Small Towns, Big Opportunities(cover) Behind the Success State Partnerships Heighten Appeal Luck of the Draw Request Information 
|
Luck of the Draw
For others, however, the sheer luck of being set in a geographically strategic location seems to be their biggest asset. No. 2 ranked Mooresville, N.C., for example, is "situated off Interstate-77 and is within 15 miles (24 km.) of three interstates," says Melanie O'Connell Underwood, executive vice president with the South Iredell County Chamber of Commerce (Mooresville). "Charlotte-Douglas International Airport is only 25 miles (40 km.) away. Our interstates, international air travel and railroad allow the raw materials to come in and the products to go out in an easy manner." Bowling Green, Ky., plans to take advantage of its location by developing the Kentucky Trimodal Transpark, a 4,000-acre (1,620-hectare) business and industrial park. The project will provide access by road (I-65), rail (CSX) and ultimately air. "Our greatest strength is our location; we're right in the middle of the eastern United States," says Margaret Peake Grissom, president and CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. "This is going to be a phenomenal opportunity for lots and lots of businesses." Such access and typically lower business costs make these small towns a haven for manufacturing and distribution facilities. Findlay, Ohio, Site Selection's No. 4 small town, landed Lowe's $150 million distribution center. The 1.25 million-sq.-ft. (116,129-sq.-m.) facility will serve much of the Midwest from one central location. Statesville, especially, has seen much success in winning manufacturing and distribution facilities. Among some of the new companies locating in the area last year were German-based Alberdingk Boley GmbH, Dana Corp.'s Spicer Off-Highway Products and Plastiflex. "We have a lot of new companies coming in that are more vertically integrated, where they offer manufacturing and distribution all under one roof," says Jeff McKay, director of economic development with the Greater Statesville Development Corp., who adds that the most difficult problem for his community -- as it is for many of the top 100 -- is keeping up with demand for space. "We continually develop our industrial sites for these companies," he explains. "We work with our developers on the speculative facilities so that we have an immediate solution to their site selection needs." 
TOP OF PAGE
|
|
©2001 Conway Data, Inc. All rights reserved. SiteNet data is from many sources and not warranted to be accurate or current.
|