< Previousto house 122 guest rooms and eight condos with views overlooking the Ohio River. The first floor is expected to feature a coffee shop, restaurant and wine bar. What Ohio County Has to Offer Russell believes that these endeavors build upon what Ohio County is already known for: its quality of life. With a lower cost of living and a strategic location in close proximity to Pittsburgh, Pennsylva- nia, communities across Ohio County allow compa- nies and individuals alike to “enjoy the big city life while being far enough away to still have that small community atmosphere,” explains Russell. This benefit, paired with the county’s central location on the I-70 corridor and network of local universities and community colleges, has attracted an array of distribution, health care and manufacturing companies to the region. Due to this close-knit environment, various partnerships between economic development leaders, academia and industry have formed. The Ohio County Development Authority is currently working with local businesses to create internship opportunities for high school and higher education students. “We’re figuring out what is needed first. We are still in the first stages of that,” explained Ohio County Development Authority Growth & Retention Manager Stephanie Hockenberry. “We are working on a workforce collaborative effort that is looking to connect kids at all levels, seeing how we can network them into the community better in order to help retain them and really show them what’s available within the county and the region. We want them to know what’s here, what’s available. There’s a lot of good things.” One of the county’s latest partnerships strives to address the nationwide need for pilots. Marshall Uni- versity has partnered with West Liberty University to launch a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Commercial Pilot: Fixed Wing Program at the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport this coming fall semester. The Ohio County Commission and the Regional Economic Development (RED) Partnership worked closely with both universities to create this opportunity. “In addition to the aviation program at the airport, we’re hoping to bring in some additional employers, such as parts manufacturers, that are aviation-related,” says Russell. “We have plenty of sites that we could choose from if someone was interested in locating in Ohio County.” Over the last decade, West Virginia’s aerospace and aviation industries have experienced significant growth. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of aerospace manufacturing companies in West Virginia increased by 37.5%, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office. In the last year, multiple industry leaders, including Aurora Flight Sciences (a Boeing company) and Northrop Grumman Corporation, expanded their operations in the state. By bolstering a strong workforce pipeline for this industry, as well as others, and providing a place where people want to live, Ohio County strives to cement itself as a beneficial partner for expanding companies. West Liberty University is set to launch a new aviation program at the Wheeling- Ohio County Airport during the Fall 2024 semester. Photo courtesy of Wheeling-Ohio County Airport 134 JULY 2024 SITE SELECTIONby ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com ROCKY MOUNTAINS 136 JULY 2024 SITE SELECTION Places for Fresh Beginnings e sense of adventure conjured by the mere thought of the Rocky Mountains has real traction in the world of business. SITE SELECTION JULY 2024 137 I n geological time, the Rocky Mountains are youngsters. No wonder you can fi nd young companies scattered across their slopes. Among the missions of the Kansas City– based Ewing Marion Kauff man Foundation is the study of the entrepreneurial economy, including the Kauff man Indicators of Entrepreneurship database, which tracks job share, earnings, job creation and job constancy at fi rms less than one year old. Track the share of private-sector jobs held at such fi rms by state based on the organization’s report and up pop the Rocky Mountain states, falling in a nice, neat line among such entrepreneurial magnets as California, Florida and Texas. Here are the top by share of private-sector jobs at fi rms aged - year: Rocky Mountain states’ leadership extends to entrepreneurial job creation too, measured as the number of net new jobs created at startups per , people: In the compensation arena, the only Rocky Mountain state to make the top is No. Colorado, whose relative earnings at young fi rms are .% of average earnings at fi rms of all ages across the nation. Finally, in terms of share of jobs at young fi rms that last three or more quarters, Utah is the only Rocky Mountain state to make the top at .%. e Kauff man tool (found at indicators.kauff man. org) also allows sorting by metro area. e highest- ranked Rocky Mountain metro by compensation is the wealthy area of Jackson, Wyoming-Idaho, No. in the nation at .% of average earnings at all U.S. fi rms. Among the areas in Rocky Mountain states that are national leaders in job share contribution is Montrose, Colorado, at .%, good for No. in the nation. In terms of number of net new jobs at young fi rms per , people, a number of Rocky Mountain communities show up in the top : Breckenridge, Colorado, at No. (. jobs); Bozeman, Montana, at No. (. jobs; St. George, Utah, at No. (. jobs); and Glenwood Springs and Montrose, Colorado, tied at No. (. jobs). StateEntrepreneurial Job Share 1California4.34% 2Idaho4.30% 3Montana4.14% 4Utah4.07% 5Florida4% 6Wyoming3.94% 7Nevada3.77% 8Texas3.65% 9Colorado3.64% 10Oklahoma3.43% StateJob Creation Per 1K People 1Idaho6.94 2Utah6.6 3Montana6.54 4Florida5.68 5California5.48 6Wyoming4.96 7Texas4.93 8Colorado4.86 9Nevada4.76 10Georgia4.71 Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is located near Montrose, Colorado, No. 6 in the nation in terms of job share contribution from startup fi rms. Photo by John Webb: Getty Images Photo: Adobe Stock138 JULY 2024 SITE SELECTION by MARK AREND mark.arend@siteselection.com How Oklahoma Stocks Its Aviation Talent Pond OKLAHOMA O klahoma’s commitment to aerospace education is hard to beat, and it’s a big part of why aerospace is among the state’s most important industries. Nine higher education institutions in Oklahoma have aerospace degree and certifi cate programs, including Oklahoma State University’s doctorate in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) design, the fi rst such program in the U.S. But there’s more to Oklahoma’s aerospace education commitment than that. For the third consecutive year, the Sooner State was named the top state in the nation for the number of high schools teaching, or planning to in the upcoming school year, the You Can Fly curriculum designed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Foundation. On June , Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell spoke at the opening of the Oklahoma Aerospace Education Training Summit at Tulsa International Airport. “Oklahoma’s commitment to aerospace education is unmatched,” he noted. “Being number one in the nation for three consecutive years is a remarkable achievement and a refl ection of our state’s dedication to fostering the next generation of aerospace professionals. Aerospace is Oklahoma’s fastest growing industry, and our continued investment will ensure we have the talent necessary to fi ll incoming jobs.” Resources for MROs Oklahoma is home to more than , aerospace entities that combined employ more than , people. ey BY THE NUMBERS OKLAHOMA Higher Ed. R&D Expenditure in $000s: 652,339 Number of NCRCs: 160,132 | Percent Improved 2022–23: 3.1% Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2023–2024: +4 Industrial power cost per kWh: $6.96 Total Rev. as Share of Total Expenses, FY 2007-21: 104.7% 2021 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 1.41 Selected Top Projects by Capital Investment COMPANY CITY INVESTMENT $M Stardust Power Muskogee 1,000 American Airlines Group Tulsa 461 Polaris Technology Muskogee 100 Berry Global Group McAlester 18 DOT Holdings Co. Ardmore 14 Source: Conway Projects Database American Airlines is one of Oklahoma’s largest aviation-related companies, with more than 5,000 workers at its Tech Ops – Tulsa facility. Photo courtesy of American Airlines SITE SELECTION JULY 2024 139 work at some of the largest aerospace companies in the world, including Boeing, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney and Northrop Grumman, among many others. The state is home to the two largest maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities — the American Airlines Maintenance and Engineering Center in Tulsa (Tech Ops – Tulsa), where more than 5,500 Oklahomans work, and the Oklahoma Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, where more than 25,000 work. In December 2023, Oklahoma’s Business Expansion Incentive Program awarded American Airlines $22 million over the next three years to expand its MRO base, bringing the airline’s investment there to more than $400 million in recent years. This latest incentive will allow for the hiring of more than 300 at the maintenance base. Tech Ops – Tulsa has about 3.3 million sq. ft. of building space and six hangars accommodating 24 aircraft bays. A key education resource for Oklahoma’s aviation industry is Choose Aerospace, a non- profit partnership of companies, labor groups and educational institutions working on cultivating interest in aerospace careers to ensure a pipeline of talent. It aims to make aerospace technical programs more accessible. In 2020, it developed an aviation maintenance curriculum for use in secondary schools to enhance aviation education programs. A key supporter of Choose Aerospace is aviation services provider AAR Corp. The company participates in an effort with the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) to donate surplus aviation materials to ATEC schools. In April, AAR broke ground on a three-bay MRO facility in Oklahoma City near its existing operations at Will Rogers World Airport. “Finding a way to take aged inventory and repurpose these items for the education of future technicians is an initiative we’ve been working towards for a long time,” said Ryan Goertzen, AAR’s vice president of workforce development and Choose Aerospace’s president, in March, when the program reached the milestone of $2 million worth of supplied inventory. “AAR is proud to be one of the first to join this partnership, but we do not expect to be the last.” From AI to super commuters, I-85 has seen it all. T here is only one way to fully grasp the economic impact of Interstate through the southeastern U.S.: You have to drive it. Northeast Georgia resident Kim Flatford has been doing just that for the past years. e vice president of an insurance claims company based in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, she is one of the many American workers who fi t the description of a “super commuter” — someone who drives at least miles from home to work. According to a recent American Community Survey, an estimated . million Americans qualify as super commuters. Flatford stretches that label even further. Her commute requires miles behind the wheel each way. A resident of Flowery Branch in Hall County, a northern exurb of Atlanta, Flatford drives from her house to Charlotte once a week, spends a day working in the offi ce, and then drives home. She works remotely the rest of the week. by RON STARNER ron.starner@siteselection.com I-85 CORRIDOR 140 JULY 2024 SITE SELECTION The Highway That Changed The South I-85 interchange in Atlanta, GA. Image: Adobe Stock142 JULY 2024 SITE SELECTION S amir Abdullahi, Director of Economic Development, Select Fulton in Atlanta : “If you want to tap into the Southeast market, Atlanta is your starting point. It offers connectivity to all other nodes in the South: Charlotte, Nashville, Montgomery, Greenville-Spartanburg and the Research Triangle. That is why so many regional headquarters are coming here. FanDuel moved its headquarters from New York to Ponce City. Morgan Stanley signed a large office lease in Alpharetta. PrizePicks has committed to 1,000- plus jobs and is locating its headquarters here. Microsoft is looking at Atlanta for a second headquarters. Boston Scientific moved to Johns Creek. People and companies will continue to move to Atlanta and the 14 other cities in Fulton County.” Ken Moon, Executive Director, Cherokee County Development Board, South Carolina: “People know us as the site of the Big Peach in Gaffney. Many firms choose our market because we are 30 minutes to Spartanburg and 45 minutes to Charlotte or Greenville. Our target industry is advanced manufacturing. One of our biggest employers is Freightliner Custom Chassis. The impact of the Interstate is huge for our economy. Some 75,000 cars a day pass through here. Dollar Tree chose us for their premier distribution center in the country. Champion Foods just signed a $96 million deal last year to open a food production facility in Cherokee. With nine interchanges on I-85 and a lot of land at each, we are poised to capitalize on our location in the heart of the automotive corridor.” Jamie Gilbert, Economic Development Director, Oconee Economic Alliance, Oconee County, South Carolina : “We are midway between Charlotte and Atlanta. We are located literally at the top of the state of South Carolina. Tourism is big business here, but we also have one of the highest concentrations of manufacturing employment in the state. Manufacturing firms thrive here due to the workforce and access to I-85. With the Golden Corner Commerce Park and what we’re doing along Highway 11, this county has laid the foundation for it to be the next tremendous growth center in South Carolina.” Nick Masino, President and CEO, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Gwinnett County, Georgia : “I-85 is driving growth in investment here. I-85 is the lifeblood of commerce and business for Gwinnett County. We have over 600 international businesses in Gwinnett. I-85 is the main reason for that. You would take that highway to go to Washington, D.C., Richmond, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. I-85 is why we have 110 companies from Japan and 100 companies from Germany. We have over 150 million square feet of flex and industrial space. No other county in Georgia can say that.” WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING Panoramic overview of downtown Atlanta, Georgia from I-85. Image courtesy of Adobe StockShe’s been driving this -mile roundtrip weekly since . During that time, she has witnessed many dramatic changes to I- and the cities it connects. “At some point, they started doing construction projects all along the route,” she says. “ e commute got longer and longer. My commute time increased from three hours to three and a half hours, and then eventually to four to fi ve hours due to road closures. I saw empty roadside sites become full warehouses. Gaps along the highway became fi lled in with new development. Now, everything merges together.” Some call that progress. Others call it economic development. Either way, there is no overstating just how impactful I- has been on every county that touches this -mile-long freeway. Stretching from its southern terminus in Montgomery, Alabama, to its northern terminus in Petersburg, Virginia, just south of Richmond, I- is to the South what the Transcontinental Railroad was to the entire country years ago. Since , portions of I- have served motorists in the South. Today, it is the region’s undisputed king of commerce. According to data from the Conway Projects Database, virtually every county along I- regularly lands at least one economic development project each year. In large counties, that number is much higher. An analysis of these data reveals that the following counties attracted the most projects between January and March : Top 10 I-85 Counties in Projects CountyProjectsCountyProjects 1Fulton County, GA697Montgomery County, AL13 2Greenville County, SC288Durham County, NC12 3Mecklenburg County, NC279Henrico County, VA10 4Guilford County, NC2110Alamance County, NC8 5Gwinnett County, GA2010Anderson County, SC8 6Spartanburg County, SC1410Cleveland County, NC8Next >