Features

resurgence of corporate capital flowing back into Chicago has made the Second City No. 1 again — this time in the annual Site Selection Top Metropolitan Area Awards.    While fans of the Windy City may not throw a ticker- tape parade as they did to celebrate their beloved Chicago White Sox winning the World Series […]

ean Smith became a legend in North Carolina by guiding his Tar Heel basketball teams to unprecedented greatness. In the world of college hoops, Smith’s program was considered a dynasty.    It’s not too early to start using the “D-word” when talking about an unprecedented string of victories racked up by another North Carolina program. Statesville […]

MARCH 2006 Transportation Equipment Tops Industry Ranking (cover) Arizona Refinery Moves Ahead Beleaguered Louisiana Grabs Top Projects High on the Hog Request Information TOP INDUSTRIES Transportation Equipment Tops Industry Ranking Automakers are cranking up assembly plants across the globe. by JOHN W. McCURRY john.mccurry bounce@conway.com A lthough down somewhat in total numbers, the transportation equipment sector […]

MARCH 2006 Where the Biggest of the Big Went in 2005 (cover) Biggest Global Projects Request Information TOP GLOBAL PROJECTS Where the Biggest of the Big Went in 2005 by MARK AREND mark.arend bounce@conway.com A sia’s booming industrial centers are exerting an enormous pull on global capital investment, and it should come as no surprise that […]

CLIENT SERVICE AWARDS From Site Selection magazine, January 2006 Appearance Matters by MARK AREND “With the added pressures of new governance legislation and rules like Sarbanes-Oxley, it is clear that clients need an unprecedented degree of rigor, process orientation and transparency.” ? Equis Corp. M aking the client look good to his or her superiors […]

uto makers in North America continue to bemoan the burden of competition: “In view of further reductions in model lifecycles and continuing over-capacity, DaimlerChrysler does not expect any alleviation of the intensely competitive pressure in the automobile industry,” read a typically cold statement in 2005.    John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers and […]

ven as Korean automobile manufacturer Kia was finalizing a U.S. site-location decision in late 2005, U.S. companies continued to move some or all of their manufacturing operations to Mexico, China and other destinations at a rate that has some wondering just what the U.S. will be producing within 10 years. New plants are opening in […]

A mid threats that include residential encroachment, eminent domain backlash and logistics congestion, detail work has never meant so much in the assembly of large industrial project sites. But having those details in place can be the difference between a mega-project and mega-dirt.    Proof positive came in the fall of 2005 when SeverCorr chose a […]

f the US$18.3 billion that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had obligated itself to spend as of mid-October, $6.6 billion was targeted at housing, including a sizable amount meant for the purchase of manufactured housing. By late October some $2 billion in orders had been placed by FEMA for approximately 125,000 mobile homes, including […]

n the parish of Iberia, La., not far from the rookeries and gardens of McIlhenny-founded Avery Island, a small alternative energy company is doing its part to rebuild a region’s energy infrastructure — and simultaneously rebuild a hurricane-ravaged economy — using the same natural force that has wrought so much destruction.    After securing a 30-year […]

January 2006 Relocation of Priorities (cover) Real Matter Lost in the Chatter Last Call for Alcohol Healthcare Projects Inoculate Local Economies… Nuts to You: Sara Lee Sells European Unit to PepsiCo Mobile on the Move Request Information

he U.S. transportation industry will experience yet another year of solid growth in 2006, led largely by gains in the trucking sector, according to a report released Nov. 22 by an Atlanta-based consulting firm that tracks and predicts global logistics trends.    The ground parcel and less-than-truckload (LTL) categories are projected to experience shipment growth of […]

From Site Selection magazine, January 2006 WORLD REPORTS Manchester Carving Niche As Euro Financial Base by John W. McCurry M anchester, England, likely rings best in American ears as home to a renowned soccer team — Manchester United — or as a launching pad for rock bands — Oasis, The Smiths, Herman’s Hermits and The […]

avid H. Murdock believes nutrition, tweaked by top scientists, may one day help cure humankind’s dreaded diseases. The California billionaire believes so much in the concept’s potential he is putting the financial nutrients into a billion-dollar gambit to create what he calls an unrivaled biotechnology research campus in North Carolina. In doing so, Murdock is […]

hose of us attending the IAMC Professional Forum in Corpus Christi, Texas, recently were more than cognizant of the post-Katrina situation elsewhere on the Gulf Coast. In fact, at one point just two weeks prior to the conference, IAMC staff and leadership were busy making conference contingency plans in the event Hurricane Rita stayed on […]

From Site Selection magazine, November 2005 WORLD REPORTS New Investment Transforms Nicaragua N icaragua, Central America’s largest country, is hoping a new revolution of investment and jobs will sweep away the lingering memories of the 1980s when civil war and the Iran-Contra hearings dominated the news.        Today, Nicaragua is pushing itself as […]

ver since a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision restricted state regulation of gambling on reservations, Native Americans and economic development have usually convened at the gaming table. But new projects and policies have given North American by ADAM BRUNS LAND OF MANY VALUES: Phil Swain, chairman of the Moapa Business Council, looks over tribal land […]

November2005 Different Threads, Same Fabric (cover) We’re All In This Together; Meet a Member Productivity Essentials: Trust, Talk and Savvy Outsourcing IAMC Corporate Members Mull Asset Disposition Options Request Information Different Threads, Same Fabric IAMC Members and Prospective Members,       In the 21st century, when there is such a free flow of information, […]

urope enjoyed a return to high levels of foreign direct investment in 2004 (over US$250 billion, including non-EU figures) and remains the most attractive global zone. According to Ernst & Young’s European Investment Monitor (EIM), researched and powered by Oxford Intelligence, FDI is increasingly driven by European cross-border investment, with the U.K. remaining the dominant […]

s Congress mulls giving its nod to the 2005 round of BRAC (Base Realignment & Closing), which targets 33 major U.S. military bases for closure and 29 others for realignment, many communities affected by previous BRAC rounds are doing quite well in their redevelopment efforts.    BRAC communities have created more than 100,000 jobs so far, […]

aving forfeited its three-year claim to the Top Business Climate ranking in 2004, North Carolina is back on top. And Texas, which unseated the Tar Heel State in last year’s contest, finished a more than respectable second. Texans should find some consolation in placing first in the survey of corporate site seekers, which counts for […]

I n legislatures across the U.S., the year in economic development began with concern about how last year’s CHART 1: Financial Assistance for Industry pdf file, 350K CHART 2: Tax Incentives for Industry pdf file, 350K Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler might affect their incentive programs. By summer, the U.S. […]

he United Kingdom has soared to new heights in attracting inward investment in recent years. During its 2004-05 fiscal year alone, for example, the UK recorded 1,066 inward investment projects — its highest-ever tally — which will create more than 39,500 jobs.    Wales leads the way, attracting more than $633 million in foreign investment in […]

n ye olden days, way back in the early 1990s, the gathering of information that occurred at the onset of any site selection process involved making phone calls and sending letters seeking information, followed by more phone calls and more requests for information, usually culminating with lots of overnight mailing charges. Today, what corporate real […]