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on't call it "fly- over country" anymore. If you're seeking the most productive economic development organizations in North America, it's time to start looking at the American heartland.
   From the Tex- Mex border to the Windy City, Middle America dominates Site Selection's annual ranking of the top- performing economic development groups for 2006. In fact, taking into consideration the next 10 best performing agencies, the central region of the U.S. accounts for 13 of the top 20.
   Market access, strong logistics support networks, qualified labor, competitive costs and good old- fashioned ingenuity propelled these economic development groups into the top tier.
   Criteria used in the ranking include total capital investment; investment per capita; total jobs created; jobs created per capita; the contributions of the local or regional economic development organization toward the attainment of these numbers; overall economic vitality; depth and breadth of economic strength; diversity of industry; ability to generate breakthrough deals; and the ability to provide verifiable documentation for all projects.
   Data sources used to compile the rankings included the Conway New Plant Database, nomination survey forms submitted by economic development agencies, editorial research conducted by Site Selection, and information from economic development Web sites.
   From this methodology, here are the winning groups of 2006:

Citigroup is building a $100- million, 850,000- sq.- ft. (78,965- sq.- m.) campus in Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. The project brings 2,500 jobs to the Dallas- Fort Worth metro area and is one reason why the Greater Dallas Chamber is an overall Top Group winner this year. Las Colinas, which is home to ExxonMobil and Kimberly- Clark, is a master- planned community now valued at more than $5 billion.

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ased upon the four main objective criteria – jobs, jobs per capita, investment and investment per capita – the Dallas- Fort Worth- Arlington metroplex of Texas ranks as the No. 1 metropolitan area overall in the U.S.
   A multiple winner of a Top Group award as well as a longtime Top Metro winner in Site Selection's annual Governor's Cup competition, Dallas continues to be one of the hottest job magnets in the nation.
   New corporate projects announced in 2006 created 10,823 jobs in Greater Dallas, more than any other MSA in the country. Greater Dallas also generated $939 million in capital investment from its facility projects last year.
   Among the largest deals in the metroplex last year were those from Citigroup, a $100- million project that adds 850,000 sq. ft. (78,965 sq. m.) and 2,500 jobs; Capital One, a $170- million investment that adds 900,000 sq. ft. (83,610 sq. m.) and 1,500 jobs; and Torchmark Corp., a $27- million project that adds 150,000 sq. ft. (13,935 sq. m.) and 500 jobs.
   The Greater Dallas Chamber teamed with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and TXU Electric Delivery last year in developing the DFW Marketing Team to promote the region at targeted industry events.
 

Project Manager Todd Taylor (left) and WorldPort expansion Program Manager Mark Scherrens of UPS Airlines found plenty of support from Greater Louisville Inc., the Louisville Regional Airport Authority and the Commonwealth of Kentucky for their $1- billion hub expansion. Photo: ©Bob Hower/Quadrant

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reater Louisville Inc. represents a 24- county region and is located within 600 miles (965 km.) of two- thirds of the U.S. population. Greater Louisville ranks fifth in jobs created in 2006, with 5,358, and 11th in investment, with $1.5 billion.
   Recent rankings for Louisville include being named the "Best City for Small Business Growth" by Entrepreneur Magazine, being ranked 31st on Inc. Magazine's "Top Places to Do Business in the U.S." list, and being named one of the "Top 20 Best Places to Raise a Family" by Homebuilder.com.
   The 16th largest city in America, Louisville recently landed its fifth Fortune 1000 corporate headquarters when PharMerica Corp. selected the area to be its home base. The company plans to create 200 jobs at an average annual salary of $77,000.
   Norton Healthcare Inc. also announced recently that it would invest $100 million over the next five years to expand its clinical cancer care program in Louisville.
 

A

rmed with more than 1.1 million knowledge workers, the Greater Washington, D.C.- Va.- Md. market was a job and investment engine in 2006. The metro area placed fourth in jobs created – 8,800 – by its corporate facilities while attracting $656 million in investment.
   Among the largest deals announced last year were a $100- million headquarters for the American Pharmacists Association in D.C.; a $70- million headquarters expansion for BP Solar in Frederick, Md.; and a $55- million data center expansion for Equinix in Ashburn, Va.
   The metro area includes fast- growing communities like Rockville and Gaithersburg, Md., and Arlington and Alexandria, Va. Hot industry sectors in the region include data centers, bio- defense, medical device manufacturing and information technology engineering services.
 

Casey's General Stores Inc. is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, in the northern suburbs of Des Moines. Casey's recent office campus expansion in Ankeny helped propel the Greater Des Moines Partnership to the Honorable Mention category of Top Group winners. Honorable Mention North American Groups of 2006 Charlotte USA N.C. www.charlotteusa.com Cincinnati USA Ohio- Ky.- Ind. www.cincinnatiusa.com Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Texas www.fortworthchamber.com Greater Des Moines Partnership Iowa www.desmoinesmetro.com Greater Phoenix Economic Council Ariz. www.gpec.org Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce Ala. www.huntsvillealabamausa.com Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Fla. www.expandinjax.com Kansas City Area Development Council Mo.- Kan. www.thinkkc.com Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Tenn. www.nashvilleareainfo.com Tulsa Area Partnership Okla. www.tulsapartners.net

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he Indy Partnership recorded 136 corporate facility projects in 2006, accounting for $1.8 billion in capital investment, 9,292 new jobs and 18,193 retained jobs. Only Dallas and Chicago created more jobs with their facility projects.
   Forbes named Indianapolis one of the 10 best places in America to start a business or career. Kiplinger ranked Indianapolis as one of the top 14 "Smart Places to Live" in the country.
   The Brookings Institution reported that Indianapolis was one of only six U.S. cities to experience enough job growth in advanced services positions to offset employment losses in manufacturing, and ranked the city No. 1 in the net gain of advanced services jobs, adding 34,500 positions.
   Big deals announced last year in the 11- county region included Nestlι's $357- million investment in an 880,000- sq.- ft. (81,752- sq.- m.) plant and Rolls Royce's $145- million expansion that creates 600 aerospace jobs.
 

T

he McAllen Economic Development Corp. was responsible for $370 million in capital investment and 7,711 new jobs in McAllen, Texas, and Reynosa, Mexico, last year – making the McAllen EDC the top- performing cross- border agency in North America.
   "Most of the companies that have moved to Reynosa have operations in McAllen," said Bonnie Loflin, marketing director for the McAllen EDC. "The cities of McAllen and Reynosa offer companies the ability to provide their customers with custom- ordered product with just- in- time delivery. It is not uncommon for companies located in Reynosa to receive an order for a unique, custom- ordered product and deliver it to the customer anywhere in North America within 24 to 48 hours of the order."
   Logistics operations thrive on both sides of the border. Last year, the area received facility investments from USA Logistics and JVC Services in McAllen, while netting distribution centers from Seiko and Basal in Reynosa.
 

T

he nation's fastest- growing metro area shows no signs of slowing down. Since 2000, metro Atlanta has added 900,000 people – more than any other MSA in the country – to reach a population of 5.1 million.
   The 28- county region of North Georgia ranked sixth in new plant job creation and 10th in capital investment in 2006, netting 5,074 jobs and $1.65 billion from its corporate projects.
   Atlanta ranks ninth in technology transfer, according to the Milken Institute, and fourth in logistics. "Atlanta is a powerhouse for transportation and logistics, ranking fourth in the nation behind cities more than twice its size – New York, Los Angeles and Chicago," said Michael Porter, Harvard Business School professor and noted cluster expert, in a recent report. "And Atlanta keeps gaining momentum. In the last 15 years, Atlanta has gained more and more of the national market share of logistics employment in the nation, and grown jobs in this industry faster than any of the top 20 clusters."
   Service First Logistics placed two warehouses totaling 780,000 sq. ft. (72,462 sq. m.) in Atlanta last year, while PetSmart added an 875,000- sq.- ft. (81,288- sq.- m.) distribution center.
 

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f the 3,142 micropolitan areas in the U.S., there is one county that has outperformed every other in economic development over the past three years: Iredell County, N.C.
   Anchored by the small towns of Statesville in the north and Mooresville in the south, Iredell has become an economic juggernaut on the north side of Charlotte, with the projects to prove it.
   The Mooresville- South Iredell Economic Development Corp. and the Greater Statesville Development Corp. accounted for 28 corporate real estate projects between them in 2006.
   New projects include a $3- million, 14,000- sq.- ft. (1,301- sq.- m.) plant for C&R Racing, an Indianapolis- based company that will make drive- trains and gearboxes in Mooresville, and a $1- million, 50- job expansion for BSI Balance Systems in Statesville.
   Melanie O'Connell Underwood, economic development director for Mooresville, tells Site Selection that two other Indianapolis companies recently visited her city and expect to make project announcements by May 1.
 

L

ook out, Charlotte and Research Triangle. A third major player has emerged on the stage of economic development in North Carolina: the Piedmont Triad Partnership.
   With 1.5 million people and a work force of 800,000, the region that includes Winston- Salem, Greensboro and High Point is rapidly becoming a force in several industrial sectors.
   One of North Carolina's biggest deals of 2006 occurred in Asheboro in Randolph County, where Malt- O- Meal announced on Nov. 30 that it will invest $104 million and create 164 jobs.
   "Choosing North Carolina was a pretty easy decision for us once we stacked up all the evidence and reviewed our criteria such as central location within the Eastern Seaboard, the skilled labor force available in the greater Asheboro area, and the No. 1 ranking of the state's business climate in Site Selection magazine," said John Lettmann, CEO of Malt- O- Meal.
   Another big deal came earlier in 2006 when RFMD announced that it would invest $80 million to expand its Greensboro facility and add 300 jobs.
 

T

he St. Louis Cardinals may have won Major League Baseball's World Series in October 2006, but the Gateway to the West also made headlines in 2006 by placing seventh in jobs and seventh in capital investment from its corporate facility projects. The real estate deals netted the 16- county, bi- state region 4,790 jobs and $2.4 billion.
   By 2008, an estimated $4 billion will have been spent on projects in downtown St. Louis alone. In the city and around it, major life science investments continue to dominate the news.
   On Dec. 15, Biovest announced it would hire 40 workers, including scientists, who will manufacture $25 million in medical devices per year at a future plant on The Hill. And just one month earlier, the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University announced it had won a $156- million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute to find genes involved in cancer and other diseases.
 

T

he Windy City – the No. 1 metro in America in corporate facility projects last year – was second in jobs with 10,138 and second in investment at $5.05 billion.
   World Business Chicago launched a new Web site last year that includes interviews with Chicago's top C- suite executives, interactive maps, an events calendar and new photos of the city.
   World Business Chicago played a pivotal role in convincing HSBC North America Holdings Inc. to relocate and expand in the area, adding 2,400 employees and 440,000 sq. ft. (40,876 sq. m.). IMS Companies LLC added 400 workers and 255,000 sq. ft. (23,690 sq. m.); James McHugh Construction Co. announced a $112- million investment; and Blue Cross/Blue Shield is creating enough space to nearly double its occupancy to 8,000 by adding 24 floors to its downtown location, at a cost of $270 million.  

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