JANUARY 2024 Volume 69 • Number 1 SITE SELECTION2 JANUARY 2024 SITE SELECTION THE MAGAZINE OF CORPORATE REAL ESTATE STRATEGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 69 NUMBER 1 January 2024 Cover design by Sean Scantland ▼ FEATURES 28 SITE SELECTORS SURVEY Places in the Sunbelt still have the best business climates, say the consultants we surveyed, who also opine on the worst and on their biggest concerns. 50 REGIONAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT RANKINGS Site Selection’s annual look at regional workforce development leaders. 64 EMERGING TECH HUBS An exclusive look at “24 for ’24” from BCI Global 47 ▼ COVER STORY 70 YEARS AND COUNTING Our look back is quick because we’re busy moving forward. “The future of magazines and periodicals is in publications like Site Selection,” says a historian. “As the Bible is to preachers, your magazine is to site selectors,” says a veteran in the fi eld. About the cover: Image from some of the Emerging Tech Hubs identifi ed by BCI Global on p. 64 of this issue fi ll the numerals denoting Site Selection’s 70 years in business. 90 AI IN SITE SELECTION Geoff rey Troan presents a case study on how to deploy artifi cial intelligence in corporate location decision-making. 92 STATE OF THE STATES 2024 Site Selection’s annual compendium of demographic data, economic statistics, legislative updates, governor insights and Rankings That Matter. 158 E-COMMERCE & LOGISTICS Texas and Chicagoland top our lists of top locations for logistics projects.▼ AREA SPOTLIGHTS 72 CONNECTICUT There’s more to the state’s economic profi le than its “Land of Steady Habits” nickname suggests. 145 ALABAMA Advanced manufacturing projects, especially in metals, continue to advance, as does the state’s workforce development prowess. 160 MIDWEST A company founder describes how he beat brain drain. 164 TENNESSEE Two companies mark big anniversaries with big investments. 166 DELAWARE The state earns Tech Hub status while attracting new projects from Evernorth Health Services and DuPont. 172 MICHIGAN Partnerships propel projects from Toyota and LG Energy Solution. SITE SELECTION JANUARY 2024 3 FOLLOW US! siteselection.com ▼ INVESTMENT PROFILES 22 SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 39 JOBSOHIO 54 PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS 70 HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 162 WILMER, TEXAS ▼ DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR’S VIEW: Staying Curious 6 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP 175 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 14IAMC INSIDER: A letter from the Chair on DEI; the outlook for 2024. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY INTELLIGENCE REPORT 77 ▼ INTERNATIONAL UPDATE 8 ASIA Opportunities for renewable energy development arise in India. 12 COLOMBIA BPO and services projects fi nd the skills and language profi ciency they need in Barranquilla and Cali. 20 WORLDREPORTS Nissan in the UK; Essar Group in Gujarat; NextDC’s Australian gateway; battery separators in Malaysia; Egyptian appliances; renewable aviation fuel in Sweden. 26 NORTH AMERICANREPORTS Chips in Greater Phoenix; electric aircraft in Upstate New York; high-speed rail in California; minimum wage increases; a mill upgrade in Shreveport; Timmons Group’s HQ in Virginia. 43 WESTERN EUROPE Eli Lilly’s giant bet on Germany fi ts into a broader European portfolio; BioCity comes to Lithuania. 56 WESTERN CANADA Megaprojects move along, including several with First Nations ties.4 JANUARY 2024 SITE SELECTION W hen I spoke about Site Selection and its annual Sustainability Rankings to an executive MBA class at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business in the fall, I began with a fact that is always an attention grabber. “Site Selection,” I told the evening gathering, “launched in 1954, the same year two other magazines were launched — Playboy and Sports Illustrated.” I’ll leave it to you to consider how those two gray eminences are faring today. As for how we’re faring after 70 years, we keep reaching milestones. In addition to this 70th anniversary issue, Conway Data’s Custom Content division, staffed by the same team that produces our flagship publication, in December produced our 100th custom content economic development magazine, which averages out to 10 guides per year over 10 years spread across more than 30 state and regional clients. I recently checked in with another graying but erudite eminence: Dennis Cuneo, the partner at Fisher & Phillips LLP and former senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America, who made an analogy with an even older publication. “As the Bible is to preachers, your magazine is to site selectors,” Cuneo told me. One of the ways that’s true is I can always find something new to learn when I turn to it. Our archives — literally sitting there on our shelves in hardbound volumes — never fail to yield something relevant from a random flip of the pages. Perusing historical archives in real space is one of the favorite pastimes of Ashton G. Ellett, Ph.D., a historian and archivist at the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Library. “I always tell students, ‘Go grab a magazine or a roll of microfilm, hold down the knob and just look around,” he says. Ellett specializes in oral histories. He and colleagues at UGA are working with Site Selection and Conway Data to curate and make available to the world our entire company archive. Site Selection is an oral history of sorts too: My conversation with Dennis Cuneo, for example, took place exactly 20 years after I first interviewed him. His observations and reflections will be shared in an upcoming online exclusive at siteselection.com. “A journal like yours isn’t viewed as politically motivated, so you have credibility and do your job objectively, running articles on pros and cons,” Cuneo says. “You’re trying to present facts and figures that site selectors and communities can use. You’re doing a great service to the site selection industry.” Spread the word: The passage of time has only served to polish and deepen the appeal of our work to global corporate location decision- makers and to an ever-broader audience curious about the role of place in global business strategy. As long as that globe keeps turning, we’ll continue serving up stories that keep that audience turning the page. EDITOR’S VIEW MEMBER Site Selection (ISSN: 1080-7799) (USPS ), January 2024, volume 69 number 1. Published six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November by Conway Data, Inc., 6625 The Corners Parkway, Suite 200, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 USA. Periodical postage paid at Peachtree Corners, Georgia, and additional mailing offices. Single issue: $20 plus shipping. Annual subscription: $95 in the United States; $135 to non U.S. addresses. PRINTED IN USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Site Selection, 6625 The Corners Parkway, Suite 200, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 USA. ©2024 CONWAY DATA, INC. Publisher/Director LAURA LYNE Executive Vice President RONALD J. STARNER Head of Publications & Editor in Chief ADAM BRUNS Editor Emeritus MARK AREND Senior Editor GARY DAUGHTERS Associate Editor ALEXIS ELMORE Assistant Custom Content Editor LINDSAY LOPP Art Director NEGIN MOMTAZ Production Coordinator/Designer BOB GRAVLEE Lead Designers SEAN SCANTLAND RICHARD NENOFF Designer ASHLEIGH PORTER Data Services Manager KAREN MEDERNACH Senior Research Associate BRIAN ESPINOZA Research Associate McKENZIE WRIGHT GLOBAL SALES & MARKETING Vice President of Sales CHARLES FITZGIBBON Regional Director — Northeast U.S. MIKE GLENNON Regional Director — Midwest U.S. CATHY McFARLAND Regional Director — Southeast U.S. MICHELE RABALAIS Regional Director — Western U.S. PAUL NEWMAN Director of Sales & Marketing for Custom Content U.S., Central & South America MARGARET ROSE Europe BRENDAN DOHERTY, +44 7999 786752 Japan HIROKO MINATO, +81 50 8882 3456 Korea CHUL LEE, +82 2 466 5595 Sales Development Representative MARTA RUSSELL Sales Administrator CHRISTI STANSBERRY BUSINESS DEPARTMENT Chief Financial Officer DEBBIE PORTER Accounting Associate DAVIS WILSON CIRCULATION Circulation Manager JULIE CLARKE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TEAM Director of Programming & Analytics DANIEL BOYER IT Coordinator MARK BERTRAM Webmaster TRAVIS WALKER The publishers believe that the information contained in this publication is accurate. However, the in formation is not war ranted, and neither Conway Data, Inc., nor the Industrial Asset Management Council, assumes any liability or responsibility for actual, consequential or incidental damages re sulting from inaccurate or erroneous information. Site Selection incorporates Industrial Development. PHONE: (770) 446-6996 FAX: (770) 263-8825 TOLL FREE: (800) 554-5686 EMAIL: editor@conway.com WEB: www.siteselection.com Staying Curious6 JANUARY 2024 SITE SELECTIONNext >