Investor Watch: October 23, 2025

In an exclusive contribution, Brian Danahy of Stonemont Financial Group explores the transformation of a long-vacant, contaminated site in Passaic, New Jersey, in one of the Northeast’s most complex industrial environments.

PENNSYLVANIA

Alexis Elmore reports on the thriving AI and tech ecosystem in Pittsburgh and interviews Amazon VP of Economic Development Roger Wehner.

MISSOURI

Since January 2024, Missouri has secured 21 new food and beverage projects totaling $537 million in investment across the state. An agricultural and plant science heritage helps. So will the new Food and Agriculture Research Mission (FARM) at Washington University.

ADVERTISEMENT

Where opportunity takes off.

Titusville sits beside Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX and Blue Origin, placing your company at the front door of the world’s aerospace industry. No other community combines quint-modal connectivity by land, air, sea, rail, and space with available sites and proven talent pipelines.

In Titusville, innovation is not a slogan. It is daily reality.

Map courtesy of Stellantis

Stellantis last week announced plans to invest $13 billion over the next four years that will support the introduction of five new vehicles; production of an all-new four-cylinder engine; and the addition of more than 5,000 jobs at plants in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. The investment is the largest in the Company’s 100-year U.S. history. The company said the investment will increase annual finished vehicle production by 50% over current levels, with the product launches in addition to a regular cadence of 19 refreshed products across all U.S. assembly plants and updated powertrains planned through 2029. Stellantis’ U.S. footprint includes 34 manufacturing facilities, parts distribution centers and R&D locations across 14 states, supporting more than 48,000 employees, 2,600 dealers and nearly 2,300 suppliers.

A breakdown by state:

Illinois: More than $600 million invested at the Belvidere Assembly Plant, anticipated to create around 3,300 new jobs. The company’s position on Belvidere was explored in this Illinois story published in Site Selection in March.

Ohio: With an investment of nearly $400 million, assembly of an all-new midsize truck, previously allocated to the Belvidere plant, plans to move to the Toledo Assembly Complex, where it will join the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator. The production shift could create more than 900 jobs.”

Michigan: Stellantis will invest nearly $100 million to retool the Warren Truck Assembly Plant for the production of an all-new range-extended EV and internal combustion engine large SUV, adding more than 900 jobs. The company also expects to invest $130 million to prepare the Detroit Assembly Complex – Jefferson for production of the next-generation Dodge Durango. Site Selection in July reported on the company’s selection of Van Buren Township for a Mopar distribution operation known as the Metro Detroit Megahub.

Indiana: Stellantis confirmed its January announcement to make additional investments in several of its Kokomo facilities to produce the all-new four-cylinder engine – the GMET4 EVO – beginning in 2026. “The company plans to invest more than $100 million and to add more than 100 jobs to ensure that the U.S. will be the manufacturing home of this strategic powertrain.” A September 2021 Site Selection story chronicled how Duke Energy played a role in an expansion at that facility set in motion before the Stellantis name was adopted.

UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH

The most recent tallies show 48 schools received nearly $1.9 billion in federal obligations for science and engineering in FY 2023. It’s safe to say the state’s colleges and universities have a penchant for industry partnership and pioneering R&D.

ADVERTISEMENT

Graphic courtesy of Alliance for Automotive Innovation

California and Colorado top the rankings in a new report from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation that shows the market share of EVs in every state as of the second quarter of 2025. Yes, that means before the elimination of federal consumer EV tax credits on September 30. A total of 155 different vehicle models sold during the quarter. Michigan and North Carolina showed the largest market share gains.

“In the second quarter of 2025, automakers sold 385,075 electric vehicles (EVs, including battery, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric vehicles) in the United States, representing 9.46 percent of overall light-duty vehicle sales,” the report states. It was a decrease of 9,000 sales from the first quarter, “the first time in the modern EV era (since 2020) that the second quarter EV market share declined from the first quarter.” However, the report notes, once the tax incentive’s elimination was signed into law at the start of Q3, national sales data showed a noticeable uptick as consumers rushed to purchase EVs while the credit was still available.”

Boats and paddlers gather in the early morning light off Catalina Island for the start of the Ben Carlson Foundation’s 30-mile Memorial Paddle.
Photo courtesy of Economos DeWolf

A news release from commercial real estate services provider Economos DeWolf informed us last week that Economos DeWolf associate Matt Economos recently joined dozens of paddlers in the 10th annual Ben Carlson Foundation Memorial Paddle. “Covering 30 miles across the Pacific, the event raised more than $400,000 to support ocean safety, scholarships and community initiatives in honor of fallen Newport Beach lifeguard Ben Carlson,” who died 11 years ago while rescuing a swimmer in distress. Each paddler had to complete three separate 15-mile qualifying paddles at a four-mile-per-hour pace before joining the group crossing.

“This paddle reflects the best of Newport Beach and its surrounding cities — neighbors coming together for a cause bigger than themselves,” said Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton, who encouraged Economos to take part in this year’s event. “Paddling alongside Matt and the rest of the group was a reminder that service, in any form, keeps our community strong.”