Investor Watch: February 19, 2026

“In my years within the manufacturing sector, I have heard one question more than any other,” writes Dayton Rogers Manufacturing CEO Stephanie Lowry. “Where is the next generation of talent going to come from?” She and her team have some ideas in this sneak preview from Workforce 2026.

DELAWARE

Ron Starner shares notes from a whirlwind tour of the state and an enlightening check-in with demographer Hamilton Lombard.

ALABAMA

One reason why? Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair tells Site Selection that restructuring the Department of Labor as the Department of Workforce “exemplifies the state’s commitment to talent development, attraction and retention.” Plus a peek at a huge federal government location choice in Huntsville.

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Photo courtesy of John Bouchard & Sons

John Bouchard & Sons, the 125-year-old Nashville-based industrial services company whose fascinating history was documented in an October 2025 Site Selection Snapshot about the company, has put that history into book form: “John Bouchard & Sons – Since 1900” is a 302-page tome that the company says illuminates “the Mid-South’s hidden infrastructure history, skilled heroes and American tenacity. While it tells the story of a single family owned company, it also offers a wider view of how skilled trades, regional contractors, and industrial service providers quietly support communities and long term investment over generations.” The company also has operations in Knoxville, Tennessee; Elizabethtown, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana.

Nashville’s history now includes the destructive ice storm that struck in January. Asked how JBS employees and their families are faring in the aftermath, Carver Morgan, the sixth-generation employee and son of JBS owner Lisa Bouchard Morgan, chair and CEO, and her husband William, company president, writes, “We are well after the storm, but there is certainly a LOT of cleanup going on in Nashville. It is amazing how many trees were downed.”

Recovery resources can be found at Nashville Responds, the website operated by Nashville Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). VOAD, the United Way of Greater Nashville and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee also have established a Winter Storm Recovery Fund that has so far raised more than $2.3 million.

Music City knows a thing or two about disaster recovery, as the Site Selection story “Nashville Rising” documented in September 2011 following the floods of 2010. — Adam Bruns

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Map courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau

Last week the U.S. Census Bureau announced that new partnerships with Brigham Young University-Idaho and the University of North Carolina System have added data from 17 post-secondary institutions to the Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) experimental data product. The update increases PSEO coverage to 952 institutions and approximately 35% of all college graduates in the United States.

“Data users can access the information generated by linking graduate transcript records to Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data via the PSEO Explorer tool, raw files, and the Census API,” said the Bureau. Seven states have enough participating institutions to cover more than 75% of graduates, led by 87% coverage in Virginia and 86% coverage in South Carolina and Wyoming. The data say engineering and technician undergraduate degree holders in Virginia are making well over $102,000 10 years after earning their degrees, while those in the health professions make just under $85,000 and education majors make just over $62,000.

Photos courtesy of MAPFRE Inmeubles

Precision site selection calls for locating not only in the right city, but the right neighborhood in that city. For EA Sports, that means the Ombú Building located in the upcoming Méndez Álvaro area of Madrid, Spain. In January, MAPFRE Inmuebles, the real estate investment arm of Spain-based MAPFRE Group responsible for managing a €3.2 billion portfolio across 25 countries, acquired the building from ACCIONA. The overall site includes more than 14,000 sq. m. (150,695 sq. ft.) of building space and 12,000 sq. m. (129,167 sq. ft.) of green space.

MAPFRE was advised by international law firm Addleshaw Goddard, which noted in a separate announcement that the former working engine room of the Industrial Gasification Society was originally constructed between 1903 and 1909. In its own release, ACCIONA, which was advised on the sale by JLL and CBRE, noted that it had overseen the site’s renovation carried out by the architectural firms Foster + Partners and Ortiz.León before inaugurating the redeveloped building in June 2022.

The May 2026 issue of Site Selection will include a new feature showcasing innovative projects for corporate occupiers from the world’s leading architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms by revenue.