Investor Watch: August 21, 2025

A coalition of top research institutions, patient and health advocates, and companies earlier this year published its annual analysis of jobs and economic activity supported by National Institutes of Health research awards. How do top states for NIH funding correlate with top locations for biotech and life sciences industry activity? Very well indeed.

NEW JERSEY

France’s Sanofi opened its $130 million U.S. headquarters in May.

NEWS DIGEST

Amazon and WhiteFiber in North Carolina; FDI manufacturing trends; SMR milestone in Ontario; Unilever invests in Mexico operations; aerospace manufacturing in Florida; Stellantis in Michigan.

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Among the sites sold by RACER Trust is the former Ontario Stamping Plant in Ontario, Ohio. The City of Ontario took title in 2018 and last year sold it to Industrial Commercial Properties, which is developing spec property at a business park on the site.
Photo courtesy of RACER Trust

The latest economic impact report from RACER Trust, created in March 2011 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to clean up and position for redevelopment properties and other facilities owned by the former General Motors Corp. before its 2009 bankruptcy, says investments and the jobs created by buyers and end users of RACER’s former GM properties, along with RACER’s expenditures on holding, cleanup and repositioning of properties, were generating an estimated $25.8 billion in annual economic output for communities in 13 states as of April 1, 2025.

At the effective date on March 31, 2011, RACER Trust’s real property portfolio consisted of 336 tax parcels with 34 million sq. ft. in 167 buildings on 6,776 acres of land in 83 locations in 14 states. To date, RACER has completed 98 property transactions covering more than 5,000 acres and 22.5 million sq. ft. of building space and has secured regulatory closure on 59 formerly contaminated parcels. Examples include Pontiac, Michigan (United Shore Mortgage, 4,300 jobs, among others); Lordstown, Ohio (Ultium Cells, 3,200 jobs); Moraine, Ohio (Fuyao Automotive, 3,022 jobs); Wilmington, Delaware (Amazon.com, 3,000 jobs); and Romulus, Michigan (multiple tenants, 2,006 jobs).

“Results like this require commitment and buy-in from multiple parties, including but not limited to buyers and developers, environmental regulators, economic development organizations, community leaders and experienced cleanup teams,” said Elliott P. Laws, of EPLET, LLC, administrative trustee of RACER Trust. “In addition to our cleanup and redevelopment activities, RACER has acted as an advocate for our communities, identifying and sharing grant opportunities, connecting local leaders with state and national resources, hiring local contractors to perform cleanups and incorporating local infrastructure needs with site remediation and redevelopment plans. We are very proud of the results we have helped achieve and remain dedicated to driving positive outcomes for our communities.”

Site Selection has reported on redevelopment efforts at RACER Trust sites practically since the trust’s inception, beginning in June 2012 and including a February 2015 check-in in Detroit and this January 2023 Investment Profile about Flint, Michigan, where the Flint Commerce Center on April 1 this year celebrated the full lease-out of phase one of the Flint Commerce Center on a RACER Trust site.

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Graph courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau

County Business Patterns (CBP) data tables are available in data.census.gov from 2012 to the current reference year and in print publication from 1993-2003. Releases this summer have included new data from 2023 organized by zip code and by county, and the 2023 CBP Ocean Economy Table for the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.

The number of establishments, employment during the week of March 12, first quarter payroll, and annual payroll are provided for nearly 1,000 industries, with data available at the national, state, combined statistical area, metropolitan/micropolitan statistical area, county, congressional district and ZIP code levels. In addition, the data are presented by legal form of organization and employment size of the establishment.

“The data are useful for studying economic activity of small areas,” the Census Bureau explains. “Federal agencies, state and local governments, and private businesses use the data to determine employee concentrations and trends by industry, analyze market potential, measure the effectiveness of programs, develop budgets and plan future policies and programs.”

Photo by Tian Fangfang and Zhang Xi courtesy of WJ STUDIO and v2com newswire

Designed by WJ STUDIO for Zhoushan Shengsi Lost Villa Hotel Management Co., Ltd., the remote Huanglong Island Lighthouse Hotel is located in the Zhoushan Archipelago in Shengsi County in Zhejiang Province, China. The island is also known as “East Sea Stone Village.”

“Positioned as a national-level island scenic zone integrating marine culture with island folk traditions, Shengsi focuses on ecotourism, leisure retreats and scientific education,” the firm explains in a release, noting the island’s challenges that include an aging population and the closing of its elementary school. “During the design team’s initial site exploration,” the release continues, “the island’s distinctive character proved profoundly arresting.” Just like this photograph.