< Previous148 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NINDY CHAMBERSigni cant Projects:Eli Lilly and Company, Republic Airlines, FedExPrograms & Initiatives:The Indy Resource Navigator is the Chamber’s online portal for business growth initiatives and services. Indy Chamber Entrepreneur Services helps local entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. The Business Ownership Initiative aims to help Central Indiana residents start businesses through coaching, access to nancing, workshops and on-line courses.Did You Know?Indianapolis-based Taggart Baking Company launched Wonder Bread in 1921, becoming the rst major company to distribute sliced bread. Van Camp’s Pork and Beans was launched by Indianapolis grocer Gilbert Van Camp.Michael HuberPresident & CEOindychamber.comFormally establishing our global headquarters in Indianapolis just makes sense considering the incredible pool of local talent and the positive business environment supported by both local and state government.”— Josh Ross, CEO of KeraunoFormally establishing our global LEHIGH VALLEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONSigni cant Projects:Atas International, B Braun Medical, Automatic Data ProcessingPrograms & Initiatives:“Made Possible in the Lehigh Valley” is a newly-launched marketing initiative touting the area’s workforce. A new strategic initiative work group at LVEDC will focus on the increasing need for talent, which meshes well with the organization’s continuing focus on downtown development in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.Did You Know?The Lehigh Valley’s GDP in 2017 reached a record-high $40.1 billion, and nearly every economic sector saw year-over-year growth.Don CunninghamPresident & CEOlehighvalley.org ere is a great vibe in Allentown with the arts and music culture. We want to build on that and off er something unique.”— Jerry Deifer, Developer ere is a great vibe in Allentown S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2019 149Nashville is one of the fastest growing markets in the United States. e access to talent and centralized location make it an excellent gateway to clients and carriers in the southeastern United States.”— Mark Kummer, President of Mid America LogisticsNashville is one of the fastest METRO ATLANTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCEINVEST ATLANTASigni cant Projects:BlackRock, Norfolk Southern, Thyssenkrupp ElevatorPrograms & Initiatives:The Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Backed by ATL program provides customized assistance to a select group of high-potential companies to accelerate their growth and fuel economic impact across the metro Atlanta region. Global Health ATL is designed to drive Atlanta’s reputation as a center for global health. The Creative Industries Loan Fund, supported by Invest Atlanta, offers low interest loans with exible terms for local creative entrepreneurs.Did You Know?Twenty-six companies headquartered in metro Atlanta were among the 2018 Fortune 1000, with 15 of them ranked in the 2018 Fortune 500 (Norfolk Southern will make it 16).Atlanta is a fantastic market for world-class talent, and we’re thrilled to grow our presence in the region.”— Warren Wick, EVP Commercial Sales of SalesforceAtlanta is a fantastic market NASHVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCERalph SchulzPresident & CEOnashvillechamber.comSigni cant Projects:Amazon, Bridgestone Americas, AsurionPrograms & Initiatives:Partnership 2020 is the Nashville region’s public/private economic development initiative responsible for the creation of jobs and capital investments through business expansions and relocations, talent development and enhanced livability. Talent development initiatives include YP Nashville and Middle Tennessee Reconnect Community.Did You Know?Nashville has the world’s highest per-capita concentration of people working in the music industry.Hala ModdelmogPresidentmetroatlantachamber.comEloisa KlementichPresident & CEOinvestatlanta.com150 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NREDI CINCINNATINORTHERN KENTUCKY TRI-EDSigni cant Projects:R.A. Jones, Kroger, U.S. BancorpPrograms & Initiatives:REDI Cincinnati leads a business retention and expansion program in Brown, Butler, Clermont Hamilton and Warren counties to fuel expansion for fast-growing companies. Northern Kentucky Tri-ED led the creation of the NKY Entrepreneurship Council, which aims to establish an innovation cluster focusing on informatics, health innovation and logistics in northern Kentucky.Did You Know?Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati USA is the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the country and, with over 500,000 visitors, the second-largest in the world behind Munich.Kimm LauterbachPresident & CEOredicincinnati.comSouthwest Ohio is uniquely positioned to support our growth. is infusion of non-dilutive capital from REDI Cincinnati and JobsOhio accelerates our progress.”— Dr. Gavi Begtrup, CEO of Eccrine SystemsSouthwest Ohio is uniquely REGIONAL GROWTH PARTNERSHIP (NORTHWEST OHIO)Signi cant Projects:Mobis North America, Faurecia USA, Credit Adjustments, Inc.Programs & Initiatives:The Regional Growth Partnership’s business development efforts are focused on energy, logistics and transportation, automotive, food processing and advanced manufacturing. RGP offers site and facility searches, incentive packaging, project development services and provides access to venture capital.Did You Know?Toledo’s Inverness Club is to host the LPGA’s 2021 Solheim Cup, pitting the best women golfers from the United States against the best from Europe.Dean MonskePresident & CEOrgp.orgWe look forward to building on Toledo’s reputation for automotive expertise and excellence as we provide our customers with high-quality products.” — Donald Hampton, Jr., President of Faurecia USAWe look forward to building Lee CrumePresident & CEOwww.northernkentuckyusa.comNORTHERN KENTUCKY TRI-ED S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2019 151SAVANNAH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (SEDA)Signi cant Projects:Crane Worldwide Logistics, Wayfair, Inc., Gulfstream AerospacePrograms & Initiatives:The Business Retention Action Team works to support established businesses in Savannah and Chatham County. The Creative Coast initative helps bring technology companies to Savannah.Did You Know?Chatham Artillery Punch, a local mix of brandy, whiskey, rum, lemon and sugar, was served to George Washington during his 1791 presidential tour of Savannah. The drink is considered to be one of the strongest alcoholic beverages ever concocted.Hugh “Trip” TollisonPresident & CEOseda.org/homeOur Savannah expansion is … the direct result of our strong partnership with Savannah Technical College. e school’s aviation programs, which have provided us with more than 500 knowledgeable and skilled employees over nearly 20 years … will help us meet the workforce needs this expansion creates.”— Mark Burns, President of Gulfstream AerospaceOur Savannah expansion is … THE RIGHT PLACE (GRAND RAPIDS/WESTERN MICHIGAN)Birgit KlohsPresident & CEOrightplace.orgSigni cant Projects:Bissell, Roksam Baking Company, Grand River Aseptic ManufacturingPrograms & Initiatives:The Right Place’s business development team in 2018 met with nearly 400 individual businesses in the manufacturing, agribusiness, IT and medical device/life sciences industries. Engineers accounted for more than 11 percent of those rms’ in-demand jobs and occupations. According to EMSI analysis conducted by The Right Place, there are more than 13,500 engineers in West Michigan’s 13-county region.Did You Know?The Grand Rapids metro area has more LEED-certi ed buildings per capita than any other U.S. city.Grand Rapids has been a great city for Allegiant, with solid demand and steady growth over the years. It’s a perfect location for a permanent base.”— Keith Hansen, Vice President of Government Affairs at Allegiant AirGrand Rapids has been a great 152 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NWASHINGTON DC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (WDCEP)Signi cant Projects:Amazon, PM Realty Group, Samsung, YELPPrograms & Initiatives:Aimed at entrepreneurs, retailers, restaurateurs and brokers looking to open or expand their businesses in Washington, D.C.’s neighborhoods, WDCEP’S Space Finding Tours feature updates and information on emerging neighborhoods and commercial corridors throughout the District.Did You Know?Metrorail, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, is the second largest heavy rail system in the United States. Its 91 stations, 118 miles and six lines in 2017 saw average weekday ridership of 626,000.Keith J. SellarsPresident & CEOwdcep.comWORLD BUSINESS CHICAGOSigni cant Projects:CDW Corporation, Google, C.H. Robinson, SolsticePrograms & Initiatives:World Business Chicago’s 12 core initiatives include the Blackstone Inclusive Entrepreneurship Challenge, Chicago Anchors for a Strong Economy (CASE, focused on linking anchor employers with regional suppliers and service providers) and ThinkChicago, a twice-yearly event during the Lollapalooza music festival and Chicago Ideas Week when top university students are invited to town to meet with Chicago technology leaders, explore companies and soak up the full Chicago experience.Did You Know?The buildings and streets of Chicago were raised by six feet with hydraulic jacks in the 1850s to elevate ground level signi cantly higher than the shores of Lake Michigan.Andrea ZoppPresident & CEOworldbusinesschicago.comWashington, D.C. and northern Virginia are emerging as one of the country’s major hubs for tech talent, which was a key factor in our decision to expand in the area.”— Howard Lerman, CEO of YextWashington, D.C. and northern Chicago was our preferred choice with its close proximity to our customers and access to the area’s diverse high-technology talent pool.”— Arjun Rao, CEO of ValueLabsChicago was our preferred choice ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (WDCEP) S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2019 153planned for new Master’s degree programs in computer science and related elds at George Mason’s Arlington campus. e County of Arlington, the City of Alexandria and the Commonwealth also have collectively dedicated $ million to fund a range of low-income and workforce housing initiatives.In April Amazon nalized several lease and land purchase agreements totaling . million sq. ft. (, sq. m.) with Maryland-based REIT JBG Smith at the National Landing site straddling Arlington and the City of Alexandria and next to Ronald Reagan National Airport. Amazon will begin moving in by the end of next year.Amazon | Nashville, Tennessee$623 MILLION, 5,000 JOBSAnnounced on the same day as HQ , this B2I: 2019 T OP DEALSby ADAM BRUNSadam.br uns @ site s ele c tion.c omMeasured by an index awarding points for high capital expenditure and high job creation, then evaluated for their overall projected economic impact, here, in alphabetical order, are the Top Deals for North America and for the rest of the world as tracked by Site Selection in . (For an expanded edition with detailed citations about the International Top Deals beyond North America, visit siteselection.com in May .)NORTH AMERICAN T OP DEALSAmazon |Crystal City/Arlington County/Alexandria, Virginia,$2.5 BILLION, 25,000 JOBS e HQ deal was the most lucrative, complex and scrutinized of any ever covered in this publication’s years. In contrast to the other part of HQ in Long Island City, New York, that the Amazon withdrew from early this year, this project, announced in November , continues to move forward steadily e proposal team led by ve economic development organizations headed by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership involved the collaboration of dozens more organizations and institutions, and hundreds of individuals. Approved incentives include $ million toward infrastructure improvements from the Virginia General Assembly in addition to $ million of regional government infrastructure commitments, a regional compact to invest $ million annually in Metro system improvements, and a $ million performance agreement unanimously approved by the Arlington County Board in March .State funding also includes $ million toward Virginia Tech’s planned $ billion Innovation Campus at National Landing and $ million Last year’s most lucrative corporate projects feature tech, transportation and three from Amazon that collectively aim to ful ll 33,000 job openings.ABOVE: Renderings from Virginia’s bid for Amazon’s HQ2All images courtesy of VEDP154 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO Ntechnology center investment is taking place in a market many would call among the hottest in the nation. e Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development put it this way in March : “For Tennessee, the new Operations Center of Excellence will be transformational. Tennessee, Davidson County and the city of Nashville will bene t from $ billion in new tax revenues over the next years as a result of Amazon’s investment and job creation.”“We think this can be a catalyst for Nashville to be a tech hub,” Amazon’s head of worldwide economic development, Holly Sullivan, told the agency. A Tennessee native and University of Tennessee graduate, Sullivan early in her career worked for economic development agencies in Wilson and Rutherford County. State o cials have said their incentive agreement with Amazon will be sealed for ve years, citing an exception to the state public records law that allows records deemed to be of a “sensitive nature” to be held con dential.Amazon | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada3,000 JOBSAmazon in April welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the company announced plans to create an additional , jobs in elds including e-commerce technology, cloud computing, and machine learning at its expanding Vancouver Tech Hub. More than , of Amazon’s , Canadian employees already work in research and engineering at the Vancouver site.Amazon will expand into a brand new location in QuadReal’s e Post redevelopment when the project opens in . e expansion comes on top of plans to expand into another downtown site opening in . e company expects to grow to , corporate employees inVancouverin the coming years across all of its locations in the city.Apple | Austin, Texas$1 BILLION, 5,000 JOBSApple on December announced this agship investment along with plans to establish new sites in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California, and expand in Pittsburgh, New York and Boulder over the next three years. Apple added , jobs to its U.S. workforce in , now employs , people in all states, and is on track to create , jobs in the U.S. by .Apple’s newest Austin campus will be located less than a mile from its existing facilities, which already were the second-largest campus for Apple with , employees. e new -acre ( -hectare) campus will have the capacity to grow to ,, and is expected to make Apple the largest private employer in Austin.“Apple and Austin share a creative spark and a commitment to getting big things done,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler.Big River Steel | Blytheville, Arkansas$1.2 BILLION, 500 JOBSBig River announced in June it is expanding its LEED-certi ed scrap recycling and steel production facility in Osceola, part of the Blytheville metro area. e expansion will double Big River Steel’s hot-rolled steel production capacity to . million tons annually, and facilitate the company’s ability to produce higher grades of electrical steel, demand for which is expected to increase with continued focus on energy e ciency and the increase in hybrid and electric vehicle sales. “Announcing this investment less than months after beginning operations is a testament to the hard work and great success of the men and women on our team,” said CEO Dave Stickler.CoverMyMeds | Columbus, Ohio$240 MILLION, 1,000 JOBS is company — sold to McKesson for $ . billion — said its new campus in West Franklinton was “inspired by two main pillars: community investment, and creating a remarkable workplace for the future.” Part of the commitment is two new investments with the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) and the hands-on Center of Science and Industry (COSI) to build programs that will create opportunities for kids and adults through training, mentorship, job-skill building and career development.Among approved incentives were $ million in tax credits. e Columbus Dispatch reported that CoverMyMeds Co-Founder and CEO CEO Matt Scantland’s twin brother Pete Scantland runs Orange Barrel Media, which owns the land that CoverMyMeds will build on. Built to LEED and WELL building standards, the park-like campus along the Scioto River near an I- interchange will be built in two phases, with the rst to open in and the second between and . Ford Motor Co. | Detroit, Michigan$738 MILLION, 2,500 JOBSIn December, Ford began its renovation of -year-old Michigan Central Station in the 156 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO Nhistoric Corktown neighborhood, rst announced last summer when Ford acquired the station (abandoned in ) and outlined plans to transform it and surrounding properties into a . -million-sq.-ft. ( ,-sq.-m.) innovation campus where Ford and partners will work on autonomous and electric vehicle businesses, and design urban mobility services and solutions. In addition to the , Ford employees, the project will bring in an additional , jobs with Ford’s partners and suppliers.“Corktown will be part of a Ford mobility corridor running from Ann Arbor to Dearborn to Detroit,” the company said, noting that its Dearborn HQ redesign will continue in parallel. “It’s also the latest node in Ford’s research network stretching from Palo Alto to Germany to China.”General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. |Groton, Connecticut $852 MILLION, 1,881 JOBS North Kingstown, Rhode Island$800 MILLION, 1,300 JOBS ese investments from the nuclear submarine builder for the U.S. Navy in two communities less than an hour apart promise to anchor an entire region’s maritime industrial economy. In May, Connecticut’s then-Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced an agreement that will help the company grow its workforce to ,-plus by and more than double spending with more than in-state suppliers located in Connecticut cities and towns. In addition to $ million in state incentives, key to the company’s growth are a manufacturing training program through the Eastern Workforce Investment Board; a partnership with the University of Connecticut and the University of Rhode Island to create the National Institute for Undersea Vehicle Technology; and an apprenticeship program.In Rhode Island, “Electric Boat is once again doubling down on Rhode Island,” said Governor Gina Raimondo, crediting new job training programs, “the work we’ve done over the last three-and-a-half years to make it easier to do business in Rhode Island,” and the state’s willingness to invest in infrastructure.Google | New York, New York$1 BILLION, THOUSANDS OF JOBSIn a blog posted on December , , Ruth Porat, senior vice president and CFO of Google and Alphabet, called the company’s new Google Hudson Square campus “the next step in our commitment to our New York City presence, which has grown from Google’s rst o ce outside California to “more than , employees, speaking languages.”Earlier in , Google announced the $ . billionpurchase of the Manhattan Chelsea Marketand shared plans tolease additional space at Pier . “With these most recent investments in Google Chelsea and Google Hudson Square, we will have the capacity to more than double the number of Googlers in New York over the next years,” wrote Porat.Honeywell International | Charlotte, North Carolina$248 MILLION, 750 JOBS e company announced in November — subject to the recently passed North Carolina Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) legislation becoming law and the award of state and local incentives — that it will relocate its global corporate headquarters from New Jersey toCharlotte, which it called “a business- and family-friendly city close to several of Honeywell’s businesses in theSoutheast United States.” Honeywell also will relocate the headquarters of its Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS) business group fromFort Mill, South Carolina (part of the Greater Charlotte metro area), toCharlotte proper.“Charlotteis a top- destination city in the U.S. that will readily enable us to recruit and retain the world-class talent we will need over the long term to support Honeywell’s strategic focus on leading technology and software solutions within our end markets,” saidDarius Adamczyk, Honeywell chairman and CEO.Indeed | Austin, Texas3,000 JOBSIn May, online job site Indeed announced this expansion plan. “We are committed to growing in Austin, a city that is a proven tech hub with excellent access to talent and a community that encourages innovation,” said Indeed President Chris Hyams of the company’s co-birthplace in , alongside Stamford, Connecticut. e expansion includes two new o ce developments totaling over , sq. ft. ( , sq. m.), which will join the company’s existing locations along northwest Austin’s tech corridor of Loop . e company today already employs more than , people in Austin — more than % of its global workforce of , . “Indeed’s multi-o ce strategy Next >