< Previous76 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N driven in large part by the nation’s semiconductor and data center surge. (For more, see the Greater Phoenix Intelligence Report in this issue.) That same surge is driving much of Ohio’s economy too, most obviously in the activity surrounding Intel’s 1,000-acre fab site in Licking County near Columbus. ‘Takin’ My Time, Just Movin’ Along’ In fact, routes were custom designed to deliver prefabricated machinery weighing over 900,000 pounds and as long as an Ohio State football field from the Ohio River in Adams County to the Intel site. “We worked very closely with the Ohio Department of Transportation [ODOT] and Governor DeWine’s office to look at different possible routes, and ultimately decided that using the Ohio River made the most sense,” says Kevin Hoggatt, Intel’s director of state government affairs for Ohio, in a JobsOhio video about the equipment’s journey posted in late August. In the next frame, Matt Bruning, ODOT’s press secretary, says, “Ohio is a state that makes and moves things, and certainly this is evidence of that.” Key to getting to the “Silicon Heartland” of Ohio is AORTA: the Adams Ohio River Transit Access. It’s where one of the companies building the air separator unit offloaded the equipment after a journey up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers from New Orleans. Then it’s a carefully managed 150-mile trip from Manchester, Ohio, through West Portsmouth, Lucasville, Chillicothe, Rickenbacker, Pickerington and Pataskala before reaching the site near New Albany. “ODOT’s role has been to analyze the route and make sure the infrastructure can handle a load this big,” says Bruning. “It’s been a lot of 20 2 4 Global Gr oundwork Index TOP S TATES RANK STATE 1 Ohio T2 Indiana T2 Arizona 4 Louisiana 5 Illinois 6 Texas T7 Georgia T7 Kentucky 9 North Carolina 10 Michigan Methodology: Cumulative and per-capita calculations based on Conway Projects Database projects, project-affiliated job creation and project-affiliated capital expenditure, Jan. 2020 through July 1, 2024. Cumulative and per-capita calculations based on project and funding data from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Maps Dashboard. Retrieved from https://d2d.gsa.gov/report/bipartisan- infrastructure-law-bil-maps-dashboard) 20 2 4 Global Gr oundwork Index TOP METRO S RANK METRO 1 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 2 Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN 3 Columbus, Ohio 4 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 5 Reno, NV 6 Blytheville, AR 7 Baton Rouge, LA 8 Syracuse, NY 10 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 10 Savannah, GA Methodology: Cumulative and per-capita calculations based on Conway Projects Database projects, project-affiliated job creation and project-affiliated capital expenditure, Jan. 2020 through July 1, 2024. Cumulative and per-capita calculations based on project and funding data from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Maps Dashboard. Retrieved from https://d2d.gsa.gov/report/bipartisan- infrastructure-law-bil-maps-dashboard)78 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N coordination with a lot of our local partners, making sure we can get through intersections and under lights and under bridges. It shows off the talents not only these haulers have, but the engineers and different folks at ODOT have to make sure this route can work.” Intel and ODOT worked out the route over a full year, including putting some horizontal-armed traffic signals on swivels so they could pivot out of the way while still mounted on their poles as the Intel load crawled through. Some might assume the government would have to pay for that. They would be wrong. “To have that piece of equipment and the generosity of Intel to buy it not just for their loads but for any future loads that might come through here for another company just shows the teamwork that goes into this,” Bruning says. “This port provides an opportunity for not just us but for employers across Ohio, anyone with large items, to get them throughout the state,” says Hoggatt. “It’s access that is free and open,” adds Jack McCoy, owner of AORTA. “So if someone in our area wants to use this port, they’re hooked in globally.” Indeed, the route already has been used by a plastics recycler in Hebron, and other companies are evaluating its potential for their own growth. Central Casting Metro Indianapolis, Louisville and Columbus top this year’s metro areas, with Indy repeating last year’s No. 1 Eli Lilly and Company’s $9 billion project located in Indiana’s LEAP Research and Innovation District is creating 900 new direct jobs and 5,000 construction jobs. Rendering courtesy of Eli Lilly and Company S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 79 ranking, Louisville sliding into second place where Columbus resided last year and Columbus a quite robust No. 3, replacing Dallas-Fort Worth, which drops out of the Top 10 even as Texas ranks a solid No. 6 in the state rankings. The tri-state region of metro Cincinnati is No. 4. Those familiar with the highways of the Midwest know the Louisville- Cincy-Columbus corridor well, connected by I-71. From that busy corridor it’s just a hop, skip and jump to Indianapolis along I-74, or take the straight route from Louisville to Indy on I-65. A look at the artist’s rendering for Eli Lilly and Company’s recently doubled investment in Lebanon, The Ada Infrastructure Docklands Data Center, projected to be one of London’s largest data center campuses at 201 MW, will serve as both corporate investment and infrastructure — both digital connections and pathways along the Thames. Rendering courtesy of Ada Infrastructure80 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N Heathrow Airport in the UK welcomed an all-time record of 18.5 million passengers between January and March, upgraded its traffic projections for 2024 to a new record of 82.4 million passengers and then saw 8 million passengers travel through in July alone. Photo courtesy of Heathrow Airports Limited S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 81 Indiana, on the northwestern outskirts of the Indianapolis metro area along I-65, shows how important roads are to the project, which has now ballooned to a $9 billion commitment to expand capacity to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for Zepbound® (tirzepatide) injection and Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) injection products for adults with chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes. To support Lilly’s expansion project, the state will partner on infrastructure solutions — road improvements, water, electric and other utilities — as well as workforce development commitments and certain economic incentives tied to the company’s achievement of investment and employment goals. The state’s workforce development support includes the contribution of land, pending approval, for the construction of a learning and training center that will be part of the larger LEAP industrial development. World View The United Kingdom tops our country rankings, followed by Australia, Ireland, Mexico and Germany. This summer, a new project arrived on the banks of the Thames in London that embodies corporate end-user investment and digital infrastructure all at once. Ada Infrastructure, the data center platform of GLP Capital Partners, was awarded a resolution to grant planning in 82 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N June from the Newham Strategic Development Committee to deliver one of London’s largest data center campuses, the 210-MW Docklands data center campus. “In addition to collaborating with local partners to provide job training and employment opportunities,” said Jennifer Weitzel, president of Ada Infrastructure, “the project’s future- ready design, including energy-efficient systems, net positive landscaping, and strict physical and cybersecurity Ironworkers and operating engineers from Canadian and U.S. unions shook hands at the middle of the $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge (opposite) in June as the last portion of the deck was completed to connect the span whose construction began in December 2022. The bridge is expected to open to vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic in fall 2025. Photo courtesy of Gordie Howe International Bridge S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 83 protocols, will set new standards for safe and sustainable development in the age of AI.” Those plans include good old physical infrastructure too. The development features three 70-MW data center buildings and a community multi-purpose facility available to the community for job training programs “to enhance local opportunities and foster careers across the digital infrastructure and technology sectors,” Ada said, noting that public space improvements will include improved pathways for pedestrians and cyclists along the Thames River. 84 SEPTEMBER 2024 S I T E S EL E C T I O N by MARK AREND mark.arend@siteselection.com North America has plenty of rare earth minerals, including neodymium and praseodymium, which are critical to electric vehicle (EV) mobility. Australia- based American Rare Earths Inc. said in early , for example, that it found . billion metric tons in southeastern Wyoming, % more than it thought was there in . Huge deposits of critical minerals are being mined at Mountain Pass, California, and Tamarack, Minnesota, among other locations. But relatively little processing of minerals critical to powering EVs, appliances, solar panels, defense systems and many other products is done in the U.S. Most of that happens in China. at’s starting to change. Both the public and private sectors are working to build out the rare earth minerals supply chain domestically. In October , the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) designated Tech Hubs to serve as centers of innovation and economic development around key technologies that can boost U.S. competitiveness. Two are dedicated to strengthening the domestic critical minerals supply chain. e Nevada Lithium Batteries and Other EV Materials Loop is led by the The Critical Minerals Supply Chain Is Coming Home RARE EAR TH OPERA TIONS Production of permanent magnets for EVs will commence in 2025 at MP Materials’ new facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo courtesy of MP Materials S I T E S E L E C T I O N SEPTEMBER 2024 85 University of Nevada, Reno. Its aim, according to the EDA, is “to build a self-sustaining and globally competitive full lithium lifecycle cluster, spanning extraction, processing, manufacturing and recycling. The Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub, led by the University of Missouri System, “aims to position south-central Missouri as a global leader in critical minerals processing to provide the materials needed to support battery technology,” just as the region, known for its lead and other mines, did for generations with legacy battery technology. Uncle Sam Puts Some Skin in the Game In February 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program awarded MP Materials Corp. a $35 million contract to support construction of a commercial scale processing facility for heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) at its Rare Earth Mine in Mountain Pass, California. HREEs are necessary for, among other things, permanent magnets used in EVs, wind turbines and defense systems. “The ability to mine, process, and refine rare earths at Mountain Pass is foundational to a national effort to secure the U.S. rare earth supply chain,” said MP Materials Chairman and CEO James Litinsky in a statement. Rare earths mined at Mountain Pass also will supply MP Materials’ new magnet manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Construction began in April 2022 on the project, which is a key part of the company’s $700 million investment to keep the rare earth magnetics supply chain in the U.S. The facility will supply alloy and magnets for General Motors’ EV programs. In April, the company received a $58.5 million Section 48C Advanced Energy Project tax credit allocation award issued by the IRS and Treasury to facilitate construction of the facility. “The new MP Materials magnetics facility in Fort Worth, Texas, will play a key role in GM’s journey to build a secure, scalable, and sustainable EV supply chain,” said GM Global Purchasing & Supply Chain Executive Director Anirvan Coomer in a release. “As the foundational automotive customer of the Fort Worth facility, GM will use the products from this plant in the GMC HUMMER EV, Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Silverado EV and more than a dozen models based on GM’s Ultium platform. We also look forward to collaborating with MP Materials from a public policy perspective to seek policies that are supportive of the establishment of an efficient U.S.-based rare earth and magnet supply chain.” GAINING ON CHINA? U.S. rare earths mine production increased to 43,000 tons in 2023. China’s quota was 240,000 tons — more than two-thirds of the estimated 350,000 tons produced globally in 2023. “In North America, measured and indicated resources of rare earths were estimated to include 3.6 million tons in the United States and more than 14 million tons in Canada,” said a January 2024 report from the U.S. Geological Survey.Next >