Investor Watch: May 11, 2026

Battery maker Clarios will expand in St. Joe. Ford pivots but does not travel in Kentucky. The latest of several ongoing Novartis investments in the United States comes to North Carolina.

TOP MEXICAN LOCATIONS 2026

Based on corporate facility project investment data, Querétaro is the top-performing state in Mexico and 10 regions distinguish themselves as Mexico’s Top Metros in this first-ever ranking of its kind for the country in Site Selection’s history.

INVESTMENT PROFILE: TENNESSEE

For two consecutive years, international businesses have accounted for over two-thirds of the capital investment unveiled in the Volunteer State.

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Photo courtesy of National New Markets Fund

In April, National New Markets Fund, LLC (NNMF), an affiliate of Los Angeles-based SDS Capital Group, announced it had invested $28.5 million of its New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation authority to support the expansion of RoyOMartin’s manufacturing operations in Corrigan, Texas, located.

A press release from NNMF explained that the $115.1 million project will retain 200 full-time jobs and create 123 new full-time positions. RoyOMartin, established in 1923, currently operates a 407,125-sq.-ft. plant that manufactures oriented strand board. A new 370,400-sq.-ft. specialty facility is under construction on the company’s existing 150-acre campus and will increase total production capacity by 70%.

“NNMF’s investment of New Markets Tax Credits from the U.S. Treasury Department is central to this manufacturing expansion,” said Roy O. Martin III, chairman and chief investment officer of the company, which makes wood products and also manages 550,000 acres of certified timberland. “This is exactly the kind of public-private partnership that makes large-scale growth possible in places that need it most — ensuring that rural Texas communities share in that prosperity.”

“Rural manufacturing communities like Corrigan face severe economic challenges, and this expansion is exactly the type of project NMTCs are designed to support,” said Deborah La Franchi, founder & CEO of SDS Capital Group, and president of National New Markets Fund.

Since its creation in 2000, the NMTC program has generated $76 billion in qualified equity investment and $143 billion in total development financing to over 8,900 businesses across urban, suburban, and rural low-income communities, creating 1.2 million jobs nationwide.

A February 2026 Site Selection Snapshot analyzed top markets for deployment of New Markets Tax Credits, reflecting consistent trends among leading states since a previous Snapshot analysis of NMTCs in September 2024. The July 2026 issue of Site Selection will include the publication’s annual feature on rural economic development.

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Reflecting optimism among German companies in South and Central America, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz in April signed a joint declaration of intent to expand scientific and technological cooperation in critical and strategic minerals. The move followed a November 2025 commitment by Germany to contribute €1 billion ($1.15 billion) over the next decade to Brazil’s new global rainforest fund.
Image by Oleksii Liskonih: Getty Images

Last week saw the release of AHK World Business Outlook Spring 2026 by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), based on feedback from more than 4,500 German companies surveyed worldwide through the networks of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs).

“Hopes for an economic recovery have been dashed. The global economy is in crisis mode, and companies are feeling the impact directly,” said DIHK Head of Foreign Trade Volker Treier. “The war in the Middle East once again highlights just how vulnerable globally interconnected value chains are, especially when key trade routes come under geopolitical pressure. The Strait of Hormuz is more than just a bottleneck: It exemplifies the vulnerability of global markets — and thus also the current problems of the German economic model.”

Only 21% of companies expect better economic performance at their international locations over the next 12 months, while 32% anticipate a deterioration. “This is more than just an economic setback. Uncertainty is becoming the defining factor,” said Treier. Forty-six percent of companies view high energy prices as a key business risk — more than twice as many as in fall 2025. Supply chain disruptions are cited by 40% and rising raw material prices by 37%.

However, regional expectations vary, said a GACC release. “While companies in China, the U.S., and the Mercosur countries are currently looking ahead to the coming months with relative optimism, skepticism prevails in Asia and the Middle East. There, rising energy prices, increasing disruptions in supply chains, and ongoing supply risks are weighing on the outlook. Expectations are also dimming in the EU and the U.S., albeit from a generally more stable baseline … South and Central America, on the other hand, are bucking the global trend: nearly one in three companies there expects business to improve (33%), while only 23% anticipate a deterioration. Geographical distance from the conflict, domestic energy sources and momentum from the Mercosur agreement are ensuring comparatively stable prospects.”

Photo courtesy of USGS

This photo by Mario Martínez-Yáñez for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows an outcrop of the Bossier Formation which stretches underneath the onshore Gulf Coast from Mexico to Florida. The USGS last week released an assessment of undiscovered gas and oil in the Bossier Formation that concluded there are “technically recoverable resources of 343.5 trillion cubic feet of gas — enough to supply the United States for more than 10 years at the current rate of consumption — as well as 3 million barrels of oil.”