July 2024 siteselection.com62 AMERICA’S BEST COUNTIES Jurisdictions in the Phoenix and Houston areas top our annual look at leading U.S. counties by corporate project impact, while a Louisiana parish and a Nebraska county top the per-capita rankings. ▼ COVER STORY VOLUME 69, NUMBER 4 July 2024 THE MAGAZINE OF CORPORATE REAL ESTATE STRATEGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ▼ FEATURES 32 AEROSPACE New U.S. investments include a wave of projects from GE Aerospace. 39 DATA CENTERS An exclusive contribution on hyperscalers, huge power demand and small nuclear. 42 FOOD & BEVERAGE Where’s the beef? Not in these facilities. 44 WORKFORCE Valuable insights into life sciences talent hubs of today and tomorrow. 50 ADVANCED MANUFACTURING Many ask what quantum computing is exactly. We look into where. 56 SMART CITIES Two recent smart city indices overlap in some places but not in others. 58 RURAL ADVANTAGE Americans are taking advantage of relocation incentives to start new lives. 68 RESEARCH & SCIENCE PARKS The network of national laboratories continues to churn out industry-relevant work. 80 STARTUP & INNOVATION HUBS Mash up three separate ecosystem rankings and you get a composite picture with the Bay Area still at the top. 101 OFFSHORE WIND A unique and expensive type of ship helps new projects keep up with the Jones Act. 102 SUSTAINABLILTY RANKINGS Canada, Texas and Austin top the 15th edition of our unique index. ▼ AREA SPOTLIGHTS 110 LOUISIANA The state’s new economic development director is here to “blow it up.” 120 MISSOURI A new project in the St. Louis area brings showbiz to the Show Me State. 124 NEW JERSEY Strategic Innovation Centers give entrepreneurs a boost. 128 NEW ENGLAND Two Tech Hub designations recognize innovation arising where America began. 133 WEST VIRGINIA Downtown Wheeling gets a facelift, and aviation gets a lift from educational partners. 136 ROCKY MOUNTAINS REGION Think of the Rockies and you think of adventure. No wonder the region is a springboard for entrepreneurs. 138 OKLAHOMA How a state stocks its aviation talent pond. 140 I-85 CORRIDOR There is only one way to fully grasp the economic impact of Interstate 85 through the southeastern U.S., writes Ron Starner. You have to drive it. 146 WISCONSIN Where one door closes on a reduced megaproject, another opens for Microsoft. Fulton County Fulton County ILLINOIS Cook County Cook County OHIO OHIOFranklin County Franklin County Cover design by Ashleigh Portersiteselection.com ▼ INVESTMENT PROFILES 30 PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS 48 MARYLAND 78 GREATER ORLANDO AVIATION AUTHORITY 122 MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY ▼ DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR’S VIEW: 151 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 6 IAMC INSIDER: INTELLIGENCE REPORT 89 FOLLOW US! Dallas CountyDallas County TEXAS TEXAS Maricopa County U IAN U IAN . James Parish . James Parish TexasEDConnection4 JULY 2024 SITE SELECTION I n Beloit, Wisconsin, there is a bridge over the Rock River. It connects the Ken Hendricks Memorial Statue to “The Spine,” a centralized area on the Iron Works Campus that’s home to a family of innovative companies across 32 buildings. The Ironworks Campus was an investment through Hendricks Commercial Properties. Ken Hendricks was a high-school dropout from nearby Janesville who helped build the largest U.S. wholesaler of roofing supplies, ABC Supply, a still-growing company with 20,000 employees whose sales exceeded $10 billion in 2022. After being named Inc.’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006, he died in a December 2007 accident. In 2009, his family agreed to rename in his honor the Wisconsin Technology Council’s annual “Seize the Day” award, presented every year at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Conference. When I saw the news about the award, I remembered reporting right around the time of his death on Ken Hendricks’ efforts to rejuvenate Beloit and Keokuk, Iowa, with job-creating investment. It got me thinking about how history can rise from past accomplishments, historical plaques and old buildings and breathe life into redevelopment. The stories are legion and are told frequently in our pages. One of them, told by Site Selection Senior Editor Gary Daughters about the unique redevelopment of Fort Ritchie in Maryland, recently won an award for enterprise reporting. Another is unfolding in Detroit, where Ford’s six-year restoration of Michigan Central Station was celebrated with an early June extravaganza befitting the rebirth of one of the nation’s original innovation capitals. Today Ken Hendricks’ wife and company co-founder Diane leads Hendricks Holding Co., a private investment firm. “We honor our entrepreneurial roots by supporting companies that embrace the American dream, believe in hard work, and give back to their communities,” the company proclaims, hewing to the core values of “Respect, Opportunity, ‘Work Hard, Have Fun,’ Entrepreneurial Spirit, Family, Give Back and American Pride.” Which got me thinking again about companies doing more with their investments than just refurbishing derelict properties. Many are rebuilding lives through direct, tangible work addressing challenges such as the growing issue of attainable housing for their workforce and communities. ABC Supply supports Homes For Our Troops, which over 20 years has built nearly 380 specially adapted homes for severely injured post-9/11 military veterans. The company this year donated a $1 million match to a campaign in partnership with AJ Foyt Racing that smashed through its $4 million goal to raise $5.2 million by the time it culminated in an annual celebration with the injured military veterans it serves at the Indy 500 over Memorial Day weekend. Hard work and good works build bridges from the past to the future through projects taking place in towns, cities and rural counties around the world. We’ve been telling their stories for decades. It’s our honor to keep telling them, so company leaders looking out over aging downtowns, factory relics and tenuous Main Streets see opportunities to grow their enterprises and their people, transforming remembrance into renaissance. MEMBER Site Selection (ISSN: 1080-7799) (USPS ), July 2024, volume 69 number 4. 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. 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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 MEMORIALS TO TOMORROW EDITOR’S VIEWNext >