Investor Watch: December 12, 2024

The Seabed 2030 Project aims to compile a map of the entire seafloor by the year 2030. The detail work starts at the coasts, but a company driving the project is in Colorado.

MISSISSIPPI

A Liebherr Group leader talks about the company’s new project in Tupelo, and a new medical cannabis program launches at the University of Mississippi.

NEW YORK

The state’s invaluable milk supply secures significant economic wins.

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As reported in the May 2024 issue of Site Selection, the Port of Lake Charles has helped Southwest Louisiana land more than $100 billion in new industrial development.
Photo courtesy of Port of Lake Charles

The end of this year will see the retirement of George Swift, the founding president and CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (SWLA). Over his 20 years of service, George, his team, SWLA’s community partners and an array of corporate investors have provided Site Selection readers a front-row seat to witness the region’s tremendous growth and resilience. A few examples:

George Swift

May 2024: “How LNG Energized the South’s Industrial Base”
March 2023 Investment Profile: “Bolstered & Better”
March 2016 Investment Profile: “Air Supremacy”
March 2012 Investment Profile: “The Game Changer”
September 2011: “In Fact It’s a Gas”

Swift continues to offer wise guidance to his home territory, including this October commentary about the importance of prepared industrial sites for job creation. “Let’s seize this moment to invest in our community, because a strong foundation today will pave the way for the thriving industries of tomorrow,” he writes. Site Selection salutes a leader who’s been part of that strong foundation and who’s always had tomorrow in mind.

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Nashville, Tennessee
Photo by Art Wager: Getty Images

California-based real estate analytics firm ATTOM last week released its latest Special Housing Risk Report, which shows that “California, New Jersey and Illinois once again had high concentrations of the most-at-risk markets in the country, with parts of Florida also joining that mix. Less-vulnerable markets continued to be clustered in the South region of the nation.” The report finds that 22 of the 50 counties considered least vulnerable to housing market problems from among the 578 reviewed in the third-quarter report were in the South. “Another 13 were in Midwest, followed by 11 in the Northeast and just four in the West,” said an ATTOM release. Tennessee had eight of the least at-risk counties in the third quarter, including Rutherford and Williamson counties in the Nashville metro area, Blount and Knox County in the Knoxville metro area, Hamilton County (Chattanooga), Bradley County (outside Chattanooga), Sullivan County (Kingsport) and Washington County (Johnson City). Wisconsin had seven, led by two each in or near Green Bay and Madison.

Photo courtesy of DHL

Among what DHL calls its five most unusual deliveries worldwide in 2024 was the moving of 163 Cape and African White-backed vultures from a rehabilitation facility near Pretoria to the Shamwari wildlife reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. “Supported by various non-profit organizations, this operation was crucial for providing the critically endangered birds with a safe environment where they can breed and thrive with minimal human exposure,” DHL said last week. “Spanning more than 1,000 kilometers, the transport represented the largest vulture relocation project ever undertaken. Using two 34-ton trucks along with five support and security vehicles, DHL ensured the 18-hour journey for the precious cargo went as smoothly as possible. Over 50 volunteers were involved in the project, carefully loading all birds in three hours. This initiative is part of a broader effort to restore African vulture populations.”