MAY 2025 Volume 70 • Number 3 SITE SELECTION2 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION t FEATURES 30 TRIBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The Puyallup Tribe adds commercial port activity in Tacoma to an increasingly diverse economic development roster. 31 HEALTH TECH & LIFE SCIENCES CENTERS The Innovation Quarter brings new life to Winston-Salem. And a new health care door opens in Upstate South Carolina. 40 NORTH AMERICAN AUTOMOTIVE A visit to BMW’s South Carolina plant and some choice words defending that site’s economic development impact headline Alexis Elmore’s report on a sector befuddled by tariffs but moving forward with projects nevertheless. 55 INDUSTRIAL HEMP Idaho’s innovative Hempitecture isn’t just blowing smoke. 63 WATER RESOURCES Water expert James Eklund on why corporate water asset management in the American West has gonve from an afterthought to an imperative. 96 OIL & GAS A new report profiles aspects of the top five U.S. states for energy talent. THE MAGAZINE OF CORPORATE REAL ESTATE STRATEGY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 70 NUMBER 3 May 2025 t INTERNATIONAL UPDATE 12 NORTH AMERICAN REPORTS Fiserv in metro Kansas City; Fermaca Dreams in Durango, Mexico; GE Aerospace in North Carolina; a $4 billion ammonia JV in Louisiana; a $23 billion U.S. investment plan from Novartis; the Top 10 most innovative states (No. 1 is not a state). 14 ASIA Why the time is now for global manufacturers to invest in India’s mobility sector. 19 UNITED KINGDOM A flurry of investments announced at a recent summit is led by a number of major data centers. 22 WORLD REPORTS The dozen happiest countries; a data center JV in London; AstraZeneca R&D in Beijing; Hitachi Energy in Finland; Maruti Suzuki in Gujarat, India; Kingspan Group in Ukraine. 24 LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN Exclusive insights from a Pepsico Global Real Estate leader. 87 QUEBEC Telesat’s new campus in Gatineau, part of the nation’s capital region, will have a national impact. 88 COSTA RICA Three investment projects encapsulate this nation’s life sciences leadership. t COVER STORY 56 GLOBAL BEST TO INVEST Our index reveals Singapore at the top metro, the United Kingdom as top country and Ireland as top country per capita. 66 MAC CONWAY AWARDS A blend of Site Selection’s proprietary project data and two respected indices has produced this elite group of regional economic development organizations. 83 PROSPERITY CUP You can add or subtract all the metrics and data sets you want. Any way you slice it, Texas keeps coming out on top. 90 TOP DEALS Judged by capital investment and job creation, these were the Top 20 economic development projects in North America and Top 20 abroad in 2024. ABOUT THE COVER: Downtown Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay was voted the No. 8 top attraction in the world by Tripadvisor in 2024. The site’s diverse collection of over 1.5 million plants from every continent but Antarctica makes it an apt botanical metaphor for the vibrant and diverse city-state. Cover design by Richard Nenoff; photo: Getty Images SITE SELECTION MAY 2025 3 ▼ INVESTMENT PROFILES 38 GREATER PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 108 WASHINGTON, DC 18 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE GUIDE Scan the QR code on this page to access a complete online resource guide with links to the economic development organizations you need to know. ▼ DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR’S VIEW: ‘Elbows Up’ 159 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS ▼ SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION 156 SHOVEL-READY SITES New Mexico is one of many states getting more aggressive in product development. GEORGIA INTELLIGENCE REPORT 71 ▼ AREA SPOTLIGHTS 28 I-75 CORRIDOR Ohio leads the way in projects along this 1,786-mile route, but South Florida would like a word. 94 GULF COAST PORTS No More Texas Chicken: How Port Houston’s Project 11 will reduce congestion and enable growth. 98 FLORIDA Policies, migration and infrastructure create the perfect storm for manufacturing growth. Just ask executives at CAE and Oculus. 110 ARIZONA Tech innovation is thriving across the East Valley. Plus a peek inside Axon’s ultimately successful fi ght to build a new world headquarters campus in Scottsdale. 130 OHIO If you’re looking for lessons on how Ohio rebuilt its factory base, Dayton is a good place to start. Convincing younger workers to relocate has played a big role. 139 GREAT LAKES Incisive analysis from the senior source water policy manager at the Alliance for the Great Lakes asks if data center proliferation is worth the cost. 142 KENTUCKY From the moment you wake up until the sun begins to set, chances are you’re encountering products made in the Commonwealth. 148 IOWA Projects in Greater Des Moines and Cedar Rapids show why the state is becoming data center central. 150 NEW ENGLAND If you heard Hydro-Quebec is no longer exporting power to New England, listen up: Here are the facts about the region’s present and future power scenario. 152 COLORADO Workforce and a way of life propel momentum in Grand Junction. Plus a certain famous fi lm festival fi nds a new home in Boulder. 154 UTAH How the state has claimed fi rst place for the 18th straight year in the ALEC- Laff er State Economic Competitiveness Index. Senior Editor Gary Daughters and Executive VP Ron Starner tackle what’s next in the state’s economic development future; tort reform; and what it feels like to travel the friendly skies with a college fi ght instructor to a booming fl ight training program in middle Georgia. siteselection.com 6 IAMC INSIDER: A Letter from the Chair; award winners; a Q&A with AI expert Zack Kass. FOLLOW US!E xactly years ago, the Prime Minister of Canada and the Governor of Michigan announced that a new bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, would be named the Gordie Howe International Bridge after the Canadian hockey legend who led the Detroit Red Wings to four Stanley Cup victories. Last September, in the same issue that features Canada’s Best Locations, this publication’s Global Groundwork Index saluted progress on that bridge with an iconic photograph showing Canadian and U.S. operating engineers and ironworkers shaking hands as their work on the majestic span met in the middle. Today Gordie Howe’s name is being invoked alongside a phrase associated with his on-ice toughness — “Elbows Up” — to express the sentiments of a nation angry at its belittling and disrespectful treatment by the current U.S. presidential administration. For those like me who have cultivated decades of relationships with Canadian business leaders, diplomats, economic developers, entrepreneurs and government offi cials, the feeling in the pits of our stomachs is not about tariff s or countermeasures. It’s not even about the sophomoric suggestion that our sovereign upstairs neighbor become “the st state.” No, this is much more basic: It’s about how you treat people. I think of the Canadians I’ve been fortunate to meet: a talk aboard a train with the CEO of VIA Rail who asked me to wait until he fi rst listened to his on-board customers; a conversation with Canada’s Governor General David Johnston, whose motto contemplare meliora means “to envisage a better world” and refers to his belief in “the abilities of all Canadians to imagine and create a smarter, more caring nation and contribute to a fairer, more just world.” In I attended a conversation sponsored by the Canadian-American Business Council (CABC) at the Carter Center in Atlanta featuring President Jimmy Carter and former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark. e fi rst topic was the Iran hostage crisis in , when Canada off ered shelter in its embassy basement to U.S. offi cials and then mounted a daring rescue eff ort. “What we did was help a friend,” Clark said. “ ere was no cost-benefi t analysis. We decided immediately there standing in the center of Parliament that we would bring them out.” Looking directly at President Carter, Clark said, “When your country is in trouble or my country is in trouble, we come instinctively to the aid of the other.” In this fraught era, as CABC CEO Beth Burke put it earlier this spring in one of her weekly missives, “Let’s hope for sun to follow the storm.” I envision the sunlight breaking through clouds to shine down on a long line of Canadian and U.S. citizens standing shoulder to shoulder across the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Suddenly and instinctively, they put their elbows up … and link them. Site Selection (ISSN: 1080-7799) (USPS ), May 2025, volume 70 number 3. 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. STARNER Head of Publications & Editor in Chief ADAM BRUNS Editor Emeritus MARK AREND Senior Editor GARY DAUGHTERS Associate Editor ALEXIS ELMORE Assistant Custom Content Editor LINDSAY LOPP Art Director NEGIN MOMTAZ Production Coordinator/Designer BOB GRAVLEE Lead Designers SEAN SCANTLAND RICHARD NENOFF Designer ASHLEIGH PORTER Data Services Manager KAREN MEDERNACH Senior Research Associate BRIAN ESPINOZA Research Associate McKENZIE WRIGHT GLOBAL SALES & MARKETING Vice President of Sales CHARLES FITZGIBBON Regional Director — Northeast U.S. MIKE GLENNON Regional Director — Midwest U.S. CATHY McFARLAND Regional Director — Southeast U.S. MARTA RUSSELL Regional Director — Western U.S. PAUL NEWMAN Director of Sales & Marketing for Custom Content U.S., Central & South America MARGARET ROSE EuropeBRENDAN DOHERTY, +44 7999 786752 Japan HIROKO MINATO, +81 50 8882 3456 Korea CHUL LEE, +82 2 466 5595 Sales Administrator CHRISTI STANSBERRY Sales Development Representative BRE ROGERS BUSINESS DEPARTMENT Chief Financial Officer DEBBIE PORTER Accounting Associate DAVIS WILSON CIRCULATION Circulation Manager JULIE CLARKE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TEAM Director of Programming & Analytics DANIEL BOYER IT CoordinatorMARK BERTRAM Webmaster DANIEL MONAGHAN The publishers believe that the information contained in this publication is accurate. 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 ‘Elbows Up’ 4 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION6 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION insider MAY 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 Xcel Energy Secretary-Treasurer Jim P. Horigan Corning Inc. Past Chair Karen Shchuka Penske Transportation Solutions JamesChavez South Carolina Power Team Erik Nieukirk Caterpillar Connie Fricke Land O’Lakes Lindsay Friedman Prologis Robert Kontur Dave Quinn, CEcD Fairview Texas EDC Eric Zahniser Cresa Marcus Rose NFI Industries Jonathan Majors Graphic Packaging International Kristin Cahayla-Hoff man Lehigh Valley EDC IAMC President & CEO J. Tate Godfrey, CEcD Content Matters at IAMC I n today’s rapidly changing marketplace, we must all stay ahead of trends and anticipate future needs to remain competitive. IAMC provides our members with valuable content in a variety of formats, all while fostering an inclusive atmosphere for Corporates, Service Providers and Economic Developers. is approach not only equips our companies and communities with the tools they need to succeed but also creates a support system to leverage each other’s strengths. is high-quality, relevant content addresses both current challenges and opportunities in industrial real estate. is was never timelier than coming off the recent Spring Forum in Sacramento. We had Keynote speakers Mark Devine, Zack Kass and Cally Beaton plus workshops, breakouts and facilitator- led discussions on our core content topics such as C-Suite; Construction Management; Facilities Management; Lease Administration; Outsourcing Models and Strategies; Site Selection; Surplus Property Disposition; Technology Applications; and Transactions Management. I love our immediate past Chair Karen Shchuka’s analogy comparing IAMC to Disney World. Our Forums are Magic Kingdom, but our locals, international programs and webinars are Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. In between each Forum, we have these smaller, more intimate and content- heavy programs to provide year-round development opportunities to our broader membership. All these off erings include networking opportunities to facilitate connections among members to share experiences and collaborate on solutions. IAMC is committed to empowering our members through our content, helping anticipate their needs, to stay ahead in a competitive landscape and be a vital resource for professionals in industrial real estate. We want you to join us at our Forums, but to enjoy the full experience of IAMC, be sure to participate in all our off erings. I’ll see you soon at a local meeting, an international event, on the web or in the fall in Indy. And be sure to say hello! — Cary Hutchings LETTER FROM THE CHAIR FALL FORUM • OCTOBER 18–22, 2025 Indianapolis, Indiana TO LEARN MORE, VISIT IAMC.ORG OR CALL IAMC STAFF AT 770.325.3461. Next >