JANUARY 2025 Volume 70 • Number 1 January 2025 siteselection.com SITE SELECTION2 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION THE MAGAZINE OF CORPORATE REAL ESTATE STRATEGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 70, NUMBER 1 January 2025 ▼ FEATURES 28 VALUE-ADDED AGRICULTURE Beans as snacks? Gary Daughters takes the pulse of one innovative company in Manitoba. 33 SITE SELECTORS SURVEY Places in the South reign supreme once again, as does the priority of power provision. 40 E-COMMERCE & LOGISTICS By exclusive arrangement, we share insights from the Cresa Logistics Index, plus a Q&A with Cresa Head of Research Craig Van Pelt. 50 FINTECH Two signs of Malaysia’s fi ntech and fi nancial services ambitions include an entire new zone on an island being developed by a Chinese concern. 51 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT RANKINGS Find out how states are performing across a set of measures that gauge workforce-related aspects of a state’s overall employment climate. 63 ENERGY TRANSITION China’s global leadership in clean-tech and renewable energy is undeniable. An expert from the China offi ce of Tractus explores why it may be worth fi nding paths toward collaboration, even amidst geopolitical turmoil. 66 MEGA SITES Mark Arend shares compelling insights on megasite development and strategy from his conversations with site selection experts at JLL and Wadley, Donovan, Gutshaw Consulting. 74 EMERGING TECH HUBS Knitting together hard infrastructure and talent data sets from TeleGeography, CBRE, CompTIA and our own data, we present the inaugural North American Tech Hub Index. 80 SEMICONDUCTORS A new report from an industry association and an interview with two global corporate services veterans at Newmark tell you all you need to know about how to approach the semiconductor opportunity at hand. 92 FILM & ENTERTAINMENT As the Eras Tour ends, Alexis Elmore talks to those in the front row for the economic impact of Swiftonomics. 94 AI IN SITE SELECTION Could AI help you pick your next major facility location or expansion? Here’s what two site consultants at Biggins, Lacy, Shapiro and Company think, and how one AI professional responds. ▼ COVER STORY 109 2025 STATE OF THE STATES Site Selection’s annual compendium of legislative and policy updates, statistics, demographic and cost insights and project news. Cover design by Ashleigh Porter & Richard Nenoff SITE SELECTION JANUARY 2025 3 siteselection.com 8 IAMC INSIDER: A Letter from the Chair; a member profi le; and insights from overseas. FOLLOW US! ▼ AREA SPOTLIGHTS 31 I-70 CORRIDOR Snapshots of the past and future on a stretch of road the author grew up traveling. 159 MICHIGAN How Michigan engineered a lightning-fast turnaround in its talent pool. 186 ALABAMA Larry Lewis and Kim Caudle Lewis are a power couple with purpose in northern Alabama 191 MIDWEST Ron Starner talks to top executives at a sustainable aviation fuel maker and an AI cloud hyperscaler about why they’re betting big on small Midwest towns. 196 TENNESSEE Multiple projects show why Oak Ridge National Lab is a catalyst behind resurging interest in nuclear power. 199 BOSTON-WASHINGTON CORRIDOR Technology means more here. Just ask the folks behind chip and quantum projects up and down the corridor. 200 DELAWARE The $635 million Port Delaware Container Terminal is set to boost capabilities at the Port of Wilmington. 202 CONNECTICUT How one state keeps its innovation companies on track. 206 OREGON This state has put its chips on the table in support of the semiconductor industry. ▼ INVESTMENT PROFILES 20 SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 46 AICEP-PORTUGAL 54 VIRGINIA 72 PFLUGERVILLE, TEXAS 90 JOBSOHIO 184 CONSUMERS ENERGY ▼ DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR’S VIEW: Thoughts on Transitions 6 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP 207 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY INTELLIGENCE REPORT DETROIT REGION TALENT & INVESTMENT GUIDE 97 167 ▼ INTERNATIONAL UPDATE 14 ASIA Insights on Chinese inward FDI from MOFCOM’s most recent report. 18 NORTH AMERICANREPORTS Amgen in North Carolina; Amazon in Fort Myers; a plastics pioneer in Fort Worth; Eli Lilly in Wisconsin; an automotive company in Michigan; a printing facility turns into a data center in Kansas City. 24 COLOMBIA How two major companies are helping Colombia go green. 26 WORLDREPORTS Orano Med in France; Resonance’s top 10 global cities; Taihan Cable & Solution in Dangjin City, South Korea; a $7.8 billion chip fab in Singapore; the world’s most expensive retail streets; OX Delivers brings e-mobility to East Africa. 44 WESTERN EUROPE A leader in EMEA Forecasting at Cushman & Wakefi eld sees optimism and opportunity in Europe’s offi ce sector. 56 WESTERN CANADA A senior manager at Siemens in Saskatoon is among those who see a horizon full of promise on Canada’s western tech frontier. 62 AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND A biomanufacturing pioneer selects Queensland for its fi rst industrial facility.Y ears ago, I was invited to a major Canadian city to present our competitiveness award for province-level success. Little did I know that a newly appointed minister was on the agenda, and he would speak first. His remarks featured criticism of the previous administration’s unfriendliness to business and his own pledge of red tape removal. Then it was my turn to take the dais to salute accomplishments during the outgoing administration’s tenure. Awkward. “So soar-y,” I might have said in my best Canadian-speak. But I wasn’t. Ultimately, I said, corporate growth had indeed occurred, whether inspired by the previous office-holder’s policies or despite them. It was up to the next leaders to build on the past as they saw fit. As I wandered through post-election purgatory to close out 2024, pummeled by the outgoing administration’s 5:02 a.m. funding announcements for hundreds of billions of dollars in projects, company leaders were likely huddling in strategy sessions, mulling the odds of various policy changes, whether it involves a 25% tariff, corporate tax cuts and renewal of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, reshoring operations or de-shoring 11 million people. For them the watchwords are risk avoidance, continuity and opportunity, no matter what year it is. For perspective, I reached out to former U.S. Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA), a professor in the University of Georgia’s political science department and an expert in fiscally responsible government. She recalled one of her favorite lectures that pointed out how American foreign policy moves in different directions at different levels. “You have our national government moving one direction,” she wrote, “but NGOs and a vast array of other organizations may be moving in parallel or even contradictory directions (presumably including our state and local governments).” She said the new administration may move “in ways that may be very contrary to traditional American positioning on free trade, expanding markets and economic development more generally.” For example, how is our home state of Georgia’s free trade and open- market-oriented economy going to dovetail with high tariffs and America First foreign and trade policy? “Will states benefit from foreign companies trying to establish a legal presence here to avoid tariffs or will they be hurt because foreign investment will be effectively taxed?” she asked. “How will states be influenced by the retaliatory tariffs that will almost certainly follow? Can they take actions to buffer this effect that perhaps counter or soften the impact of national policy?” As a rudder for unknown seas ahead, we offer this packed issue, including the State of the States report, with state-level policies, demographics, projects and statistics relevant to economic development from the past year. As for the year ahead, the questions keep multiplying. We don’t know the answers any more than you do. But we’ll be here to keep track of who’s investing where, and the reasons why. Site Selection (ISSN: 1080-7799) (USPS ), January 2025, volume 70 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. ©2025 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 EDITOR’S VIEW Thoughts on Transitions 4 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION6 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTIONNext >