< Previous46 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N MISSISSAUGA City of Mississauga Econ Dev Ofc 300 City Centre Drive 3rd Flr. Mississauga, ON L5B 3C1 Stephanie Dunbar Mgr. Investment Attraction 905-896-5016 https://www.mississauga.ca MORRISBURG The Municipality of South Dundas https://www.southdundas.com NAPANEE County of Lennox & Addington Econ. Dev. https://naturallyla.ca NEWMARKET York Region Econ. Dev. 17250 Yonge Street Newmarket, ON L3Y 6Z1 Robert Unterman Manager, Investment & Attraction 877-464-9675 https://www.yorklink.ca NIAGARA FALLS City of Niagara Falls Bus. Dev. Dept. https://niagarafalls.ca NORTH BAY City of North Bay https://www.investinnorth- bay.ca OAKVILLE Halton Regional Econ. Dev. https://www.halton.ca OAKVILLE Invest Oakville https://invest.oakville.ca ONTARIO Norfolk County Econ. Dev. https://www.norfolkcounty.ca ORILLIA City of Orillia https://www.orillia.ca OSHAWA City of Oshawa Dept. of Econ. Dev. https://www.oshawa.ca OTTAWA Invest Ottawa https://www.investottawa.ca OWEN SOUND The Corporation of the City of Owen Sound https://www.owensound.ca PETERBOROUGH Peterborough Econ. Dev. Corp. https://investptbo.ca PICKERING City of Pickering https://www.pickering.ca PORT COLBORNE City of Port Colborne https://www.portcolborne.ca PORT ELGIN Town of Saugeen Shores https://www.saugeenshores.ca RENFREW Invest in Renfrew County https://www.renfrew.ca RICHMOND HILL Town of Richmond Hill https://www.richmondhill.ca SARNIA-LAMBTON Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership 1086 Modeland Road Building 1050, Suite 100 Sarnia-Lambton, ON N7S 6L2 Matthew Slotwinski, CEO 519-332-1820 https://www.sarnialambton. on.ca SAULT STE. MARIE Sault Ste. Marie CC https://www.ssmcoc.com SMITHS FALLS Town of Smiths Falls https://www.smithsfalls.ca ST. THOMAS St. Thomas Econ. Dev. Corp. https://www.st-thomas.org STRATFORD City of Stratford https://www.stratford.ca SUDBURY Greater Sudbury Dev. Corp. http://www.city.greatersud- bury.on.ca THOROLD Niagara Region Econ. Dev. http://www.niagararegion.ca THUNDER BAY Thunder Bay Community Econ. Dev. Comm. https://www.thunderbay.ca TILLSONBURG Town of Tillsonburg https://www.tillsonburg.ca TORONTO City of Toronto North York O ce https://www.toronto.ca Toronto Global https://torontoglobal.ca VAUGHAN City of Vaughan https://www.vaughan.ca WHITBY Invest Durham http://www.durham.ca Town of Whitby ED https://www.whitby.ca WINDSOR Invest Windsor Essex https://www.investwindsor- essex.com WOODSTOCK City of Woodstock https://www.cityofwood- stock.ca UTILITIES FORT ERIE FortisOntario Inc. https://www.fortisontario. com MARKHAM Hydro One https://www.hydroone.com TORONTO Ontario Power Generation https://www.opg.com Toronto Hydro https://www.torontohydro.com PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND Dennis King, Premier Government of Prince Edward Island Brad Colwill, CEO Innovation PEI 94 Euston Street Charlottetown, PE C1A 7L9 902-368-6300 https://innovationpei.com S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 47 CHARLOTTETOWN City of Charolettetown https://www.charlottetown.ca SUMMERSIDE City of Summerside https://www.summerside.ca UTILITIES CHARLOTTETOWN Maritime Electric https://www.maritimeelec- tric.com QUEBEC Francois Legault, Premier Government of Quebec Bicha Ngo, Pres./CEO Investissement Quebec 600, de La Gauchetière Ouest bureau 1500 Montréal, QC H3B 4L8 844-474-6367 https://www.investquebec. com/quebec BOUCHERVILLE DEL - Econ. Dev. of the Longueuil https://www.delagglo.ca BROMONT Bromont Econ. Dev. Society https://www.bromont.net CHICOUTIMI Promotion Saguenay https://saguenay.ca COWANSVILLE CLD de Brome - Missisquoi https://cldbm.qc.ca GATINEAU City of Gatineau https://www.gatineau.ca GRANBY Granby Industrial https://granby-industriel.com MRC de La Haute-Yamaska https://haute-yamaska.ca LAVAL Laval Economique https://lavaleconomique.com MONTREAL Montreal International https://www.montrealinter- national.com QUEBEC Quebec International 1035, avenue Wilfrid-Pelletier O ce 400 Quebec, QC G1W 0C5 Carl Viel, Chairman/CEO 418-681-9700 https://www.quebecinterna- tional.ca SAINT LAURENT Saint Laurent Econ. Dev. https://excellence-industrielle.ca Sainte-Anne-des-Monts- Tourelle CLD de La Haute-Gaspesie https://cldgaspesie.com SAINT-HYACINTHE Ville de Saint-Hyacinthe https://www.st-hyacinthe.ca SAINT-JÉRÔME Ville de Saint-Jérôme 300, rue Parent Saint-Jérôme, QC J7Z 7Z7 Marie-Ève Proulx Directrice Adjointe 450-436-1512 https://www.vsj.ca SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD Ville de Salaberry-de-Val- leyfi eld https://www.ville.valleyfi eld.qc.ca TROIS-RIVIERES Innovation & Econ. Dev. Trois-Rivieres https://www.idetr.com VARENNES Ville de Varennes https://www.ville.varennes.qc.ca UTILITIES MONTREAL Hydro Quebec https://www.hydroquebec.com SASKATCHEWAN Scott Moe, Premier Government of Saskatchewan Jeremy Harrison, Trade & Export Dev. Minister Saskatchewan Trade & Invest Invest Saskatchewan 1000, 2103 - 11th Avenue Regina, SK S4P 3Z8 306-230-5374 https://investsk.ca ESTEVAN Estevan Econ. Dev. https://estevaneconomicde- velopment.ca LLOYDMINSTER Lloydminster Econ. Dev. Corp. 4420-50 Avenue Lloydminster, SK T9V 0W2 Katlin Ducherer, ED O cier 780-871-8330 http://www.lloydminster.ca MOOSE JAW City of Moose Jaw https://moosejaw.ca NORTH BATTLEFORD City of North Battleford https://www.cityofnb.ca PRINCE ALBERT Prince Albert Regional Econ. Dev. Alliance https://www.citypa.ca REGINA Regina Econ. Dev. Auth. http://www.economicdevel- opmentregina.com SASKATOON Saskatchewan Econ. Dev. Alliance https://seda.ca Saskatoon Regional Econ. Dev. Auth. Inc. https://sreda.com UNITY Town of Unity District https://www.townofunity.com UTILITIES REGINA SaskPower https://www.saskpower.com YUKON Ranj Pillai, Premier Government of Yukon Mike Burton, Dir. Innovation, Industry and Bus. Development Box 2703 Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2C6 867-471-1515 https://yukon.ca WHITEHORSE City of Whitehorse https://www.whitehorse.ca UTILITIES WHITEHORSE Yukon Energy Corp. https://yukonenergy.caUPPER MID WES T 48 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N The next time you go out for sushi, you may want to thank a Japanese company that had the foresight to establish a food manufacturing plant in Wisconsin a half century ago. Kikkoman Foods Inc., the Noda, Japan-based company that has been selling soy sauce in the U.S. since it opened its fi rst overseas sales offi ce in San Francisco in , helped Americans Kikkoman Foods has announced two capital investment projects in Wisconsin, including a new greenfi eld plant in Je erson, whose arch bridge is a gateway into a historic downtown. Images courtesy of Kikkoman Foods Inc. and Thrive Economic Development Image courtesy of Thrive Economic Development in Je erson, Wisconsin Getting Saucy In The Great Lakes by RON STARNER ron.starner@siteselection.com e world’s top soy sauce producer makes an $800 million bet on Wisconsin.50 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N develop a taste for Japanese cuisine and condiments when it launched its fi rst production line in in Walworth, Wisconsin, on the southwestern tip of Geneva Lake near the Illinois state line. ough the company was formed in , its roots date to the s. Today, Kikkoman is doubling down on its investment in Wisconsin by expanding at two sites in the Badger State — one in Walworth and one in Jeff erson, located about halfway between Milwaukee and Madison. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced April that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) had approved a $. million performance-based tax credit to help Kikkoman expand. e company plans to invest $ million to expand its soy sauce brewery operation in Walworth and build a new plant in Jeff erson. e fi rm said it will add new high- wage jobs over the next years in Wisconsin. Kikkoman, which leads the world in soy sauce sales with revenues of $. billion in , has seen that fi rst Wisconsin plant that opened years ago in Walworth become the highest-producing soy sauce facility in the world. Coming less than three decades after the end of World War II, the plant was one of the very fi rst production facilities built in the U.S. by a Japanese company. at plant was so successful that Kikkoman opened a second U.S. production facility in in Folsom, California. As demand worldwide for Kikkoman Soy Sauce increased, the fi rm spent the last several years scouring the country to fi nd the right place for a third U.S. factory. e company, which Source: Kikkoman Corp. S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 51 has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, found that spot on a 100-acre site in Jefferson County. “Fifty years ago, Kikkoman made history by choosing Walworth, Wisconsin, for its first international brewing plant,” said WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes. “Now Kikkoman is opening a new chapter in that history by expanding its presence in Walworth and Jefferson.” Yuzaburo Mogi, honorary CEO and chairman of the board of Kikkoman Corp., said, “We have always valued Walworth for its great market access, outstanding workforce, central location for raw materials, pure water and the open-hearted spirit of partnership of the local community. We chose Jefferson for those same reasons, and we look forward to expanding our footprint in Wisconsin and establishing a supply chain with increased stability in North America, Kikkoman’s largest overseas market.” Wisconsin Wins Kikkoman with the Basics Deb Reinbold, president and executive director of Thrive Economic Development, the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium, says that “timing was important to Kikkoman. It came down to how quickly we could put all the infrastructure together to meet their needs. It was in the City of Jefferson, (Continued on page 54)Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg speaks at the Google data center announcement in Fort Wayne. Photo courtesy of IEDC 52 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N From AI-driven hyperscale data centers to record- breaking food and beverage processing investments, the Upper Midwest is hauling in economic development wins on a scale not seen before in U.S. history. Add to that mix semiconductor supply chain projects, record- setting logistics plants, and massive new facilities for electric vehicle and battery production, and you begin to see the picture: This is not your grandparents’ Rust Belt. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that things are di erent today across the region. In fact, you don’t have to be a scientist at all. Consider what’s happening right now in northeast Indiana, where Google is investing $2 billion to build the next generation of data centers and further cement the Midwest as a digital age leader. The world’s leading search engine loves the Midwest so much that it’s spending unprecedented sums to create the most advanced data centers on the planet not in London, New York or Tokyo, but in places like Council Blu s, Iowa; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Lancaster, Ohio. On April 26, Google broke ground on its $2 billion project to construct Project Zodiac — a 12-building data center campus on 700 acres — in Fort Wayne. “We are thrilled to announce our investment in Fort Wayne as the site for our newest data center,” Joe Kava, Google global data centers vice president, said. “Our decision to make a commitment of this magnitude is a true testament to the strategic and collaborative nature of many leaders across Indiana, Allen County and Fort Wayne.” How IEDC Tipped the Scales While northeast Indiana is not an area normally associated with data centers, AI hyperscalers are changing the construct of what a prime data center location looks like. Brock Herr, senior vice president of business development at the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said it took a year of conversations to convince Google that northeast Indiana was the perfect fi t for Project Zodiac. “It took intensive, collaborative work in Fort Wayne and Allen County,” says Herr. “We expedited the process and showed them we have reliable, scalable power. Site entitlements and speed to market are critical for a fi rm like Google. The market and customer demand require them to go faster. FROM RUST BELT TO GOLD MINE: HOW THE MIDWEST BECAME A HIGH-TECH HAVEN S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 53 It was a collaborative sprint to facilitate land acquisition and state incentives. This large and exciting project unfolded quickly.” Ben Townsend, head of infrastructure and sustainability at Google, tells Site Selection that “Indiana presented a great opportunity for us to grow. Our newest data center campus will be in Fort Wayne. The determining site selection factors came down to resources, infrastructure, and the ecosystem partners including IEDC.” Townsend says, “It takes a lot of pieces from infrastructure, energy and workforce to make a transformative project become reality. It was serendipitous how it all came together in Indiana. I am an Indiana born and raised engineer. This project will inspire other Indiana kids to pursue a similar career.” He adds that “on a global scale, Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana had the special attributes we needed.” Around the Midwest, Google is investing heavily into expansive data center campuses in Indiana; Columbus, Lancaster and New Albany, Ohio; and Council Blu s, Iowa, where Google just announced an additional billion- dollar investment. Townsend says that Google likes the Midwest because “it has great availability of wind and solar resources. We encourage other regions of the country to think about our carbon-free ambitions. Our sustainability research partnership with Purdue University to use Google AI to explore decarbonization of industrial buildings is a key part of our collaboration in Indiana. We will keep investing in our partnership with Purdue.” AWS, Meta & Microsoft Join the Party Herr says Project Zodiac was a competitive deal, “but we are not able to confi rm who we were competing against. We learned Google projects are very competitive across multiple states, but we’ve also learned that speed to market serves Indiana well.” Google is not alone in Indiana, either. Amazon Web Services announced an $11 billion data center investment in St. Joseph County on April 25, while Meta broke ground on an $800 million data center project in Je ersonville earlier this year. “This has been a record- setting year for data center projects in Indiana,” says Herr. “We are now into the phase where Indiana is scaling itself as a hyperscale data center location. For example, Microsoft just announced a data center project in La Porte for a hyperscale facility. In each case, accessibility and reliability of power and water utilities were driving factors in why we won these deals.” Another crucial component, Herr adds, is the state’s data center sales tax exemption. “Without that incentive, it would make it fi nancially prohibitive to do these projects.” Purdue University and Google announced a partnership that seeks to develop innovative solutions for eco- friendly industrial buildings. In the photo on the right are (l. to r.) Joe Sinfi eld, civil engineering professor and director of Purdue’s Institute for Innovation Science; Travis Horton, civil engineering professor; Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability; Alyssa Wilcox, Purdue senior vice president of partnerships and chief of sta . Images courtesy of Purdue University54 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N (Continued from page 51) and all utilities ran to the site. They have 40 megawatts of power available here at a lower rate because it is a local utility. WPPI is the local electric company, which means they can trade between utilities. And we are able to meet all of their wastewater needs.” Kikkoman broke ground on the $560 million, 240,000-sq.-ft. facility in Jefferson in June and plans to begin shipping soy sauce from that location in fall 2026. WEDC added a new Enterprise Zone designation for the Kikkoman plant, bringing to 20 the number of such zones around the state. In an exclusive interview with Site Selection, Osamu Mogi, representative director and senior executive corporate officer for the International Operations Division of Kikkoman Corp., spoke with me by Zoom from his office in metropolitan Tokyo. He said that the three most important site selection factors for Kikkoman are logistics, environment and workforce. “Soy sauce is a heavy and expensive product, so we look for logistics advantages when we are locating a plant,” he says. “We need a safe and clean environment. We don’t want to have to worry about contamination. As a food manufacturing company, we require good natural surroundings. We do not want to be in a heavy industrial Adding F-Series Super Duty pickup assembly in Canada means Ford Motor Co. is also growing at U.S. component plants that support Super Duty production, including $24 million in Sharonville, Ohio; $1 million and 20 jobs in Rawsonville, Michigan; and 50 new jobs at its Sterling Axle Plant in Michigan. Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Co. S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 55 park. The Jefferson site is dedicated to food research and manufacturing. We feel very safe there. The site meets all criteria. It is large and flat with water and gas, and it is close to Interstate 94.” Quality workers and a helpful government sealed the deal, he notes. “We need a quality workforce, and Wisconsin is known for its high- quality workers,” says Mogi. “The local government was very helpful.” Mogi says the incentives were helpful too but not the main reason for the site choice. “We are fortunate to have incentives from the state and local communities, but they were not the deciding factors. We might have chosen this site anyway. Incentives help to start up a new facility, but logistics is the most important factor.” Mogi adds that the new plant needed to be “close enough to achieve good alignment with our existing Wisconsin plant. We hired a site selection agent who contacted states to make a long list of locations. We had 64 possible locations on our list and half were in Wisconsin. We appreciate our relationship with Wisconsin for over 51 years, so we worked with the state to find the land that met our requirements. I would like to thank Missy Hughes and all the other officials at WEDC. We know we can count on the workforce of Wisconsin.” Mogi says his firm is not done growing in the U.S. “The U.S. market is 25 times larger than Japan,” he notes. “That is why, from the beginning, logistics was the most important factor. There were discussions about building our new plant on the West Coast, but instead, management chose Wisconsin because it is right in the center of the U.S. If we were to choose just one location, we would choose Wisconsin. We are enjoying a 5% increase in demand in Next >