March 2014

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Features

The One That Didn’t Get Away

It’s not a one-way street entirely, but it seems more companies relocate their headquarters out of Illinois than into Illinois.

Seeking Partner Who Wants Same

Recent biopharma project news, policy evolution and research offer some ideas on the way forward for industry executives facing location decisions.

The Connected

Forty percent of the world’s mobile traffic goes through the networks of Sweden-based telecommunications and network company Ericsson, and the company supports customers’ networks servicing more than 2.5 billion subscriptions.

Blown On Course

In January, using new employment data from 123 countries and the European Union, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said that in 2012, employment in renewable energy worldwide stood at 5.7 million with the potential for adding 11 million jobs in the years to 2030, with 2.1 million of the new jobs coming from the wind sector.

Unconventional Wisdom

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Vine, Instagram … the list goes on. Social media is everywhere, and it seems as if everyone is using it, including economic developers.

Spheres of Influence

Analysis of all projects entered into Site Selection’s New Plant Database during the 2013 calendar year shows transportation is driving economies, especially in Asia.

Can ‘Airport Cities’ Close the Deal?

Airport Cities are developing rapidly into office locations for non-aviation related companies.

Five To Thrive

If you like challenges, here’s one: Pick up today’s Wall Street Journal and highlight companies that don’t depend on technology.

The Ladder Effect

The last exclusively domestic ladder manufacturer in the US helped Wooster, Ohio, claim a title it’s been chasing for a long time: Top Micropolitan Area in America.

The Connected City

From digital startups to behemoths of industry, Chicago fosters corporate facility growth better than any other metro area in the U.S.

Double Take

Texas and Nebraska have won the 2013 Site Selection Governor’s Cup. This year marks the inauguration of a second Governor’s Cup, recognizing the state with the most qualifying new and expanded facilities per capita.

Investment Profiles

Origin and Destination

Interstate highway access — check. Commercial airport site — check. Quick proximity to 50 percent of Florida’s population — check. Abundant and growing workforce — check. Foreign Trade Zone — check.

Play To Your Strengths

Cincinnati-area natives increasingly appreciate their region’s advantages and the global arena in which the city competes for new investment — and jobs.

Quality Personified

Griffin Land, the owner-operator of almost 3 million sq. ft. of commercial space on land holdings of nearly 4,000 acres in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, is seeing its tobacco nursery heritage supplanted by its choice reputation as a developer and partner.

Full of Energy

Gov. Tom Corbett laid out Pennsylvania’s most ambitious energy plan ever on Jan. 21. The bottom line? Expanding companies will find even more cost savings when they invest in the Keystone State.

A Vision Come To Life

The cauldron of innovation that gave rise to one of the world’s most successful drugs is poised to produce more where that came from.

Headquarters City, Fla.

“Wages, logistics and taxes are three big advantages for South Florida.”

SEED of Opportunity

Never before has one building symbolized so much.

The SEED Center in Lake Charles, La., represents the culmination of a regional partnership aimed at bringing new business and industry to Southwest Louisiana.

International

Supersized Ambition

To the south is a nation where a woman is arrested if she drives an automobile. To the north, across a narrow strait, is a nation which mixes religious politics with nuclear politics.

Ripe for an Upswing?

With the fall of the Iron Curtain a quarter century ago, previously closed nations in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) welcomed an immense influx of foreign direct investment (FDI), helping it become one of the world’s fastest growing regions.

Area Spotlights

Right in Tune?

The state and provincial governments of the Pacific Northwest already are known for their strong environmental positions when it comes to development and permitting.

Netting Results

In 2013 Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and the state legislature demonstrated a financial commitment to future economic development by allocating $86.6 million in funding for business incentives in the state’s biennium, the two year budget cycle covering fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015

Scaling New Heights

An overhauled tax code, a revamped incentives package and a reinvigorated energy plan are making the Northeast U.S. one of the most closely watched regions of the country.

A Tax Climate To Write Home About

Wyoming is the best state in the US for taxes on businesses, and its capital, Cheyenne, is the best city in which to find a job, according to recent analysis.

Power Surge

Energy is big business in Eddy County, N.M., the busiest community currently drilling in the oil-and-gas-rich Permian Basin.

Beating the Spread

Chicago, like many cities, is seeing a return to the city center from corporations and regular folks alike. But Chicagoland by definition encompasses 15 Illinois counties other than Cook County (21 if you count northwest Indiana and southeast Wisconsin).

‘Seamless Pipeline’

Marjorie Taylor had a challenge. She needed to find a way to communicate to high school students the importance of taking the ACT WorkKeys assessment seriously.

Elsewhere in South Carolina

Kids’ bikes and scooters can’t compete with a Boeing 787 or a BMW 4-Series in the expensive-transportation arena. And Kent International doesn’t try to compete with Boeing and BMW on the economic impact of their new facilities, either.

Central Casting

The mutual benefits that corporations and higher learning institutions can confer on one another were illustrated in December when Lilly Endowment awarded $5 million to Indiana University, one of a series of grants totaling nearly $63 million.

Into the Stratosphere

Citing a highly skilled workforce, the cost of doing business and the number of aerospace companies already located in the state, a report released in December 2013 by PricewaterhouseCoopers proclaimed Florida number one in aviation manufacturing attractiveness.

Investment Reports

Spheres of Influence

Analysis of all projects entered into Site Selection’s New Plant Database during the 2013 calendar year shows transportation is driving economies, especially in Asia.