< Previous188 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO N“We decided to stay in the Phoenix/Mesa area because of its strong local workforce and high quality of living,” said Ron Wince, founder and CEO, Myndshft. “ ere’s a young and educated workforce in place, which helps to create a viable talent pool for a tech company like ours.”Myndshft’s new o ce will allow for future growth and expanded strategic partnerships within Arizona’s burgeoning digital-health sector. Founded in with two employees, Myndshft has experienced hypergrowth rates of percent with plans to aggressively recruit - employees over the next nine months across all its departments, particularly in sales, software engineering and operations.“Myndshft is a great addition to the Falcon Business District and their exponential growth is bringing high-tech jobs to Mesa,” said Mayor John Giles. “Health care administration is changing and Myndshft is leading the way in using technology to simplify processes.”Employment in Arizona’s technology industry expanded by an estimated , jobs in and contributed $ . billion to the state’s economy, according to Cyberstates™ , published in March by CompTIA, a leading technology industry association. With , workers, Arizona ranks th among the states and the District of Columbia in net tech employment. is accounts for . % of the state’s total workforce. e average tech industry wage in Arizona is $ ,, compared to the state’s average private sector annual wage of $ ,. “It is especially encouraging to see the increase in job postings for emerging technologies such as IoT, smart cities, drones, AI, and more,” said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. “It shows that companies are choosing Arizona for our quality of life, pro-business laws and the talent pool in these new sectors.” e tech sector is responsible for an estimated . % ($ . billion) of the overall state economy. e state is home to more than , tech business establishments. Mining for Ef ciencyEstablished industries also bene t from new, high-tech entrants to Arizona’s business landscape: Also in March, Sudbury, Ontario-based Symboticware Inc. opened its U.S.-Mexico headquarters in Tucson, for example. e company describes itself as “anindustry leader that provides an industrial IoT hardware and software platform to help customers unlock, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, near Flagstaff(Continued from page ) 2015 State 2015 2014 Rank Proj. Count Rank 1 Texas 702 1 2 Ohio 517 2 3 Illinois 413 3 4 North Carolina 300 4 5 Kentucky 285 6 6 Michigan 217 7 7 Georgia 211 5 8 Pennsylvania 202 8 9 Virginia 167 11 10 Indiana 166 12Source: Conway Projects DatabaseSampleb y Number of Projects S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2019 189collect and analyze valuable data from their industrial mobile and fixed assets to help improve business outcomes based on: optimizing productivity; identifying opportunities to increase efficient use of their resources; increasing equipment availability through better condition and preventative maintenance; and enhancing safety by real-time feedback to operators.” Companies involved in the mining industry are typical of Symboticware’s customers. The office plans to grow rapidly with the hire of 20 high-tech professionals in the next five years.“As a key regional mining corridor, Tucson, Arizona, is what Sudbury is to Ontario,” said Kirk Petroski, President and CEO of Symboticware. “When our first offices opened there in 2008, our focus has been on the development and advancement of technology for the mining industry. We are proud to expand our services into the United States and Mexico through our Tucson office.”“Symboticware is an excellent example of emerging technology driving transformation and creating value in established industries,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of 190 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NOn April 24, the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations hosted Governor Ducey’s fourth International State of the State address, an overview of Arizona’s current trade relationships and trends. He used the opportunity to make 10 key points:Arizona’s Top Trade Partners. Arizona’s top trading partner is Mexico, with two-way trade between Arizona and Mexico totaling $16.6 billion. China and Canada take the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, with two-way trade coming in at $4.5 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively.Investing in Trade Infrastructure. Arizona continues to invest in its ports of entry. The fiscal year 2020 budget includes an investment of $700,000 to build a cold storage unit at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, helping Arizona move more goods, like produce, through the ports. Trade on the Rise. In 2018, two-way trade between Arizona and Mexico rose by 7.7%. Arizona’s trade with Canada grew 2.4%, and trade with China rose by over 11%. Arizona’s exports to South America were up over 49%.Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. International trade, including both exports and imports, supports thousands of jobs in Arizona. Trade with Mexico and Canada alone supports more than 228,000 Arizona jobs.Attracting Global Companies. Arizona’s business-friendly climate attracts not only domestic but international companies. Foreign-owned companies invest in capital, build facilities and employ over 100,000 people in Arizona. One of the latest examples: Self-driving truck company TuSimple from China plans to bring 500 jobs to Tucson.GOV. DOUG DUCEY ON TRADE, FDI, CROSS-BORDER TIESArizona’s Global Reach. Arizona exported over $22 billion in goods around the world last year. Arizona-made goods and services are sold to customers in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, including top export markets like Mexico, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.Welcoming Visitors. People from Mexico represent the largest number of international visitors to Arizona each year. Arizona hosts 3.6 million overnight Mexican visitors annually, and visitors from Mexico contribute between 60% and 70% of sales tax revenue in the border communities.On the Cutting Edge. SkyBridge Arizona, the very first inland cargo inspections facility in the nation, housing both U.S. and Mexican Customs, processed its first e-commerce air shipment at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport a few months ago (see the Airport Cities feature in the March 2018 issue of Site Selection for more on this project—Ed.).Strengthening Arizona’s Relationships. In March 2019, Arizona hosted Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States Martha Bárcena for her first official trip to the state. This year, Arizona celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Arizona-Mexico Commission and remains committed to partnering with Mexico to increase safety, security and economic growth for mutual benefit.Support for Modernizing Trade Agreements. In February 2019, Governor Ducey called on Congress to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an agreement that updates and modernizes current U.S. trade agreements with Mexico and Canada.the Arizona Commerce Authority. “The selection of Tucson for Symboticware’s new regional headquarters operation highlights Southern Arizona’s attractiveness to innovative, growing companies.”Employment Growth to Increase In February, the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity released a report projecting Arizona will add more than 165,000 jobs over a two-year period. From the third quarter of 2018 through the second quarter of 2020, Arizona’s employment is expected to increase from 3,015,242 to 3,180,933, representing an annualized growth rate of 2.7 percent — an increase from last year’s projection of 2.6% and more evidence of Arizona’s continued acceleration over the last 12 months.Arizona is projected to see the highest job growth rates in construction (5.8%) and manufacturing (3.6%). The largest job gains are expected in the education and health services (37,126 jobs) and the professional and business services (26,177 jobs) sectors, although gains are projected across all 11 of Arizona’s top industries.In addition to the projected job growth, Arizona also saw positive gains in its median household income from 2016 to 2017, according to data from the United States Census Bureau. Arizona’s median household income rose 4.8% — more than double the national growth rate of 1.8%. According to the data, Arizona’s median household income reached $61,125, a record high.“Arizona’s economy is booming,” said Governor Ducey. “Not only is Arizona projected to add 165,000 jobs over the next two years, Arizona families are taking home more dollars and incomes are rising at one of the fastest rates in the country. This is positive news that affects our entire state — and we have Arizona’s hard-working entrepreneurs, business leaders and employees to thank. We will continue to focus on advancing Arizona’s business-friendly environment to bring even more jobs and opportunity to our state.” Why Ohio is Losing the Trade WarThe impact of President Trump’s trade tariff s is being debated in many corners, but a team of researchers at e Ohio State University has found evidence that Ohio is bearing the brunt of the backlash.First, the good news: “We found that the trade war has not had a great impact on the economy to date, with the - tax cut bill providing enough stimulus to overcome any harm from the tariff s and retaliatory tariff s,” concluded the study led by Professors Edward Hill and Fran Stewart of OSU in Columbus.by RON S TARNERr on. s t ar ner @ site s ele c tion.c omST A TE SPO TLIGHTOhio S I T E S E L E C T I O N MAY 2019 193Photo courtesy of GettyImages194 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NNow, the not-so-good news: “We note that Ohio is the state that is most aff ected by the retaliatory tariff s put in place by Canada,” the researchers said. “And a poll of Ohio manufacturers that was completed in January shows that more of Ohio’s manufacturers were harmed by the trade skirmish than benefi ted from it.” ese were just two of the principal fi ndings of “ e Economic Impact of the Trade Skirmish of on the Nation and Ohio,” conducted by the John Glenn College of Public Aff airs and the Ohio Manufacturing Institute.Noting limited impact today but mounting concern for the near future, the study found that the retaliatory tariff s in place at the end of had a negative impact on Ohio for several reasons. Among them:• Ohio had the largest exposure of any state to the retaliatory tariff s imposed by Canada.• China is the largest international destination for Ohio’s soybeans.• Ohio is the nation’s second-largest production location of motor vehicles and parts, before GM shuts down its Lordstown assembly plant.• Ohio’s iron and steel mills produce the third-highest value of output among the states.Ohio suff ered the most from the retaliatory tariff s put in place by Canada. Iron and steel are paying the largest share of these. To date, that is $1.1 billion.” — Prof. Ned Hill of The Ohio State University, Columbus, OhioOhio from the retaliatory (Continued on p. )Tariffs or no tariffs, the tri-state region represented by REDI Cincinnati tallied year-end 2018 results of 6,640 new jobs, $333.6 million in new payroll and $1.38 billion in new capital investment.Photo courtesy of REDI Cincinnati196 MAY 2019 SI T E S E L E C T IO NWhen General Motors announced the closure of its Moraine, Ohio, auto plant in 2008, with the attendant loss of some 2,400 jobs, the media declared it a death knell for Dayton, the nearby anchor city that was dealing already with a broad decline in manufacturing jobs. Then came the crowning blow, the 2009 departure of NCR, a Dayton institution, founded in the city in 1884. Formerly known as National Cash Register, or in Dayton-speak, “The Cash,” NCR shipped out to Atlanta, leaving 1,200 more people jobless.But a funny thing happened on the way to Dayton’s demise. The city became a perennial Top 10 finisher in Site Selection’s annual ranking of Tier Two Metros, which are metropolitan regions with populations between 200,000 and 1 million people. Dayton’s march through the rankings culminated with a No. 2 showing, announced in March, with 40 qualifying projects for 2018.“Last year was probably the best year we’ve had in close to 20 years,” says Jeff Hoagland, president and CEO of the publicly-funded Dayton Development Coalition (DDC). “The number-two ranking proved what we thought.”Dayton’s qualifying projects for 2018 included investments across a broad array of sectors, including defense (Northrop Grumman, Radiance Technologies), manufacturing (Conagra Foods, Cresco DAYTON IS MORE THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WASby Gary DaughtersMaterials researcher Dr. Shin Mou shows off a new Molecular Beam Epitaxy chamber at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB. U.S. Air Force Photo/Adrienne KreighbaumNext >