< Previous8 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION insider January 2025 Mark Your Calendar … www.iamc.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS Fall 2024 - Fall 2025 Chair Cary Hutchings BNSF Railway Company Vice Chair Matt M. Boehlke Excel Energy Secretary-Treasurer Jim P. Horigan Corning Inc. Past Chair Betsy Power PepsiCo James Chavez South Carolina Power Team William DeBoer Kohler Co. Connie Fricke Land O’Lakes Lindsay Friedman Prologis Robert Kontur EnerSys Dave Quinn, CEcD Fairview Texas EDC Eric Zahniser Cresa Marcus Rose NFI Industries Jonathan Majors Mohawk Industries Kristin Cahayla-Hoffman Lehigh Valley EDC IAMC President & CEO J. Tate Godfrey, CEcD Expansion With a Purpose W hen we speak of growth at IAMC, it’s as likely we are talking about personal and professional development as we are about membership metrics. Intentional membership balance with economic development, service provider and corporate end user members creates an ecosystem that maximizes benefits for all of us. While that seems limiting, IAMC is uniquely positioned to provide high value to its members. It’s all about quality over quantity. We are a who’s who of industry leaders responsible for driving value to industrial portfolios and communities. Our 300+ corporate real estate members are industrial real estate management professionals representing nearly 200 leading global companies including 49 of the Fortune 500 and 14 of the Fortune 100. Our member companies are responsible for $66.5 billion in capital investment and over 176,000 jobs created in the last three years, according to our friends at Conway Data who publish Site Selection. Our service provider member companies include real estate developers, architects, engineers, contractors, consultants, real estate brokers, utilities, financial service providers, and technical equipment and service vendors and represent the leading suppliers of products and services sold to our corporate members. Our economic development members represent some of the most professional and most successful regional organizations in the world charged with cultivating a welcoming business environment and prosperous communities. The three membership categories are as central to IAMC success as the quality of the members in each of them. Each in their own way provide expertise and perspective that drive value to transactions while building relationships that go well beyond the transactional. Members may be part of other associations. But it’s their participation in IAMC that consistently delivers the highest value in professional development. Words to grow on. LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Cary Hutchings TO LEARN MORE, VISIT IAMC.ORG OR CALL IAMC STAFF AT 770.325.3430. 10 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION T ell us a little bit about you. Fricke: I am currently the Senior Real Estate Manager for Land O’Lakes. I was born in Moorhead, Minnesota, and raised in Bloomington, Minnesota. I received my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota. Tell us about your path to corporate real estate. Fricke: I started out in marketing/ advertising working for a company called RJ Brandons and moved to event planning for a complex called Riverplace in Minneapolis, Minnesota. From there I moved to facility and property management. I’ve managed all types of real estate (retail, office, residential, industrial). I’ve been on both the service providers side (working for Ryan Companies, Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE) and the corporate side at Land O’Lakes. What is the scope of your responsibilities at your organization? Fricke: I currently lead our Real Estate team. We are responsible for all acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, lease administration and facility management for all warehouses and economic incentives. We have roughly 207 leases and 136 owned locations. What is your favorite part of your role or the industry as a whole? Fricke: I enjoy that every day is different, and every project is a new challenge. I love working cross-functionally across all our business units and teams to find the best solutions for our business units. I work with an outstanding team that has a lot of talent. They do an excellent job of coming up with solutions for all of the crazy things that come up in real estate each day. Never a dull moment. What is one skill specific to your job that you can share with the rest of the membership? Fricke: Leading with influence and not authority. Ultimately in the end it is always the business unit’s decision. We help provide all the information and make recommendations, but ultimately the decision is theirs to make. Tell us about a corporate real estate or facilities management project in which you played a role of which you were particularly proud. Fricke: We had a difficult disposition: The building was on the market for two years. The area it was located in had really changed. We worked with the city’s economic development team, brokers and private developers. Ultimately it was decided that auctioning the building would bring the business the highest value. It turned out to be the best solution for the community and the business. What led you to join IAMC? Fricke: I was encouraged to join IAMC by my director when I accepted the position at Land O’Lakes. I really appreciate the networking and knowledge sharing of other corporate real estate professionals. I take something away from each Forum that I can use in making our real estate team stronger. Tell us about one thing you have on your bucket list. Fricke: Travel to Italy and Spain. What was your first job? Fricke: I was a waitress at Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Parlor. What would your superpower be? Fricke: Being able to predict the future. IAMC Member Spotlight: Connie Fricke, Senior Real Estate Manager, Land O’Lakes, Inc. The Purina Animal Nutrition Center campus in Missouri is part of the Land O’Lakes portfolio. Photo courtesy of Land O’Lakes12 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION IAMC International Audience in London Learns About FDI Trends, EMEA Logistics and Sustainability Factors A n IAMC International event at the Hilton London Kensington in November featured EMEA logistics insights from Kevin Molfi d, head of logistics research at Savills; a discussion of “the carbon cost of location” by Cushman & Wakefi eld’s Sally Bruer; and an exploration of site selection and current FDI trends by Nicholette Ross, managing consultant at Global Location Strategies. “ ere are several factors that we’ve seen contributing to location decisions regardless of industry,” Ross told me a few weeks after the event. “However, one of the biggest ones for our projects has been the energy landscape. In markets such as Europe and the U.S., energy is constrained from both a generation and infrastructure standpoint and many countries and communities are trying to fi gure out how to serve projects of all sizes. For some of our projects, electric feasibility has been one of the factors driving the search region.” She says supply chain risk mitigation is another factor, whether it’s due to increased potential for natural disasters, trade confl icts, geopolitical impacts or war. “Companies are incorporating these types of risks in their overall decision when comparing locations,” she said. Workforce and availability of properties continue to be main factors, she said. Sustainability is a prime focus too. “Access to renewable energy and what the generation portfolio of providers looks like is something that many companies are considering in their decisions,” Ross said. “We are seeing this particularly in the cases where our clients have a global footprint or in scenarios where a company’s portfolio for all locations combined is measured for sustainability.” Asked how top-of-mind topics among the attendees in London compare and contrast with what she hears from clients stateside, Ross said, “Issues noted by attendees included cost pressures due to infl ation, labor or rising rents, which would align with concerns of the corporate clients we have stateside. Additionally, companies are having to think through ESG regulations even in the cases of simply wanting the ability to lease out a building. is is a bit diff erent from the U.S. as ESG requirements are not federally regulated.” IAMC Local and IAMC International meetings continue to bolster the knowledge base and professional development of IAMC members in the months between the organization’s two Forums every spring and fall. Tentative events scheduled for include: • February : Fort Worth, Texas • February : Birmingham, United Kingdom • April : São Paulo, Brazil • April : Long Island, New York • May : Phoenix, Arizona • May : Monterrey, Mexico • July : Seattle, Washington • July : Atlanta, Georgia • August : Chicago, Illinois • August : Mexico City, Mexico • September : São Paulo, Brazil • September : Toledo, Ohio • November : London, United Kingdom For more information, visit iamc.org. — Adam Bruns Kensington, London, United Kingdom Photo by Alexei_Fedoren: Getty Images Nicholette Ross, Managing Consultant, Global Location Strategies14 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION R eleased in July by the Department of Foreign Investment Administration of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the “Statistical Bulletin of FDI in China ” analyzes FDI by industry and sector, by region and by source, including analysis of FDI performance and global FDI as well as appendices to show data changes over the years. Realized value of FDI into China fell by .%, the largest decrease in growth rate since a .% drop-off in and one of only three instances of negative movement since . However, the total dollar amount of more than $. billion still represented more than % of all global realized value of FDI, good enough to rank second in the world and No. among developing countries for the nd consecutive year. e share of business revenue (.%) and share of profi t (.%) by industrial foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) above a designated size were the lowest in years, but still relatively healthy at $. trillion and $. billion, respectively. Analysis from Bain & Company’s biennial operations survey of CEOs and COOs released in November shows a rise of more than % in the proportion of companies seeking to reduce dependence on China. “ e proportion of companies reporting moves to shift operations out of China,” Bain said in a release, “has risen to % in , from % in .” Where It’s Going, Where It’s From As for those still investing there, Guangdong, Shanghai and Zhejiang led by number of newly established FIEs, while Jiangsu, Shanghai and Guangdong (in that order) led by realized FDI value. e Yangtze River Economic Belt (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan) accounted for nearly % of all incoming FDI value at more than $ billion, followed by more than $ billion poured into the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (good for % by value). A chart tabulating new FIEs from “BRI partner countries” (i.e. the -plus countries touched by China’s Belt and Road Initiative) features a startling increase to , new FIEs in , nearly double the , new FIEs in . e FIEs from those countries in represented more than % of all new FIEs. A similar surge is evident in the category of new FIEs from “other BRICS countries,” i.e. South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. A total of , new FIEs came from those nations in , up from in and in . By realized FDI value, the UAE’s $. billion (from new FIEs) places the country th in , just behind the $. billion from the United States and its , new FIEs. Moreover, even as companies move some of their by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com Chinese Inward FDI Has Slowed But Still Flows ASIA Taihu Lake in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, the top Chinese province by realized value of FDI in 2023. November 2024 photo by Zhang Mengyang: Getty Images16 JANUARY 2025 SITE SELECTION previous Chinese operations to ASEAN countries — Brunei Darussalam, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — FIES from ASEAN are coming to China: 2023 saw 2,887 enterprises from ASEAN investing in China, the highest total ever and more than 1,000 more than the 1,833 tallied in 2022. (With $63 billion in overall global outward FDI in 2023, Singapore had the second-highest growth rate in that category at 20.6%, trailing only France’s 37.1%.) In 2023, MOFCOM says, Asian countries (regions) accounted for 76.8% of the newly established FIEs in China, and 81.3% of the total realized FDI (albeit while counting the massive amounts from Chinese territories Hong Kong and Macao as foreign investment due to those jurisdictions’ separate legal and economic status). By individual nation, the 546,335 cumulative FIEs from Hong Kong top the totals, followed by 137,771 FIEs from Taiwan (which MOFCOM calls a “province of China”). Here’s how the rest of the top 10 nations play out: Germany (12,704) and the United Kingdom (12,404) are next in line. FDI by sector in 2023 was led in terms of realized FDI value by manufacturing ($45.5 billion), scientific research and technology services ($29.4 billion) and leasing and business services ($26.4 billion). By number of new FIEs, wholesale and retailing tops the list with 18,010. VIETNAM GETS ATTENTION A s the rest of the world is seeing the value of Mexico and Vietnam as destinations, Chinese firms are too. According to an August 2024 report from the International Monetary Fund, “in 2022–23 the number of China’s outward FDI projects declined substantially for many European and Asian AEs, while total flows to non-aligned ‘connector’ countries — most notably Mexico, Vietnam — have more than doubled … Specifically, China’s announced FDI to Vietnam and Mexico in 2022–23 relative to 2018–19 was about 170 and 300%,” equivalent to 2% and 0.5% of these countries’ GDP respectively.” Vietnam is one of three Asian nations (along with India and Malaysia) getting votes for “most ripe for new investment” in the Site Selection Site Selectors Survey elsewhere in this issue. One of the industries booming there is plastics. A December release from the Plastics Industry Association notes that Vietnam has surpassed South Korea and Taiwan to become the fourth largest plastics import source in the U.S. plastic products market, with imports from the country totaling $2.3 billion in 2023. An East West Associates survey of 150 manufacturers with operations in China asked where they were looking to relocate (with multiple responses allowed). Asia was the top choice at 74%, followed by Mexico at 53% and the United States at 37%. In a webinar, East West Associates consultants noted that the existing supplier network, engineering support and product design in China are stronger than stretched capabilities in Mexico. “When you are sourcing for some sub-assembly, in China they’d go to suppliers who could figure it out for you,” said Jacob Miller. “In Mexico, you might have to help that supplier find sub-components and other suppliers. So it can become a bigger project than you’d expect in China, where you could just send drawings for sub-assembly.” “If you think for the long term you’re going to be wedded to a group of suppliers in China, going to Southeast Asia is better than moving to Mexico,” added his colleague Dan McLeod, owing to lower labor costs and the availability of significant and transparent incentives from countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. Moreover, Miller noted, things “might be easier to do in Southeast Asia because there are a lot of factories in Vietnam and Thailand that are not running at full capacity. In Mexico, they’re at full capacity already and convincing them to expand capacity or take on a new project can be difficult.” C ountry n umber of FIE s United States 79,127 South Korea 75,288 Japan 56,347 Singapore 31,317 Macao 28,634 British Virgin Islands 25,765 Canada 18,938 Australia 14,811 !Next >