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FROM SITE SELECTION MAGAZINE, MAY 2023 ISSUE
From the May Issue

OHIO

Quantum Leap

How Ohio is pushing the boundaries of innovation.

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From the September Issue

NEWS DIGEST

World Reports

Quick-hitting stories cover projects from LMG and Mercedes-Benz in Germany; U.S. LNG in Europe; CloudHQ in Brazil; Hyundai’s $18 billion bet on EVs in South Korea; hydrogen plants in Spain; AWS in Australia; and Indian Oil in Odisha, India.

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 CONWAY DATA SNAPSHOT 
Charts courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau

As jurisdictions across the nation confront attainable housing challenges, a brand new tool from the U.S. Census Bureau delivers an interactive map of national, state and county building permit data, showing how many single-family, multi-family and total housing units have been authorized in every one of the 3,143 U.S. counties.

The tool shows a U.S. map of housing units authorized and year-over-year change based on the size and color of circles on the states of the map. “By hovering over the map, users can see the amount of change with state and county historical data going back to 2010,” says the Bureau. “A forthcoming visualization will show metro area data back to 2014.”

Just as information from the Conway Projects Database is a leading indicator of job creation and economic activity, Building Permits Survey (BPS) data serve as a leading/early indicator of future residential construction activity. Moreover, unlike many federal data sources that are spotty or lagging, the data are reliable and up to date: “Response rates for the BPS are quite high, there is no sampling error in the estimates, and average revisions to the data are relatively low,” says the Bureau.

The map and chart displayed here show national trends as well as the Top 10 states by number of authorized housing permits in 2022. County-level analysis shows Dallas County and Houston’s Harris County among the national leaders last year. Watch for more coverage in a new feature, America’s Best Counties, appearing in the July 2023 issue of Site Selection. — Adam Bruns

Charts courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau

 

BUILDING THE TEXAS OF TOMORROW

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

An Economy Firing on All Cylinders

A windfall surplus is the latest indicator of Texas’ strength.

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From the September Issue

INVESTMENT PROFILE: TERRELL, TEXAS

In Terrell, the Road to Success Starts Early

Students are garnering industry skills, experience and certifications before they graduate high school.

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 SITE SELECTION RECOMMENDS 

Transportation statistics are a must for any location analysis. Founded in 1971, TRIP is a private, nonprofit organization that researches, evaluates, and distributes economic and technical data on surface transportation issues. The most recent TRIP report on Interstates includes this chart displaying the states with the greatest increase in vehicle miles of travel on their Interstate highways from 2000 to 2019. Watch for more infrastructure analysis in the 2023 Global Groundwork Index rankings in the September 2023 issue of Site Selection.

RANK STATE 2000-19 Interstate
VMT Increase
1 Nevada 69%
2 Louisiana 61%
3 North Carolina 57%
4 Utah 57%
5 Colorado 53%
6 Texas 49%
7 Mississippi 45%
8 Idaho 44%
9 Wisconsin 42%
10 Florida 41%
11 North Dakota 41%
12 South Carolina 39%
13 New Jersey 36%
14 Arkansas 35%
15 Montana 34%
16 Alabama 33%
17 Tennessee 33%
18 South Dakota 30%
19 Iowa 27%
20 Kentucky 26%

Chart courtesy of TRIP

 

Site of the Week
From the January Issue

The Riverfront at Las Colonias – Grand Junction, Colorado

The Riverfront at Las Colonias is a 140-acre mixed-use business park with seven shovel-ready pad sites along the Colorado River near Downtown Grand Junction in Colorado. The business park is located within an Opportunity Zone, and new investments may be eligible for tax incentives through deferrals, reductions, and eliminations of certain capital gains taxes.

The commercial business park includes several shovel-ready sites and features attractive amenities nearby, including an amphitheater, a botanical garden, a river park, and a zip line.

The Grand Junction area is the largest metropolitan region in western Colorado and includes access to a regional airport and I-70. The community offers an ACT-accredited workforce and a strong talent pipeline through Colorado Mesa University.

The region features stunning natural landscapes and world-renowned biking trails. It’s a hub for innovation with cutting-edge research and technology facilities, advanced manufacturing, health care, and a thriving agricultural sector.

LEARN MORE: https://www.gjep.org/grow-here/opportunity-zones/

 

CONWAY CUSTOM CONTENT

DIGITAL EDITION

"Michigan: Pure Opportunity®," the 2023-2024 edition of the Michigan Economic Development Guide from Conway Custom Content, is now live in full Digital Edition format. Read our interviews with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Quentin L Messer Jr. Learn about the state's approach to its unique intellectual property, workforce and research assets. Get an overview of Michigan's investment-ready sites. Find out how the state is charging toward a clean energy future. Dig into project news from the mobility/automotive, life sciences, agribusiness, professional services and advanced manufacturing sectors. Discover in exclusive Investment Profiles what's going on at Kettering University and Consumers Energy. And gain valuable insights into the state's tech, engineering and design prowess, all in one powerful publication.

 

 PROJECT WATCH 

British Columbia

Thanks to C$900,000 from the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund, Vitacore will upgrade equipment and retrofit a building to serve as the hub of the company’s PPE recycling program. Vitacore will process 12.5 million masks and respirators per month at its facility in Port Coquitlam, one of 21 municipalities that comprise metro Vancouver. The project is one of 14 receiving more than C$8 million in funding from the provincial government, with another $25 million on the way for the next round. “This added funding will strengthen our ability to prevent plastic pollution and reduce our use of virgin resources to make plastic products by turning used plastic into an economic asset instead of an environmental burden,” said B.C. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman. “The funding we received through the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund is helping us expand our single-use mask, respirator and PPE recycling capacity,” said Mikhail Moore, president, Vitacore Industries Inc. “The first of its kind in Canada, our PPE recycling program effectively reduces the environmental impacts these items have on our landfills and oceans.” B.C. is a leader in extended producer responsibility (EPR), where companies and producers are responsible for the collection and recycling of the products they create. Around 315,000 metric tons of plastics are captured annually in B.C.’s EPR programs.

Source: Conway Projects Report

Tennessee

Germany’s PVS Plastics Group is investing in a second U.S. injection molding site in Johnson City, with a production area of 53,800 sq. ft. The other site in Huber Heights, Ohio, is also being expanded. The two sites are part of a global portfolio that includes sites in the company’s hometown of Niedernhall, Germany; Hungary and China. The company’s products include plastic overmolding components for electric motors and engines as well as impellers for ventilation technology (fans and blower wheels). The Plastics Industry Association reports that Tennessee Tennessee is home to plastics manufacturers and establishments engaged in plastics processing, marketing, support and captive activities that directly employ 30,562 people. Nationally, Tennessee is ranked 12th in plastics industry employment, with plastics and dependent industries combined employing 960,000 people in the state.

Source: Conway Projects Report

 

 

 PHOTO OF THE DAY 
directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon at the Public The

Site Selection Managing Editor Adam Bruns made this photo on Sunday evening as the Upstate Shakespeare Festival presented by The Warehouse Theatre staged one of four weekly performances of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville. A three-week run of “Macbeth” begins July 6th. And it’s all free of charge. (Watch for more reporting from the region in the Upstate South Carolina Intelligence Report in the July issue of Site Selection.) Shakespeare in the Park festivals are popping up across the country, from the 63rd season of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival at Louisville’s Central Park to productions of “Hamlet” and “The Tempest” gracing the Public Theater’s Delacorte Stage during this summer’s 61st season of Free Shakespeare in the Park in New York’s Central Park. However, two "Hamlet" performances have been canceled this week due to the heavy wildfire smoke that has invaded New York City.