Investor Watch: November 25, 2024

SOUTHEAST

Cool projects make the news at properties that used to print it.

NEWS DIGEST

A port expansion in the Republic of the Congo; bioproducts in Queensland, Australia; more chips in Japan; India’s solar boost; and record robotics stats.

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Alexis Elmore reports on the construction of North America’s largest Asian food manufacturing site; Cologix’s latest data center announcement in Johnstown, Ohio; and Weyerhaeuser’s plans for a new engineered wood products facility in Warren, Arkansas.

Babson College’s prioritization of entrepreneurship included the 2022 dedication of the Herring Family Entrepreneurial Leadership Village, home of the Babson Executive Conference Center.

An atmosphere encouraging entrepreneurship (in the form of fast-growing companies) was among the 14 components of Site Selection’s recently published state business climate rankings. Encouraging that environment within higher education is the mission of the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), headquartered at the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship in Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. The GCEC’s annual conference this month, hosted by the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College near Boston, recognized top entrepreneurship centers nationwide, including these programs receiving top honors:

Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center, schools with less than 7,500 students
Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Tulsa

Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center, schools with more than 7,500 students
Tulane Innovation Institute at Tulane University

Exceptional Activities in Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines
Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale University

Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago
University of Toronto Entrepreneurship

Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education
UCL School of Management at University College London

Outstanding Student Engagement & Leadership, schools with less than 7,500 students
Joseph C. Prince Entrepreneurship Program at Stetson University

Outstanding Student Engagement & Leadership, schools with more than 7,500 students
Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of HawaiiZ
J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation at Arizona State University

Exceptional Contributions in Entrepreneurship Research
Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship at Iowa State University

Excellence in Entrepreneurship Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation
Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Loyola University Maryland

Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence, schools with less than 7,500 students
Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital at the London Business School

Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence, schools with more than 7,500 students
Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Texas Christian University
Georgetown Entrepreneurship at Georgetown University

GCEC Center of Entrepreneurial Leadership
Babson College
Sasin School of Management

Two legacy awards honored individuals for their pioneering work advancing entrepreneurship in universities and/or directing a university entrepreneurship center that created a legacy impact on the field went to Jeffrey S. Hornsby of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Tom Byers and Tina Seelig, Stanford University.

The GCEC this year also hosted its first convening in Southeast Asia in Bangkok. The organization’s 2025 conference will be held next October in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

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2018 Air National Guard photo by Technical Sgt. Daniel J. Martinez courtesy of DVIDS

New analysis by the U.S. Department of the Interior was released last week that estimates the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, marking the third anniversary of its signing, supported more than 28,000 jobs and contributed more than $3.3 billion to the economy in fiscal year 2024. Here is the breakout by four specific categories:

Among the projects supported by BIL since it came into effect in November 2021 is a new U.S. Geological Survey Energy and Minerals Research Facility on the Colorado Schools of Mines campus and the voluntary Community Driven Relocation program (supported by $135 million in BIL funds as well as state and other organizations) that by the end of this year will see the complete relocation of Newtok Village in Alaska to a new, safer community in Mertarvik (pictured) due to erosion.

Photo by Shane Woodruff

Earlier this month, Lindsay Lopp and her boyfriend Shane Woodruff did some climbing and hiking in the north Georgia mountains that included Yonah Mountain. “Since the 1960s, Yonah Mountain has served as a training ground for U.S. Army Rangers as well as a popular destination for climbers,” Lopp writes. “Standing at 3,166 ft. of elevation, the summit of Yonah Mountain offers unparalleled views of Northeast Georgia.”