Investor Watch: January 8, 2026

There is a growing fear that the outsourcing industry is under threat, not only from the possibility of replacing live agents with AI, but also from policy changes in America, like the proposed bill called the Keep Call Centers in America Act. The CEO of a leading business process outsourcing (BPO) firm shares unique insight from Jamaica.

STATE OF THE STATES

Representing the work of Site Selection’s entire research and editorial teams and meticulously assembled and designed by lead designer Richard Nenoff, this annual compendium presents legislative and policy updates; demographic, GDP and credit rating stats; six “Rankings That Matter” (including one from the above-cited Tax Foundation); agency information; governor quotes; and, in some cases, project profiles, all of which shed light on the economies, workforce and business climates of the 50 states.

INVESTMENT PROFILE: SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

From Rancho Cucamonga to Barstow, the mindset is the same: Go big or go home.

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Archive photo courtesy of PIDC and GSK

Paul Schwedelson reported this week in the Philadelphia Business Journal that, “after failing to find a buyer at sheriff’s sale, the former Navy Yard home of pharmaceutical giant GSK has finally been sold.” The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters purchased the vacant 207,779-square-foot building at 5 Crescent Drive for $52 million, 60% less than it last traded for eight years ago, he reported, and will move around 125 employees there from its current Philly headquarters within the next six months. The union will also construct a training facility in the parking lot of the former GSK property (archive photo from 2016 above), which has been closed since 2022 when the pharma giant downsized and moved to offices at FMC Tower in University City.

“This is about building for the future,” William Sproule, the union’s executive secretary-treasurer, said in a statement to Schwedelson, expressing a sentiment once held by GSK leaders. GSK’s campus at Navy Yard was first occupied in 2012 when Site Selection noted other biopharma investment in the neighborhood from such companies as Iroko Pharmaceuticals (which went out of business in 2020.) The modern GSK facility also was a primary discussion point with the global head of design and change management for GSK’s Worldwide Real Estate & Facilities team in this 2016 Site Selection Investment Profile.

As noted in another Site Selection Investment Profile last year, 2025 marked 25 years since PIDC, the public-private economic development partner of the City of Philadelphia, acquired the 1,200 Navy Yard property from the federal government. And the life sciences remain key to Navy Yard and to the region. Today, says PIDC, the Navy Yard is “an expanding community of 16,500 employees and 150 employers” occupying 8 million sq. ft. of space, but the property can still support an additional 8.9 million sq. ft. of commercial and residential development at full buildout. In addition to Urban Outfitters’ headquarters and various manufacturers and corporate R&D locations, the Navy Yard still has a mix of life sciences firms that includes Adaptimmune, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Minaris Advanced Therapies and Orchestra Life Sciences, which announced in November it was moving its global HQ to Philly from Montreal.

Minaris operations incorporate a major site formerly operated by China-based WuXi Advanced Therapies, which in December 2024 sold its U.S. and UK operations to health care private equity firm Altaris after new U.S. legislation came forward potentially restricting partnerships with certain Chinese companies. However, WuXi AppTec still moved forward in early 2025 with a $510 million manufacturing campus in Middletown, Delaware, that aims to be phase-one operational by the end of this year. — Adam Bruns

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West Palm Beach is emerging as South Florida’s center of business, where healthcare, financial services, and technology leaders are building what comes next. Related Ross is reimagining the city’s skyline, creating a connected ecosystem where global firms, growth-stage companies, and talent can scale together. Led by Stephen Ross, the firm is advancing more than $10 billion in planned investment across Palm Beach County to anchor a new era of commerce and innovation. From next-generation Class AA+ office buildings and mixed-use city centers to luxury and attainable housing, hospitality, and activated public spaces, Related Ross is designing the platforms high-growth enterprises need to recruit top talent, collaborate across sectors, and move at the speed of opportunity.

South Dakota, whose capitol in Pierre (pronounced “peer”) is pictured here, is one of only two states that levy neither a corporate income tax nor a gross receipts tax.

Photo by Travel South Dakota

The Tax Foundation has released its update on states’ corporate income tax burdens in 2026. Top rates range from a 2% flat rate in North Carolina to an 11.5% top marginal rate in New Jersey. “Four states — Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — reduced their corporate income tax rates effective January 1, 2026, while no states increased their corporate income tax rates,” the Tax Foundation stated.

While some states levy a gross receipts tax instead of a corporate income tax or levy some combination of the two, “South Dakota and Wyoming are the only states that levy neither a corporate income tax nor a gross receipts tax,” said the Tax Foundation.

Photo by Seo Heun-kang © Ulsan Metropolitan City, courtesy of UNESCO

Among the properties inscribed in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites last year was this area along the Bangucheon Stream in Ulsan on the Republic of Korea’s southeastern coast, spanning a landscape of stratified cliffs. “It features two significant rock art sites: the Daegok-ri and Cheonjeon-ri Petroglyphs,” UNESCO states. “These panels contain dense concentrations of engravings created by successive generations from 5,000 BCE to the 9th century CE. Carved using stone and metal tools, the petroglyphs depict a wide range of imagery and reflect both prehistoric and historic cultural expressions.”

The Sayeon Dam constructed outside the southern boundary of the buffer zone has, in the past, created significant environmental pressures on one part of the petroglyphs of the property, “but its negative impact has now been largely mitigated,” says UNESCO.