Investor Watch: June 11, 2026

Shopping mall sites have the potential to transform communities. In a special report for Site Selection, Deloitte location experts explain why.

GEORGIA INTELLIGENCE REPORT

In this expanded web edition, two companies from Belgium and Japan find Georgia feels like home. Plus: A special report on Georgia’s global fintech connections.

NEW JERSEY

A tech guru who specializes in coaching the founders and CEOs of software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups says jobs that require high levels of technical talent are moving to New Jersey in droves.

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Last week, Spelman College in Atlanta, recently named by U.S. News & World Report No. 1 for the 19th year among historically Black colleges and universities and No. 37 among all liberal arts colleges, named Dr. Ayanna Howard as the institution’s 12th president. “Dr. Howard joins Spelman from The Ohio State University, where she serves as dean of the College of Engineering and holds the Monte Ahuja Endowed Dean’s Chair,” said Spelman’s announcement. “A nationally recognized expert in robotics, artificial intelligence and human-centered technology, Dr. Howard’s career spans leadership roles in higher education, industry, entrepreneurship and government, including service at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Georgia Institute of Technology,” where she conducted the work that launched Zyrobotics, a company she co-founded that is focused on developing educational and therapeutic technologies for children with special needs.

Site Selection Senior Editor Alexis Elmore interviewed Howard for the story “The Talent Industries Want and Need.”

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Pullman Crossings, Chicago, Illinois
Photo courtesy of Ryan Companies

On June 8, NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, announced it had selected Minnesota-based Ryan Companies US, Inc. as its 2026 Developer of the Year — the association’s highest honor. The award will be presented during NAIOP’s fall conference this October in Denver.

NAIOP stated that Ryan was selected “for its outstanding record of innovation, sustainable development, philanthropy and industry leadership. Notable projects include Highland Bridge in St. Paul, Minnesota, which transformed the former Ford Motor Company assembly plant into a vibrant mixed-use community; Oracle’s waterfront corporate campus in Austin, Texas; and Pullman Crossings in Chicago [pictured above], a redevelopment that has generated jobs and investment in the city’s historic Pullman neighborhood.”

Founded in 1938, Ryan Companies provides development, architecture, engineering, construction, investment and property management services via an integrated platform that delivers projects across the industrial, housing, mission critical, healthcare, office, retail, senior living and mixed-use sectors throughout the United States.

The cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Família was placed in February 2026.
Photo by Pep Daudé courtesy of Fundació Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família

At a Mass and ceremony last night in Barcelona, Pope Leo inaugurated the cross installed in February (pictured) atop the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Família, which brought the basilica to 172.5 meters (564 ft.), making it the tallest church in the world, but still just shy of the height of nearby Montjuïc Hill because architect Antoni Gaudí did not believe manmade structures should surpass the work of God.

The ceremonies yesterday took place on the centenary of Gaudí’s death. The basilica has been under construction for 144 years. While the exterior is now complete, says a release from Sagrada Familia, interior work will continue in 2027 and 2028.