zone and the Gwangyang Free Economic Zone. Vietnam’s burgeoning roster of zones is also engaged in healthy competition. The argument for special economic zones (or SEZs) is hard to refute.

Two massive projects target the city’s vulnerability to earthquakes. The 1950s-era viaduct was showing signs of age and deterioration before the 2001 earthquake further weakened the structure, but the earthquake heightened the need for its replacement. corporate real estate, economic development

In late May, Intel announced the launch of the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities in partnership with Imperial College London, University College London and the emerging Tech City cluster of East London.

Some are forward-leaning. Some are futuristic or visionary. Some are private, others public. Some exist and thrive already. Others look pretty on paper so far. A few are outright mind-bogglers.

What a sampling of science park activity reveals most of all is a hunger for environments conducive to innovation.

On the very same day in March, Texas announced a huge new Apple Inc. campus in Austin (notably without a quote from Apple), and Apple submitted revised plans for a new headquarters campus in its hometown of Cupertino, Calif., that would boast a Texas-sized capacity of 13,000 employees.

Every picture tells a story. Every year corporations and communities come together to paint pictures of project success. And every spring Site Selection salutes the best corporate facility projects in the world, judged by investment, high-value and high-volume job creation, creativity in negotiations and incentives, regional economic impact, competition and speed to market.

Top-performing economic development groups apply lessons learned during the downturn. When the global financial markets reached meltdown status in the fall of 2008, very few envisioned a time when a handful of U.S. cities would reach unprecedented heights of economic prosperity.

By claiming first place in Site Selection’s annual ranking of state competitiveness, Virginia proved that second place merely means there’s room for improvement. The Commonwealth lost no ground and gained what little there was to gain from its runner-up finish in 2010 with a best-in-class finish for economic development success in 2011.

Site Selection is pleased to present its fourth annual Best to Invest rankings of nations and metro areas for investment-attraction activity in 2011. The national Investment Promotion Agencies recognized here were particularly successful in 2010 at attracting capital investment projects — both expansions of existing facilities and new projects — from investors at home and abroad.

Four of the top five industries for corporate facility projects in 2011 showed substantially more expansions at existing sites than at new locations. China, India and South Korea continue to garner strong shares of projects across multiple industries.

A re-engineered approach to business development with a return-on-investment focus is already bearing fruit in Ohio Governor John Kasich’s new administration

A decade of dominance culminates in another Top Micropolitan ranking for Statesville-Mooresville, N.C. From the Blue Ridge Mountains to Brazil, companies from across the Western Hemisphere are descending upon North Carolina’s Iredell County at a pace unprecedented in the modern history of America.

Greater Houston, Texas, which in 2011 secured 195 corporate facility expansion projects, is increasing the size of its metropolitan economy at a rate that leads every other metro area on the continent, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution.

If the path being beaten to Texas’ front door is any indication, there’s a better way to do things in the Lone Star State. Giving businesses some certainty with which to risk investment capital and expand their enterprises has been central to the state’s economic success.

A survey of global energy projects provides these snapshots of new solutions to age-old challenges. Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) demolished the twin striped stacks and 7,500-ton boilers at its nearly 50-year-old power plant to make way for construction of FPL’s US$1.3-billion Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center.

Spectacular new technology and research parks are under way or in the planning stages around the globe. These parks are increasingly focusing on specific technologies such as clean technology or aerospace.

The Site Selection editors are pleased to present the third annual Global Best to Invest rankings.