< Previous94 JANUARY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NAlabama Dept. of Commerce401 Adams Avenue,6th FloorMontgomery, AL 36130Greg Can eldSECRETARY OF COMMERCE334-242-0400Legislative Update• Site selectors are exempted from registering as lobbyists with the state Ethics Commission under the Alabama Jobs Enhancement Act, which passed in March. Supporters of the legislation argued that requiring site selectors to register with the government and disclose their con dential clients would chase away potential projects. • Gov. Ivey signed a bill allowing counties to abate ad valorem taxes for large economic development projects, provided the property is used for a project that quali es for incentives under the Alabama Jobs Act.• Lawmakers allocated $216 million more for spending on education in 2019. The $6.63 billion education bill is Alabama’s largest education budget in 10 years.madeinalabama.com“Y’all, momentum is on our side, and I want Alabama to be every company’s rst choice for their location.”— Gov. Kay Ivey, from a speech to the Economic Development Association of Alabama, August 6, 2018GDP27th2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$192,663.2-1.0-0.50.00.51.01.52.020172016201520142013Did You Know?With a strong showing in the corporate executive survey portion of Site Selection’s 2018 Top State Business Climate Rankings in November, Alabama recorded an overall 8th-place nish, tying with Indiana, one spot below Virginia.Alabama exports totaled a record $21.7 billion in 2017, powered by rising overseas shipments of products such as automobiles, aircraft components, chemicals, paper and minerals.The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business projects that Alabama’s economy will grow by approximately 2 percent in 2019, slightly below the 2.2 percent growth in 2018.Shipt, a Birmingham-based tech rm acquired by Target in 2017, is dramatically expanding its Alabama operations, and plans to hire 881 Birmingham-based workers at an average salary of more than $48,000.Selected Corporate Facility Projects 2018 NEW/ INVESTMENTCOMPANY CITY COUNTY TYPE EXPANDED PRODUCT (US$ M) EMPMazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A. Huntsville Madison MF/DW N Automotive 1,600 4000Daimler AG Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa MF E Electronics 1,000 Facebook Huntsville Madison DT N IT & Comm. 750 100Hyundai Motor Co. Montgomery Montgomery MF N Automotive 388 50Amazon.Com Bessemer Jefferson DW N Transport & Logistics 325 1500Airbus Group Mobile Mobile MF E Aerospace 300 400DC Blox Birmingham Jefferson OF/DT N IT & Comm. 163 20Samvardhana Motherson Peguform Barcelona Slu Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa MF N Automotive 150 1000Haier US Appliance Solutions Decatur Morgan MF E Electronics 115 255John Soules Foods Valley Chambers MF N Food & Beverage 110 510Rex Lumber Troy Pike MF N Wood Products 110 110Kimberly-Clark Corp. Mobile Mobile MF E Paper, Printing & Packaging 100 DT = Data Center | MF = Manufacturing | OF = Of ce | HQ = Headquarters | RD = Research & Development | DW = Distribution/WarehouseHigher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $1,005,133Number of NCRCs: 163,589 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 22.9%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: -2Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 6.31Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 1.65AlabamaPop. (2018): 4,968,383 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 0.42%Median household income: $47,060 Median age: 39Credit Rating: AA/Stable Right-to-work state: Yes96 JANUARY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NAlaska Dept. of CommerceCommunity & Econ. Dev.550 W 7th Avenue,Suite 1770Anchorage, AK 99501Britteny Cioni-HaywoodDIRECTOR ED907-269-8150Legislative Update• Alaska reduced its crippling $2.4 billion budget de cit by more than two-thirds by dipping into the state’s oil wealth, something it had never done before. The annual oil dividend paid to every man, woman and child in Alaska accordingly dropped from an estimated $2,700 to $1,600.• Seeking to retain control of a massive natural gas export project, lawmakers removed language from the state budget proposal that would have allowed the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. to accept outside funds from investors for the proposed Alaska LNG project. The estimated $43-billion project would include a North Slope gas treatment plant, 807 miles of buried pipeline and a marine export terminal. Under the current plan, AGDC would own the project, purchase gas from North Slope producers and sell it to customers in Asia.Commerce.alaska.gov“We have 100 million acres of land and very little of it is in private hands. We’ve got to make a decision as a state as to what we want to do with our state land.”— Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy, speaking to reporters in Anchorage, November 8, 2018GDP45th2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$52,291.2-6-5-4-3-2-10120172016201520142013AlaskaPop. (2018): 750,876 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 0.56%Median household income: $76,492 Median age: 35Credit Rating: AA/Stable Right-to-work state: NoHigher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $176,424Number of NCRCs: 47,128 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 2.7%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: +1Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 15.74Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 2.51 S I T E S E L E C T I O N JANUARY 2018 97Arizona Commerce Authority118 N. 7th Avenue, Suite 400Phoenix, AZ 85007Sandra WatsonPRESIDENT/CEO602-845-1200azcommerce.com“We’re used to attracting companies from California — that’s easy. But now we are even taking them from Texas. We’re doing something right.”— Gov. Doug Ducey, State of the State address, January 8, 2018Legislative Update• Arizona’s 2019 budget includes a $644 million provision for a 20-percent increase in teacher pay by 2020. Public school teachers went on strike in the spring to protest low pay and cuts to school funding. K-12 education received a one-year increase of $520 million.• The state budget provides $11.5 million for the Arizona Competes fund, which is used to offer cash to companies that move headquarters or signi cant operations to the state. Gov. Ducey’s three-year plan envisions a $6-million cut to the fund to help fund teacher pay raises. An additional $300,000 was budgeted for the Commerce Authority to set up a new of ce in Mexico City.2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$297,161.90.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.520172016201520142013GDP20thFiscal Condition Index RankHigher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $1,213,469Number of NCRCs: 8,091 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 9.1%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: -2Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 6.942018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 1.3ArizonaPop. (2018): 7,132,147 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 1.37%Median household income: $54,974 Median age: 37Credit Rating: AA/Stable Right-to-work state: Yes98 JANUARY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NArkansas ED Commission900 West Capitol Avenue,Suite 400Little Rock, AR 72201Mike PrestonEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR1-800-ARKANSASLegislative Update• The Arkansas legislature in 2019 will consider a proposal to reduce the state’s top marginal income tax rate from 6.9 percent to 6 percent, representing a potential tax cut of $180 million. • Arkansas voters in November approved a constitutional amendment legalizing casinos in four counties. The measure allows the casinos at the Southland dog track in West Memphis and the Oaklawn horse track in Hot Springs, and also legalizes casinos in Pope and Jefferson counties.• Legislative committees approved the removal of more than 800 regulations deemed outdated and unnecessary. Among those was a rule by the Arkansas Racing Commission declaring that racing fans should not be obnoxious in the stands.arkansasedc.com“Our recruiting efforts have brought in $7 billion in new investments and led to the creation of more than 11,000 jobs throughout the state.”— Gov. Asa Hutchinson, State of the State address, February 12, 2018Higher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $312,533Number of NCRCs: 75,306 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 6.7%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: -3Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 5.43Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 0.9GDP34th2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$113,951.60.00.51.01.52.02.53.020172016201520142013ArkansasPop. (2018): 3,067,536 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 0.56%Median household income: $44,518 Median age: 39Credit Rating: AA/Stable Right-to-work state: AA/StableDid You Know?Arkansas’ Public School Computer Network has the capacity to provide internet service at a rate of 1 Megabit per second per user to 98 percent of all public schools in the state — more than any other state, according to the 2018 State of the States report from EducationSuperHighway.Simmons Prepared Foods is investing $300 million in a new chicken processing plant that will eventually employ about 2,300 people in Bentonville.Aircraft and spacecraft are among Arkansas’ largest exports, accounting for more than $1.8 billion per year.Selected Corporate Facility Projects 2018 NEW/ INVESTMENTCOMPANY CITY COUNTY TYPE EXPANDED PRODUCT (US$ M) EMPBig River Steel Osceola Mississippi MF/DW E Metals 1,200 500Simmons Prepared Foods Decatur Benton MF N Food & Beverage 300 1,500Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings East Camden Ouachita MF E Metals 50 140Granges Americas Newport Jackson MF E Metals 26 100Safe Foods Corp. North Little Rock Pulaski MF N Life Sciences 15 35Calstrip Industries Blytheville Mississippi MF N Metals 15 45Zero Mountain North Little Rock Pulaski DW E Transport & Logistics 13 22First Orion Corp. North Little Rock Pulaski HQ N Business & Financial Services 10 Veranda Luxury Pontoons Malvern Hot Spring MF N Transport & Logistics 4 80Select Sands Corp. Newark Independence MF N Minerals 4 Midwest Automation Custom Fabrication Fort Smith Sebastian MF/HQ/RD E Metals 2 85DT = Data Center | MF = Manufacturing | OF = Of ce | HQ = Headquarters | RD = Research & Development | DW = Distribution/Warehouse100 JANUARY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NGovernor’s Of ce of Business & ED1325 J Street,Suite 1800Sacramento, CA 95814Panorea AvdisDIRECTOR877-345-4633Legislative Update• Senate Bill 100, signed into law in September, sets a 2045 target date for 100 percent of California’s electricity to come from renewable sources. Interim targets include 50 percent by 2025 and 60 percent by 2030.• The state in September adopted a ban on new pipelines or other infrastructure in state waters that would support new offshore drilling and development off California’s coast. The Trump administration has announced its intention to open 90 percent of federal waters, including waters off the California coast, to drilling leases.• A measure targeting California’s housing crisis will allow for up to 20,000 new housing units — 35 percent of which would be affordable housing — to be built on roughly 250 acres (101 hectares) owned by San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit. The measure gives local municipalities two years to update their zoning plans to accommodate the new housing or risk losing all control over BART-associated projects.Business.ca.gov“This is not just a state of resistance. California is a state of results.”— Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, in his victory speech, November 6, 2018Higher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $9,225,998Number of NCRCs: 13,228 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 11.9%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: -1Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 14.61Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 2.87GDP1st2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$2,576,222.601234520172016201520142013CaliforniaPop. (2018): 39,806,791 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 0.82%Median household income: $69,051 Median age: 36Credit Rating: AA-/Stable Right-to-work state: AA-/StableDid You Know?California’s economy produces $2.5 trillion worth of goods and services annually, $1 trillion more than the nation’s second largest state economy, Texas. The California economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom.California’s high cost of living, primarily in housing, contributes to the state’s 19-percent poverty rate, the highest in the nation, according to the Census Bureau.During his cumulative 16 years as California governor, ending in January of 2019, Jerry Brown signed nearly 20,000 bills.Nearly 90 percent of avocado production in the U.S. takes place in California.Selected Corporate Facility Projects 2018 NEW/ INVESTMENTCOMPANY CITY COUNTY TYPE EXPANDED PRODUCT (US$ M) EMPFacebook Burlingame San Mateo OF N IT & Comm. 300 Google Sunnyvale Santa Clara OF N IT & Comm. 160 Rplanet Earth Los Angeles Vernon Los Angeles MF/DW N Chemicals & Plastics 100 140Grifols SA Emeryville Alameda MF/DW N Life Sciences 80 Usf Holding Corp. Mcclellan Sacramento DW N Food & Beverage 72 Nellson NutraceuticaL Ontario San Bernardino MF/RD N Food & Beverage 70 Ove Arup & Partners International Los Angeles Los Angeles OF N Machinery, Equip. & Const. 57 150Robert Bosch Gesellschaft Mit Beschränkter Haftung Sunnyvale Santa Clara RD N Automotive 40 Teradata Corp. San Diego San Diego HQ N IT & Comm. 35 Radiology Partners Holdings El Segundo Los Angeles HQ N Life Sciences 33 Tec Equipment Fontana San Bernardino DW N Automotive 30 Berber Food Manufacturing Elk Grove Sacramento MF N Food & Beverage 25 250DT = Data Center | MF = Manufacturing | OF = Of ce | HQ = Headquarters | RD = Research & Development | DW = Distribution/Warehouse102 JANUARY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NColorado Of ce of Econ. Dev. & Intl. Trade1625 Broadway,#2700Denver, CO 80202Stephanie CopelandEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR303-892-3840Legislative Update• The Colorado legislature approved $495 million in improvements to the state’s transportation system. Seventy percent of the funds will go to state projects, 15 percent to local projects and the remaining 15 percent to multi-modal projects such as bike lands and public transit. In November, voters rejected an initiative to authorize $6 billion in bonds to fund future transportation projects.• A bill signed into law in April commits $100 million over ve years to bring high-speed internet to unserved rural areas.• Colorado’s state budget, approved in March, increases spending for public schools by $150 million. Public colleges and universities received a 9-percent boost aimed at limiting tuition hikes. The budget also provided $225 million to reduce underfunding for the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association pension fund.choosecolorado.com“Going after tax expenditures, reducing special interest tax giveaways and loopholes and using the proceeds to reduce the state income tax between three and ve percent is what I think we can get to.”— Gov.-elect Jared Polis in a November 26 interview with FOX21 in Colorado SpringsGDP16th2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$323,274.201234520172016201520142013Higher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $1,461,877Number of NCRCs: 9,544 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 49.1%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: 0Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 7.37Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 1.43ColoradoPop. (2018): 5,711,572 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 1.53%Median household income: $65,782 Median age: 37Credit Rating: AA/Stable Right-to-work state: No S I T E S E L E C T I O N JANUARY 2019 103Hawaii Dept. of Business ED & TourismNo. 1 Capitol District Building250 South Hotel StreetHonolulu, HI 96813Luis P. SalaveriaDIRECTOR808-586-2355dbedt.hawaii.gov“We really are the most beautiful place on earth. We are of many cultures and faiths, and we live together in greater harmony than any place in the world.”— Gov. David Ige, in his State of the State address, January 22Legislative Update• The state in June approved a $570-million package of new investments in affordable housing. The law will inject more than $200 million into two state housing funds and expand a tax exemption for affordable units. State of cials project the package could support the construction of more than 25,000 affordable units over the next 12 years.• Also in June, Hawaii enacted legislation that subjects an out-of-state person who is engaged in business in Hawaii to the state’s general excise tax if the person has a speci ed amount of income or number of transactions in the state. The thresholds are $100,000 worth of income and 200 transactions.• The “Sunscreen Bill,” signed into law in July, bans the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in an effort to protect Hawaii’s coral reefs and marine life.2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$79,468.70.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.520172016201520142013GDP38thHigher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $301,204Number of NCRCs: 434 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 0.7%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: -4Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 26.16Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 2.01HawaiiPop. (2018): 1,459,668 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 0.79%Median household income: $76,100 Median age: 39Credit Rating: AA+/Stable Right-to-work state: Noct.gov/ecdConnecticut Dept. of Econ. & Cmty. Dev.450 Columbus Blvd.Hartford, CT 06103Catherine SmithCOMMISSIONER860-500-2300“I’ve got to bring people together to make sure this is a state that hangs together going forward, making decisions we need to get this state growing again.”— Gov.-elect Ned Lamont, in his November 7 victory speech2017 GDP(in millions of current US$)$238,942.6-1.5-1.0-0.50.00.51.01.52.020172016201520142013GDP23rdHigher Ed. R&D Expenditure: $1,254,440Number of NCRCs: 2,828 | Percent Improvement 2017-2018: 8.7%Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2018-2019: 0Lowest Electric Power Cost (cents/kWh): 14.16Fiscal Condition Index Rank2018 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 2.2ConnecticutPop. (2018): 3,631,470 Pop. growth 2018–2023: 0.16%Median household income: $75,016 Median age: 41Credit Rating: A/Stable Right-to-work state: NoLegislative Update• In November, the state made available $12.2 million from the legal settlement in the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal to fund 10 clean air projects. Connecticut is one of the rst states in the nation to make VW settlement funds available for diesel mitigation projects.• Connecticut voters approved a constitutional amendment to guarantee that funding set aside for transportation is used exclusively for transportation projects. The “Lockbox Amendment” is to prevent lawmakers from raiding the state’s Special Transportation Fund for other purposes, as they have done in the past.• A new law contains provisions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare the state for effects of climate change and sea level rising. The law sets a 2030 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent from a 2001 baseline. It requires future state projects located in the state’s Coastal Boundary to meet projections for a sea level rise of nearly two feet by 2050.Next >