< Previous86 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION What are the main pillars of the plan? CRUZ: The economic development strategic plan accomplishes a number of objectives, all developed with the broader economic development ecosystem in mind. The plan establishes a unifying vision for the future; identifies new target industry sectors that are expected to drive economic growth and job creation; outlines objectives to advance our state’s global competitiveness; and provides data and recommendations to inform economic development decisions across the state. We are going to continue to build the strongest economy in the nation around four pillars: Business and Industry; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Workforce; and Infrastructure. Texas keeps growing at a substantial pace each year. What will Texas look like 10 years from now? Do you have any specific growth projections you can share for the population, economy and jobs? CRUZ: Our state’s visionary leadership has provided an environment where business and individuals can succeed, which has led to significant economic growth and success across our great state. Looking back at the past two decades, Texas dominated the nation in population growth. In 10 years, we can expect to continue this population growth and will likely reach 40 million in population by 2035. In addition, Texas has had an impressive 10-year GDP growth rate of 38.7%, growing faster than the nation as a whole. I think we can expect to see more record-breaking economic expansion in the years ahead, especially given the diversity of our economy and the strong population trends providing a skilled, diverse and growing talent pool. I think it’s safe to say that the Future is Texas! And working with all of our economic development partners across the state, we’ll continue to build a bigger, better and stronger Texas for generations to come. PACIFIC 2024 2023 1 4 Oregon 2 1 California 3 2 Washington 4 3 Alaska 5 5 Hawaii WEST NORTH CENTRAL 2024 2023 1 1 Kansas 2 2 Missouri 3 3 South Dakota 4 6 Nebraska 5 5 Minnesota 6 4 Iowa 7 7 North Dakota NORTHEAST 2024 2023 1 2 Pennsylvania 2 1 New York 3 4 Connecticut 4 3 Massachusetts 5 5 New Hampshire 6 7 New Jersey 7 6 Maine 8 9 Rhode Island 9 8 Vermont MOUNTAIN 2024 2023 1 1 Arizona 2 6 Nevada 3 3 Colorado 4 2 Utah 5 7 New Mexico 6 4 Wyoming 7 5 Idaho 8 8 Montana Source: Conway Projects Database SITE SELECTION MAY 2025 87 E ven as bankrupt Swedish battery company Northvolt’s $7 billion, 3,000-job gigaplant in the Monteregie region near Montreal is in giga-limbo because of the parent company’s bankruptcy filing in March, a project with ambitions beyond the planet itself continues to move forward near the nation’s capital. In early March, on nearly the same date that U.S. tariffs went into effect, officials from the Government of Canada and the Gatineau region (part of the bi-province area of Ottawa-Gatineau) announced support for a new C$25 million, 300-job corporate campus for Telesat in Gatineau. The facility “is part of the larger $6.5 billion Telesat Lightspeed initiative, which is being supported by a $2.14 billion federal loan and a $400 million provincial loan from Quebec to build and operate Telesat Lightspeed — a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.” LEO satellites operate 27 times closer to the Earth than traditional telecommunications satellites. Telesat says around 1.3 million Canadian households “fall into the digital divide” while 2.9 billion people around the world don’t have access to affordable, reliable high- speed internet service. Lightspeed also will serve the lucrative commercial airline market. The government support was committed in September with the first funding coming to the company in January. It comes at an opportune time for Telesat as revenues have dropped from other LEO business. On the company’s earnings call 20 days after the announcement of the new campus, Telesat President and CEO Dan Goldberg called the agreements with the provincial and national governments “certainly the biggest development for Telesat last year.” In addition to strategic partnerships with Space Norway, Orange and ADN Telecom, a contract was signed in April with Viasat, which will integrate Lightspeed into its services portfolio for aviation, maritime, enterprise and defense markets. The new campus in Gatineau will host Telesat’s network operations center, satellite control center and cybersecurity operation center, as well as an engineering development facility to support the deployment and operations of the LEO satellite constellation. “The opening of this new campus will act as a catalyst for new job creation — well- paying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs — in Quebec,” said the government release. “Telesat has also committed to invest over $4.4 billion in the Canadian economy over the next 15 years, create 200 post-secondary co-op jobs and provide $1.6 million in scholarships to students in Canada, with a focus on women in STEM programs.” As of late April the company was showing 55 job openings in Gatineau. Telesat has contracted with SpaceX for launch services. Lightspeed satellites will orbit at around 1,300 kilometers (807 miles) above Earth, two to three times the altitude of most LEO satellite constellations, thereby avoiding orbit congestion. The first of an initial 198 LEO satellites in the Lightspeed program is scheduled to launch in 2026. by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com A New Corporate Campus Supports Multibillion- Dollar Satellite Network QUEBEC Telesat has contracted with MDA Space to build its satellites at a new high-volume facility under construction in the Montreal area. Photo courtesy of MDA Space COMPANY CITY INVESTMENT (MILLION USD) Veolia ES Canada Saint-Laurent 169 Vantage Data Centers Quebec City 103 Bit Digital Montreal 45 Smurfit Kappa Group Warwick 40 Monarch Specialties Laval 37 RECENT QUEBEC PROJECTS source: Conway Projects Database88 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION G lobal corporations continue to focus on Costa Rica for investments in such sectors as semiconductor testing and assembly, medical devices and shared services. Here are a few highlights from the past year: Freudenberg Medical is investing $ million in a second manufacturing site near its fi rst plant in the Coyol Free Zone. It will be dedicated to the assembly of high-volume minimally invasive catheters for electrophysiology, vascular and structural heart therapies and other medical devices that require high-precision manual assembly. “We are proud to be one of the fi rst global CDMO partners in Costa Rica, having established our fi rst production facility here more than years ago,” said Dr. Mark Ostwald, CEO of Freudenberg Medical. “ is expansion strengthens our strategy of being close to our customers and off ering them effi cient solutions along the entire device lifecycle including cost-eff ective manufacturing capabilities on a large scale. “ e investment in this new site underlines Freudenberg Medical’s confi dence in Costa Rica as an integral part of our global growth strategy,” said Róger Gómez, VP and GM of Freudenberg Medical in Costa Rica. “In the next three years we will triple the number of employees from the current to over team members.” Also in Coyol, medical device company eragenics in January held the grand opening of its new $ million facility that is expected to create over new jobs. It’s the country’s fi rst manufacturing facility dedicated to the production of specialized medical needles, guidewires and related components. “We are thrilled to offi cially open this cutting-edge facility,” said Mark Pugh, CEO of eragenics Corporation. “ e dedication and hard work of our team have brought us to this point ahead of schedule ... Costa Rica’s skilled workforce and thriving medical device ecosystem made it the ideal location for our new manufacturing facility. We are proud to contribute to the country’s continued growth as a global leader in medical device manufacturing.” Swedish engineered polymer solutions company Trelleborg announced in February it would invest the equivalent of $ million in a medical technology production facility in Grecia, close to the port and Juan Santamaria International Airport and a half-hour drive from the main cities in western Costa Rica. e facility is Trelleborg’s fi rst in Central America and will serve a number of international customers in the region. “Costa Rica has evolved into a medical technology hub in Central America and the facility therefore represents an important step in both increasing our capacity and broadening our geographical footprint in healthcare and medical,” said Peter Nilsson, president and CEO of Trelleborg. e facility, expected to be completed this year, is located in the -acre Evolution Free Zone, a new zone developed by CODE Development Group that made its debut last year by welcoming six companies whose collective investment totaled $ million, including Johnson & Johnson, AVNA and Inari Medical. “We are convinced that this park will be an anchor for the growth of the region, diff erentiated by its focus on innovation, technology and sustainable development,” said Costa Rica Minister of Foreign Trade Manuel Tovar. by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com Three in Costa Rica COSTA RICA Costa Rica’s skilled workforce and thriving medical device ecosystem made it the ideal location for our new manufacturing facility.” — Mark Pugh, CEO of Theragenics Corporation Costa Rica’s skilled workforce Map: Getty Images90 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION by GARY DAUGHTERS editor@siteselection.com TOP DEALS 2024 TOP DEALS — NORTH AMERICA 1. Substrate Inc. | Bryan, Texas $10 BILLION · 1,800 JOBS 2. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. | Phoenix, Arizona $25 BILLION · 1,500 JOBS T3. Starplus Energy LLC | Howard County, Indiana $3.2 BILLION · 1,400 JOBS T3. Cummins Inc. / Daimler Truck AG / Paccar Inc. / Eve Energy Co., Ltd. | Byhalia, Mississippi $1.9 BILLION · 2,000 JOBS 5. Microporous, LLC | Danville, Virginia $1.3 BILLION · 2,015 JOBS 6. DG Fuels, LLC | Saint James, Louisiana $3.1 BILLION · 1,055 JOBS 7. Novo Nordisk A/S | Clayton, North Carolina $4.1 BILLION · 1,000 JOBS 8. GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc. | Malta, New York $1.2 BILLION · 1,500 JOBS 9. Element Fuels Holdings, LLC | Brownsville, Texas $3 BILLION · 1,000 JOBS 10. T5 Data Centers, LLC | Grayslake, Illinois $10 BILLION · 800 JOBS 11. Aluminum Dynamics, LLC | Columbus, Mississippi $2.1 BILLION · 1,000 JOBS 12. EdgeCloudLink, Inc. (ECL) | Houston, Texas $8 BILLION · 750 JOBS 13. SK Hynix Inc. | West Lafayette, Indiana $3.8 BILLION · 800 JOBS 14. Chantier Davie Canada Inc. | Levis, Quebec, Canada $840 MILLION · 1,800 JOBS 15. Hyperion Technologies | Maricopa County, Arizona $966 MILLION · 1,500 JOBS 16. Natron Energy, Inc. | Kingsboro, North Carolina $1.4 BILLION · 1,000 JOBS 17. Eli Lilly And Co. | Bristol, Wisconsin $3 BILLION · 750 JOBS 18. DG Fuels, LLC | Moorhead, Minnesota $5 BILLION · 650 JOBS 19. DG Fuels, LLC | Phelps County, Nebraska $4.2 BILLION · 640 JOBS 20. Corning Inc. / Solar Technology LLC | Richland Township, Michigan $900 MILLION · 1,100 JOBS Image by Richard Nenoff T he explosive growth of AI- driven applications and their concomitant need for vast computational power have become the primary drivers behind surging data center development across the United States. In 2024, the largest data center investments in the U.S. were characterized by multi- billion-dollar capital expenditures from major technology firms, colocation providers and private equity firms, all reflecting the sector’s astonishing growth. With total U.S. data center investment expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2030, don’t look for a slowdown anytime soon.92 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION 2024 TOP DEALS — INTERNATIONAL 1. Arcelormittal / Nippon Steel Corp. | Nakkapalli, Andhra Pradesh, India $7.4 BILLION · 20,000 JOBS 2. Acme Greentech Urja Private Ltd. | Khurda, Odisha, India $4.3 BILLION · 6,272 JOBS 3. Kalyani Steels Ltd. | Dhenkanal, Odisha, India $3 BILLION · 12,000 JOBS 4. Action Ispat And Power Private Ltd. | Jharsuguda, Odisha, India $2.5 BILLION · 10,000 JOBS 5. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Ltd. | Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India $2.5 BILLION · 8,000 JOBS 6. The Blackstone Group Inc. | Blyth, England, United Kingdom $10 BILLION · 2,800 JOBS 7. Global Solar Wafer | Danghara, Viloyati Khatlon, Tajikistan $2 BILLION · 8,000 JOBS 8. JSW Mi Steel Service Center Private Ltd. | Cuttack, Odisha, India $3. BILLION · 4,000 JOBS 9. JSW Mi Steel Service Center Private Ltd. | Paradip Garh, Odisha, India $1.8 BILLION · 7,000 JOBS 10. European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. | Dresden, Saxony, Germany $11 BILLION · 2,000 JOBS 11. Sbh Kibing Solar New Materials (M) Sdn. Bhd. | Papar, Sabah, Malaysia $1.6 BILLION · 5,000 JOBS 12. Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd. | Penang, Perak, Malaysia $1.3 BILLION · 3,000 JOBS 13. Silicon Box Pte. Ltd. | Italy $3.6 BILLION · 1,600 JOBS 14. Visionpower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Pte Ltd. | Tampines, Singapore $7.8 BILLION · 1,500 JOBS 15. Western Digital Corp. | Bang Pa-in, Changwat Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Thailand $693 MILLION · 10,000 JOBS 16. Minth Holdings Ltd. | Inđija, Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina, Serbia $924 MILLION · 2,200 JOBS 17. Amufert, S.A. / Opaia, S.A. / Sonangol Comercializacao Internacional, LDA | Soyo, Zaire, Angola $2 BILLION · 1,200 JOBS 18. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | Itirapina, São Paulo, Brazil $807 MILLION · 1,700 JOBS 19. Tarq Semiconductors Private Ltd. | Uttar Pradesh, India $3.4 BILLION · 1,000 JOBS 20. Amazon | Northampton, England, United Kingdom $608 MILLION · 2,000 JOBS SITE SELECTION MAY 2025 93 ECL’s planned $8 billion data center in Houston, Texas, is a groundbreaking project known as TerraSite-TX1, designed to be the world’s first fully sustainable, hydrogen-powered, off-grid AI data center with a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW). Photo courtesy of ECL Data center projects announced by companies including Meta, Amazon Web Services, Atlanta-based T5 and Silicon Valley’s ECL figure largely in Site Selection’s Top Deals of the year, determined by a points system determined by corporate facility investment and affiliated job creation as tracked by the magazine’s Conway Projects Database. The Top 20 Deals of 2024 in North America and Top 20 Deals from elsewhere around the globe are presented here in ranked order by total points earned. Project locations are identified by specific community and by metro region where applicable. Port Houston’s Project 11 will reduce congestion, enable growth. I t’s called Texas Chicken. It’s a maritime maneuver unique to the manmade Houston Ship Channel, the country’s busiest waterway, which runs miles from the narrow “Turning Basin” some four miles east of downtown Houston to the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston Bay. e channel’s average width of just over feet, with numerous sections far narrower than that, serves to challenge the skills of even the most experienced pilots when oncoming traffi c nears. “When there’s an incoming vessel and an outgoing vessel, they’re coming in pretty close proximity,” says John Moseley, Port Houston’s chief commercial offi cer. “It’s a matter of a few hundred feet.” Texas Chicken requires steering straight toward an oncoming ship, then veering toward the bank at the last possible moment to leverage complex stabilizing eff ects created by the vessels’ interactions with each other and the shore; merely hugging the bank can by GARY DAUGHTERS gary.daughters@siteselection.com GULF COAST PORTS 94 MAY 2025 SITE SELECTION No More Texas Chicken Widening of Houston’s ship channel is nearing completion. Photo by Art Wager: Getty Images SITE SELECTION MAY 2025 95 Our activities here contribute more than a trillion dollars to the U.S. economy.” — John Moseley , Chief Commercial Offi cer, Port Houston Our activities here contribute more than cause vessels to waggle dangerously. Texas Chicken is a thing to behold, especially when you’re talking about massive tankers and container vessels. “In the world of ship pilots,” says Moseley, “it is a very precise maneuver that requires a very delicate touch and a lot of experience. And it’s sort of what led to Project .” Ports along the Gulf Coast — from Tampa Bay to Mobile, Gulfport to New Orleans to Freeport, Texas — have launched multi-year expansions and improvements to accommodate increasing traffi c and ever larger vessels. But none matches the scope and ambition of Port Houston’s $ billion Project , which will confi ne Texas Chicken to the annals of maritime lore. More impactfully, it will produce economic and environmental benefi ts that could last generations. Great Ambitions Collectively known as Port Houston, the ship channel complex and its more than private and eight public terminals comprise the nation’s largest port for waterborne tonnage, having cemented its position in by handling a record . million tons of cargo. A study reported that business activity at Port Houston generates more than $ billion in statewide economic value and $ million in economic value nationwide. Business activity at the port supports some . million jobs. Widening the channel from feet to feet will allow for two-way traffi c of ever larger vessels, thus reducing delays and congestion. It is expected to accommodate an additional , vessels per year, representing million tons of cargo and generating approximately $ billion in economic impact annually. With dredging having begun in earnest in and expected to fi nish this year or next, Project is projected to create over , new jobs in Texas alone while supporting over million jobs nationwide through its broader economic impact, according to Port Houston. Not merely an infrastructure upgrade, Project is a major environmental initiative. By widening and deepening the channel, the project will cut fuel consumption and enhance air quality by reducing wait times to enter the channel by up to two hours per transit. An estimated million cubic yards of dredged material will be put to good use, repurposed for shoreline protection and new wildlife habitats. “We’re creating acres of bird islands, acres of intertidal marshland and acres of oyster reefs,” Moseley says. “Nothing of that scale has ever been done.” Next >