Investor Watch: October 30, 2025

As the global pharmaceutical industry braces for new U.S. tariffs on imported drugs, writes Ron Starner, at least one New Jersey-based company is doubling down on its investment in South Florida.

ASSOCIATION UPDATE

Outgoing IAMC Chair Cary Hutchings writes his final Letter from the Chair. The “I Am IAMC” campaign takes off. And from Seattle to São Paulo (including Indianapolis last week and northwest Arkansas next spring), events continue to deliver valuable take-home insights.

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Mars Inc. in July said it would invest around $2 billion in U.S. manufacturing by the end of next year.
Photo courtesy of Mars Inc.

To prepare us for Halloween, the U.S. Census Bureau in September reminded us that, as of 2023, there were 280 U.S. establishments that primarily produced products from cacao beans, not to mention 3,409 U.S. confectionery and nut stores. There were also 133.2 million occupied U.S. housing units (read: potential trick-or-treat stops) and, as of July 1, 2024, 73.1 million U.S. children under the age of 18 (read: potential trick-or-treaters).

Site Selection stories with a sweet tooth include this July report documenting Ferrero Group’s multiple North American investments and a 2018 story about Mars Wrigley’s plant growing in Topeka, Kansas. Mars in July announced plans to invest an estimated $2 billion into its U.S. manufacturing operations (including a new Nature’s Bakery plant in Utah) by the end of 2026, and also committed to invest €1 billion across its European operations over that same time span. Our archives also include this partly sweet, partly bitter 2013 account of plant closures and reopenings by Hostess Brands, maker of Ding Dongs and Twinkies. The J.M Smucker Co. acquired Hostess Brands in November 2023. Earlier this year the company announce a $120 million expansion of another former Hostess Brands baked snacks plant in Columbus, Georgia.

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Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, chair of the National Governors Association, speaks at the organization’s summer meeting in July.
Photo courtesy of NGA

On Tuesday the National Governors Association (NGA) announced that a bipartisan group of 13 governors formed last February and led by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro had released a package of reform priorities to improve federal permitting and regulatory processes for critical energy infrastructure projects.

“This isn’t a Republican or Democrat issue. Every American needs to heat their home and power their vehicle,” said NGA Chair Gov. Stitt. “As the demand for energy rises as we bring new technologies and AI online, we need to complete energy infrastructure projects in a faster, more efficient way.”

“My administration has prioritized streamlining government to work for the people it serves and has responsibly sped up permitting to get new energy projects online and grow Pennsylvania’s economy,” said Gov. Shapiro. “It’s far past time that we position the United States to do the same in order to win the energy and AI race, and lower energy costs for all Americans.”

The news came 12 days after U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office had closed a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP) in order to reconductor and rebuild around 5,000 miles of transmission lines across Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia. Approximately 100 miles of transmission lines across Ohio and Oklahoma are the first projects to be supported by the loan guarantee.

Site Selection Vice President of Sales Charles FitzGibbon made this photograph last week looking out over the Gulf of Mexico from the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. MGM Resorts International says the resort, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024, recently completed $130 million in capital projects, including a $55 million room remodel of 1,727 guest rooms and suites. In addition to its 85,000-sq.-ft. gaming area, the resort is home to 13 restaurants, four bars and lounges, a 1,550-seat theater and Fallen Oak, a Tom Fazio-designed championship golf course.