Repsol invests in a hydrogen complex in its home country. CloudHQ continues the data center momentum in Querétaro. Hitachi Energy will make transformers in Varennes, Quebec.
In this expanded web edition, Alexis Elmore explores the current state of rare earth exports and imports amid trade shakeups and increased mining activity.
Hear from, among others, the man behind the move of the NFL’s Raiders and MLB’s A’s on why the region continues to be primed for the sports economy. And read why federal legislation is going to help an industrial area elsewhere in Clark County continue to thrive.
In space news, Colorado recently lost out to Alabama as the winner of U.S. Space Command headquarters. But that doesn’t mean Colorado space companies and its overall aerospace economy aren’t continuing to move forward. Alexis Elmore chronicled the sector’s progress in March 2023. Meanwhile, Sierra Space, the Louisville, Colorado-based defense tech company whose Dream Chaser spaceplane was first reported on by Site Selection in 2016, in the past month announced that Dream Chaser’s first flight “will be a free-flyer, demonstration mission, which is expected to prove the technology and deliver critical data to NASA. This approach aims to provide Sierra Space with flexibility to address the nation’s most pressing National Security Space challenges, while continuing to advance Dream Chaser’s capabilities for NASA and commercial customers.” The company says it is prioritizing first-flight readiness and targeting a launch in late 2026 to align with expected launch vehicle availability.
Industrial and logistics activity in the U.S.-Mexico border corridor, a topic frequently explored in Site Selection, was the theme of a recent webinar presented by CBRE, whose experts noted the boom along the I-35 corridor and the rise of Port Laredo, the top U.S. import hub by value. Among other conclusions, “border markets offer up to 70% labor cost savings vs. most U.S. cities, and have a skilled workforce,” CBRE noted. “However, occupiers must act strategically to secure talent in a highly competitive market.”
PHOTO OF THE DAY
This photograph by YANG Chaoying shows the south entrance of the new second headquarters in Suzhou, China, for Aimer, the fashion and lingerie brand. “Situated in Suzhou’s Fenhu district, between Suzhou and Shanghai, the building benefits from its strategic position as a transportation hub,” says a September release from the Crossboundaries architecture firm, which was founded in Beijing and has a second office in Frankfurt, Germany. Crossboundaries took over and redesigned the HQ concept in 2019 after construction already had begun. The project was completed in January this year.
Aimer’s roots go back to the late 1980s when founder Zhang Rong Ming developed a groundbreaking flexible memory alloy bra rim that led to a partnership with Japanese investors and the production of the company’s first bra in 1991 at a redeveloped factory site on the outskirts of Beijing. In addition to the company’s Chinese production footprint, a factory is under construction in Vietnam.
