“No form of nuclear fission power — of any kind — is possible without relying on uranium,” says a new Nuclear Energy Agency report. So it figures where to find and process the stuff might be important.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner yesterday visited One80 Place, a $44 million, six-story Opportunity Zone development for the homeless in Charleston, South Carolina, that includes 70 affordable housing units and a family shelter.
Rendering courtesy of The Michaels Organization
As the federal Opportunity Zones (OZ) program looks to become OZ 2.0 as part of new federal tax legislation, a working paper released last month by the Economic Innovation Group (EIG) offers evidence the desired rise in housing has indeed occurred. “The need to boost housing supply has become a rare area of agreement across the political spectrum, and yet the impact of one of the most significant economic development policies on the books remains poorly understood,” EIG stated. “Our findings reveal that the flexible, market‐driven approach of the OZ incentive has succeeded at mobilizing private capital at an unprecedented scale and cost efficiency.”
The new EIG study looked at net residential address growth from Q3 2019 to Q3 2024 using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the United States Postal Service. Among its findings:
“The OZ incentive caused an increase of 313,000 new residential addresses in designated communities from Q3 2019 to Q3 2024 — roughly doubling their housing growth over that period. What’s more, the effects were still growing as of the end of our study period, meaning that our results do not yet capture ‘peak OZ’ housing effects.”
The subsidy cost for new housing directly attributable to OZs was roughly $26,000 per residential address — a fraction of the cost of traditional housing programs.
OZ communities accounted for 8.9% of all new residential addresses nationwide during the study period, a 37% increase in share over the previous five-year period. “But for the OZ incentive,,” the analysis asserts, “designated communities would have instead shrunk to merely 4.9% of new residential addresses nationwide.”
As the fastest growing major metro in the Midwest (U.S. Census) and with a cost of doing business that’s 14.6% below the national average (Moody’s Analytics), the business climate in Greater Des Moines, Iowa makes it a prime location for companies looking to grow.
Key industries like advanced manufacturing, ag innovation, logistics and technology lead here. In DSM, companies have access to an engaged and educated workforce — the labor force participation rate is 70% and nearly 40% of the workforce has a bachelor’s degree or higher (JobsEQ). Companies can streamline their site selection process with the DSM RFI Ready program and utilize the region’s economic development team at the Greater Des Moines Partnership for support and expertise. See how your business can grow in DSM.
SITE SELECTION RECOMMENDS
Infographic courtesy of Kearney
In cooperation with Amazon Web Services, Kearney in late March released its third annual COO survey. The report includes findings from surveying more than 120 senior operations leaders from large organizations with operations across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and Africa. Across a host of topics from generative AI to ESG priorities, supply chain was one focal point. The survey found that “while cost remains the driving force behind decisions on staples like transportation and sourcing for 48% and 42% of respondents respectively, there is a strong focus on risk over cost optimization when it comes to strategic decisions about the geographic footprint, with leaders around 75% more likely to prioritize risk.”
Watch for more insights from Kearney in the forthcoming “Global Best to Invest” rankings in the May issue of Site Selection.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Photo courtesy of Comisión Mexicana de Filmaciones
Located in Chiapas, Mexico, a few miles from the state capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Sumidero Canyon National Park features views like this of the cliffs overlooking the Grijalva River. The park covers 21,789 hectares (53,842 acres) across five municipalities and includes Chicoasén hydroelectric dam and a 20-mile-long reservoir.
