Map To the Stars

Site Selection’s analysis of the Top Industries for corporate facility investment in 2015 reveals the Top 10 projects by capital investment in each of the five leading sectors, portrayed in the map.

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The five leading sectors are the same five as the past two years, and in the same order, led by transportation equipment. The total number of vehicle projects was down by 50, but that number includes some whoppers, such as the Faraday Future plant in Nevada, and several in both Mexico and China. Chemicals/pharmaceuticals tallied 69 more projects in 2015 than the year before, while food processing climbed by 44 projects. Machinery and fabricated metal projects each dipped slightly.

Cumulatively, the number of projects tallied overall in these five leading sectors totaled 2,760 — two more than the 2,758 tallied in 2014.

The proprietary Conway Projects Database tracks private-sector facility investments around the world, based on at least $1 million invested, at least 25,000 new sq. ft. or at least 20 new jobs created.

Trends among these big projects include:

• The reshoring or simple establishment of manufacturing in the US continues, especially in the South, along the Gulf Coast and in Michigan.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” strategy already has some momentum.
• Finishing just outside these Top 10 lists in four of the five categories (excluding transportation equipment) were multiple projects located across the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.