Ten hardly seemed enough for Site Selection's annual listing of economic development groups, so here are brief profiles of 12 other very worthy development groups from 2000.

        Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, Alexandria, Va. There is no denying that Virginia had a good year in 2000, and the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP at www.alexcon.org) was among the many that helped. Last year, the group helped land 9,369 new jobs and US$9.4 million in capital investments to its service area of 123,200 residents.
        The newcomers to Alexandria in 2000 include the Community Assocs. Institute, Gold Crust Bread, Incebia, Journal Newspapers, Kearney & Co., OCI, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Weissberg Corp -- altogether bringing 7,270 new jobs. The U.S. Patent Trademark Office alone created 7,000 jobs.
        The AEDP hopes to help more businesses locate in the area with its new prospect management system that it installed last year. The system ensures timely response and accurate updates for all inquiries.

        Corporation for the Economic Development of Midlothian, Midlothian, Texas. This southeastern Texas group played a major role in landing some $245 million in capital investments and 400 new jobs for its service area of 23,500.
        With power outages in California currently taking center stage, Midlothian is making certain such issues do not arise for its businesses. In 2000, the Corporation for the Economic Development of Midlothian (www.midlothian-texas.org) helped American National Power with a $175 million expansion of its electric generation plant, which will add 500 megawatts of capacity.
        In other news, the group worked with Toys R Us, which invested $70 million in a new distribution center in the area. The new facility will employ 200 full-time workers and another 200 to 400 part-time workers.
        Midlothian's economic development group also established new programs last year. Included among those are an infrastructure for new commercial/industrial reimbursement program, an employment and residence incentive grant program and a relocation costs loan and grant program.

        Enterprise Florida Inc., Orlando, Fla. The statewide economic development group brought more than $4 billion in capital investments and 33,000 jobs to the Sunshine State in 2000. Many of the jobs won by Enterprise Florida (www.eflorida.com) were in the high-tech fields. Lucent Technologies opened a Latin American headquarters in Broward County, for example. Other high-tech names include Kentucky-based Lexmark, which set up a technical support center in Orlando, and Theseus Logic, which moved its operations from Minneapolis to Orlando. The reason for Theseus' move was based primarily on the availability of capital.
        Enterprise Florida hopes to find more firms like Theseus with its newest publication, the "2000 Florida Venture Finance Directory." The 174-page publication lists more than 250 companies that are either sources of capital or are service providers that assist firms in seeking capital.

        Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Dallas. Last year the Dallas Chamber (www.dallaschamber.org) brought $484.9 million in capital investment to the city, which resulted in 11,310 new jobs. These investments came from various industries, with the largest investors including Walgreen ($151 million), SBC Communications ($78 million), NEC America ($75 million) and Yahoo! ($42 million). Some of the top job creators include SBC Communications (2,000 jobs), NEC America (1,500), Abacus Communications (1,500), Yahoo! (1,200) and Var-Tec (1,050).
        The SBC Communications facility was located in the southern part of Dallas, which has prompted the chamber of commerce to renew its focus on the revitalization of the area.

        Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Phoenix, Ariz. Landing more than 19,600 jobs and $722.2 million in investments, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC at www.gpec.org) had a good year in 2000. Among its most impressive wins were a $148 million, 15,000-job announcement from USAA in Phoenix, a $130 million data center for Charles Schwab in Chandler and Edward Jones' $66 million, 300-job facility in Tempe.
        Among the group's newest services is GreaterPhoenix.net. This initiative launched three new communication channels: a customized regional browser; the Web site www.greaterphoenix.net, which serves as a central location for regional news, information and other activities; and a new online magazine, Net/Work.

        Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, Rome, Ga. This northwestern Georgia chamber of commerce had a busy year, creating at least 910 new jobs, and a large number of jobs was announced in the area just after the Site Selection deadline for 2000's top groups, meaning the city will be one to keep an eye on for next year's listing. Among the many projects the chamber worked last year are Pirelli's $141 million investment, creating 305 jobs; Inland Paperboard and Packaging's $400 million facility; and Suzuki's $30 million, 300-job new facility.
        The Rome Chamber of Commerce (www.romega.com) noted that its "outstanding last 12 months are a result of our community and state partners working together and supporting aggressive marketing and incentives," says Scott Morris, director of economic development for the chamber.

        Kentucky Cabinet of Economic Development, Frankfort, Ky. Kentucky's statewide economic development group supported businesses in the site selection process that resulted in some $4 billion in investments and 26,513 new jobs. Many of the big job producers attracted by the Kentucky Cabinet of Economic Development (www.thinkkentuck.com) came from the state's traditional industries of automotive-related manufacturing and distribution. In the auto industry, Autolive ASP created 600 jobs in Madisonville, and Ambrake Corp. added 200 jobs in Elizabethtown. Distributors locating to Kentucky include Gap Inc. (853 jobs), Wal-Mart Stores East (960) and UPS e-Logistics (528).
        Other industries are making moves to Kentucky as well. The all-around top job creator in the state last year was Electronic Design & Research, which added some 3,000 jobs. Others in the news include Applied Card Systems (with 500 jobs), AFNI (500), High Speed Access Corp. (493) and QuestEcon (646).
        Last year, Cabinet Secretary Gene Strong joined as a member of the newly created Kentucky Innovations Commission, which was established to grow a knowledge-based economy for the state.

        Lenexa Economic Development Council, Lenexa, Kan. The Lenexa Economic Development Council (www.lenexa.org) came in third only to Broomfield, Colo., and Alexandria, Va., in terms of jobs created per 10,000 population last year. The Kansas-based group helped land 7,605 jobs per 10,000 residents in 2000 and a total investment of $138 million.
        As a suburb of Kansas City, the local economic development group has been able to attract a wide array of industries. Some of the big investors in the area were Go Access, which invested $40 million and created 225 jobs; Community America Credit Union, 300 jobs and $17 million; and Interstate Bakeries Corp., with $24 million in investment and 254 new jobs.

        Nashville Chamber of Commerce/Partnership 2000, Nashville, Tenn. With more than $2.3 billion in investments and 35,000 new jobs, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce (www.nashvillechamber.com) had a very good year in 2000. Some of the top projects won by the chamber include several from the automotive industry: Saturn Corp.'s $1.5 billion expansion; Nissan's $500,000, 1,000-job addition to its Smyrna facility; and Mackie Automotive's 210-job facility in Spring Hill.
        Other industry big-wigs include computers (Hewlett Packard's 1,500-job announcement and Dell Computer's new Nashville campus), corporate headquarters (Cendant Corp. and Visual Bible Inc.), and distribution, with Graybar Electric's, LOGISCO's, Barnett Inc.'s and Noodle Kidoodle's national distribution centers, and Hollywood Video's eastern distribution center.
        Among the group's initiatives were a high-tech industry recruiting strategy, a nationwide recruitment program and the formation of the Nashville Technology Council organization.

        Pennsylvania's Governor Action Team, Harrisburg, Penn. Last year, this statewide group established two very pro-business programs: SelectSites and SelecTech Sites. These programs identify sites ready for development and help market sites to potential investors. The SelecTech-Sites must also meet additional criteria emphasizing telecommunications infrastructure and work-force demographics.
        Apparently the Pennsylvania's Governor Action Team (www.teampa.com) must be doing something right. In 2000, the group attracted 40,554 jobs and $3.65 billion in investment to the state. Among the more than 40,000 jobs were Vanguard's 6,000 new positions. The $500 million announcement represents the state's largest project in 25 years.
        Other big investments were made by Corning (2,500 jobs, $175 million), Villanova Capital (1,000 jobs, $50 million), Marmaxx Group (1,100 jobs, $49 million), VerticalNet (1,000 jobs, $15 million) and e-PROFILE (1,000 jobs, $13 million).

        Regional Growth Partnership, Toledo, Ohio. As one of the fastest-growing regions in Ohio, the Toledo market owes a lot to the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP at www.rgp.org). Last year, the group helped win some 4,257 new jobs and more than $1.4 billion in capital investment. Among some of the groups biggest wins were Convergys' 1,000-job call center and Fremont Calpine's $355 million investment. Tower Automotive also invested some $52.5 million in the area and created 55 new jobs.
        The region helped bring a number of energy-related expansions as well, which bodes well for future attraction efforts. Defiance Energy, First Energy, PG&E and Troy Energy all invested $393 million in the area.
        Moving forward with its attraction efforts, RGP also established a new brownfield remediation program last year. The revolving loan program provides short-term financing for brownfield remediation projects within the city of Toledo that will lead directly to construction or rehabilitation for reuse and provide up to 50 percent of the estimated remediation costs, up to a maximum of $500,000 at a 3-percent interest rate and a two-year term.