Features

C ompanies facing earnings pressures are taking public-sector incentives more seriously during these challenging economic times, according to a survey recently completed by Stadtmauer Bailkin Biggins (SBB), L.L.C [a firm where the author is a principal]. The study, which queried both corporate real estate executives and economic development agencies on developing trends in incentives, was […]

D rive along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, and the steel legacy of northern Indiana becomes inescapably apparent, in both the best and worst of senses. Much of the industry’s looming gray capacity has gone dormant, but there is still a core that thrives. And where big steel has suffered, little steel is doing […]

S tates across America are developing strategies for cloning the biotechnology industries that have emerged in California, Massachusetts, and Maryland over the past 30 years.         In the wake of the burst high technology bubble, biotech offers them the promise of renewed economic growth.         Or does it? According […]

W ith a new round of U.S. military base closures on the not-too-distant horizon of 2005, more communities will be dealing with the accompanying job losses and subsequent base redevelopment. But that’s not necessarily bad news. Dozens of previously closed bases have been reinvented as centers of industry and research.         Since […]

T he most likely candidate for a location decision involving a new or expanded facility will be in the manufacturing sector, according to corporate executives surveyed by Development Counsellors International (DCI), a New York?based economic development marketing firm. More than 280 corporate executives participated in the exercise.         Forty-four percent of the […]

From Site Selection magazine, November 2002 NORTH AMERICAN REPORTS Edited by ADAM BRUNS Lilly Growing in Puerto Rico Too NOTHING COULD BE FINER: Eli Lilly executives join with local residents and community officials to break ground on a $450-million facility in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The plant is Lilly’s third major facility announcement of 2002, with […]

From Site Selection magazine, November 2002 WORLD REPORTS edited by ADAM BRUNS Alcoa Moving Forward on Icelandic Mega-Project In a deal worth an estimated US$1 billion, Alcoa Executive Vice President G. John Pizzey, Iceland Minister of Industry Valgerdur Sverrisd?ttir and national power company Landsvirkjun‘s Managing Director Fridrik Sophusson signed a memorandum of understanding in July […]

  Dear Colleague: The Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) was founded this year to better meet the professional development needs of executives with corporate real estate and asset management responsibilities. As the organization’s first chairman, I am proud to be a part of the IAMC and to be associated with an extremely talented and dedicated […]

E rnst & Young’s six-month update to its annual European Investment Monitor report shows a slight rise in projects compared to the same period in 2001, driven by the resilience of the manufacturing sector, particularly in the automotive and software sectors. Unemployment in the Euro Zone’s 12 countries hovered at 8.3 percent at the end […]

W estern states are proving to be a natural habitat for gazelles, according to some recent research — not zoological research, but rather location research from Cognetics (www.cogonline.com), a Waltham, Mass.-based consultancy.         Gazelles are rapidly growing, publicly traded companies whose revenues have grown at an average annual compound rate of 20 […]

T hey say misery loves company. When everybody is having a bad year, then one company’s troubles don’t look so bad. But even in relative terms, Lucent Technologies, along with its telecom equipment and networking rivals, has endured more than most.         Lucent’s challenge of spinning off non-core businesses would have been […]

C orporate real estate executives from most of Silicon Valley’s high-tech companies gathered in early June in Redwood City, Calif., to participate in one of two Jones Lang LaSalle Leading Edge Series 2002 events to take place this year. Besides high-level presentations on economic forces influencing business decisions, the impact of changes in accounting rules […]

S teps taken to make the Tar Heel State even more competitive with surrounding states are paying off. For the second year in a row, North Carolina has claimed the top slot in Site Selection‘s annual business climate ranking. Among the measures helping to boost the state’s allure was passage in the state house of […]

S tate budgetary shortfalls have mirrored the U.S. economy at large over the past year, prompting many legislatures to adopt stringent measures to curb spending and maintain the tax base. Many held special legislative sessions in order to achieve some fiscal progress.         While some economic development branches have been streamlined, most […]

H opes were high at the beginning of the year that 2002 would see the start of a sustained economic recovery in Europe and the rest of the industrialized world. The figures for the first few months appeared to show that the optimism was well founded. The leading global economies grew at 2.4 percent in […]

B roadband Internet access is rapidly being perceived by governments and business as an essential utility which will soon be as important as water or electricity to economic development. Cities or regions that embrace this concept and make this new utility widely available are variously described as being “intelligent, smart or wired.”       […]

TAMPA — IBM didn’t have to turn to its Deep Blue supercomputer to find the answer for this site location decision. It really wasn’t that complicated.         “The Tampa Bay Area has been a long-time focus IBM. We have many clients in this area and more than 1,300 employees involved in the […]

The mission of The Competitiveness Institute is to improve the living standards and local competitiveness of regions across the world by enhancing cluster-based development initiatives.         Our focus is primarily on regional clusters – geographic groupings of firms in the same or closely related industries. The Institute’s members are active in 38 […]

P hil Condit, chairman and CEO of The Boeing Co., knows a thing or two about the importance of infrastructure to economic development. After all, without the airports and transport systems providing access to them, his global, multi-billion dollar aerospace company wouldn’t be around.         “Economic growth follows infrastructure,” Condit told members […]

I BM and Cisco Systems call Beijing home. Now the plan for the Beijing Science and Technology Park Construction Company Ltd. is to recruit even more big names from the West to establish operations around China’s capital city.         The lure? Brand new, high-tech corporate campuses that are virtual “Science Cities” — […]

G etting e-noticed involves far more than simply replicating your organization’s brochures online. Economic development agencies in Europe ? that might previously have sat back and let their regions’ charms speak for themselves ? are increasingly adopting a far more polished approach. This might not necessarily involve investment in all-singing, all-dancing flash-enabled Web sites, but […]

T ry to image a more daunting task than relocating a plant to another location. Better yet, to another country. Building a new plant is just part of the task. Relocating a plant also involves moving equipment, materials and production lines to the new facility — and disposing of the original site.       […]

H ow can you help your region grow when you’re busy managing your own growth?         That is one of several questions facing the economic development arms of utilities big and small around the United States. As a recent benchmarking and best practices survey by the Utility Economic Development Association found, utilities […]

Worldwide Practice Named Real Estate Law Firm Of the Year The law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, founded in Los Angeles in 1951, was named the International Real Estate Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Global awards in London, which honors the finest performers in international commercial law. Philip Feder   […]