A letter from IAMC Chair Karen Shchuka explores “living the spirit of
IAMC Forums,” and John Salustri talks to corporate end users and
regional economic development leaders about the ins and outs of
distribution center location.
Accounting and consulting firm Novogradac last week released its latest report on qualified opportunity funds
(QOFs) connected to the federal Opportunity Zones program. The
report finds the nation’s capital is the leading city for planned
investment by QOFs, with $1.38 billion in planned investment as of Dec.
31, 2022. A total of 54 cities in 25 states (plus the District of
Columbia) have $100 million or more in planned investment. “California
and Arizona continue to be the leading states for planned QOF
investment, although Novogradac is tracking such investment in 48
states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands,” says the firm. Overall, $34.09 billion in QOF equity was
raised by the 1,661 QOFs tracked by Novogradac at the end of 2022. QOFs
reported $9.68 billion in equity investment in 2022, the biggest
single-year total charted by Novogradac since the opportunity zones (OZ)
incentive became part of the tax code at the end of 2017, although
investment flows slowed between a record first quarter and the year’s
fourth quarter.
Los Angeles and New York City join Washington as cities with at least $1
billion in planned investment by QOFs tracked by Novogradac. Among the
cities with the biggest increase in investment in 2022 were Dallas (with
a 327.0% increase in 2022), Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Washington, and
Aurora, Colorado. As explored in a blog by Michael Novogradac, among the top 50
cities, Arizona has five — “all located in Maricopa County, which is a
hotbed for development. California and Texas each placed four cities on
the top-50 list, while Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Washington had three
each.”
Straight from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training
Administration, we present this directory — complete with direct links —
to the labor and workforce boards in all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico
and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This time of year, when you think of Minnesota you might only think of
snow and ice fishing. But here in Waseca, our thoughts are turning to
the 2nd annual Waseca Sleigh & Cutter Festival coming up on Sunday
February 19, 2023. This Festival is happening on Clear Lake, close to
the heart of town. Sean Beaver of Great American Kites will be flying
his fleet of kites to bring joy to the festival goers. The City of
Waseca is located just East of where Interstate 35 crosses State Highway
14 in South Central Minnesota.
According to news reports and the city government, Swiss stamping and
fineblanking company Etampa has opened a factory in Kurševac, in eastern
Serbia, that will have an annual production capacity of 280 million
parts for the automotive electronics, construction and medical
technology industries. The company aims to increase headcount from 25 to
60 by the end of 2023. Etampa also operates plants in Illinois and in
Blansko, Czech Republic. Etampa first indicated its plan to invest in
the Kurševac area in 2021. Kurševac, the nation’s former capital, was
once a medieval fortress city. The Tourism Organisation of Serbia notes
that the city’s residents are known as “čarapani” (literally “people in
socks”), “a nickname that has stuck with them since 1806. The
explanation? In the final battles for the liberation of Kruševac in the
First Serbian Uprising [which lasted from 1804 to 1813], a company from
Kruševac managed to sneak into the town silently, ‘in socks,’ and
overpower the Turkish soldiers in the fortress.”
Kewaskum, Wisconsin, known as the “Gateway to the Kettle Moraine”
announced early this month Drexel Building Supply is expanding its
footprint in town after its recent acquisition of McMahon & Co, a custom
door manufacturer located six miles from Drexel’s headquarters.“With and
initial expected employment of nearly 100 team members,” the village
government stated, “Drexel Building Supply is anticipating breaking
ground in 2023 on a plot of land within a new industrial park Drexel and
the Village of Kewaskum are dubbing the ‘Blue Door District.’ In
addition, Drexel has ownership of remaining lands [approximately 30
acres] within the Blue Door District and will be actively recruiting for
quality neighbors.” The project is subject to the creation of a tax
increment financing district (TID), land annexation and a mutually
agreed upon developer’s agreement. Drexel has nine operating locations
throughout Wisconsin.
It’s that special time of year again: Time for the American
Transportation Research Institute’s annual release of the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in
America. And once again, for the fifth year in a row,
the intersection of I-95 and SR 4 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is the No. 1
freight bottleneck in the country. The remaining Top 10
bottlenecks include:
2. Chicago: I-294 at I-290/I-88
3. Houston: I-45 at I-69/US 59
4. Atlanta: I-285 at I-85 (North)
5. Atlanta: I-20 at I-285 (West)
6. Chicago: I-290 at I-90/I-94
7. Los Angeles: SR 60 at SR 57
8. Los Angeles: I-710 at I-105
9. Nashville: I-24/I-40 at I-440 (East)
10. San Bernardino, California: I-10 at I-15
ATRI develops the list each year by measuring the level of
truck-involved congestion at over 300 locations on the
national highway system. “The analysis, based on an
extensive database of freight truck GPS data, uses several
customized software applications and analysis methods, along
with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a
congestion impact ranking for each location,” ATRI says.
“ATRI’s truck GPS data is also used to support numerous
state and federal freight mobility initiatives.”
From all indications, general congestion is picking up,
which may signal that people are returning to the office
after all. “Average rush hour truck speeds were 36.3 mph,
down more than six percent from the previous year,” ATRI
reported. “Among the Top 10 locations, average rush hour
truck speeds were less than 30 mph.”
“The past year-plus has shone a spotlight on our supply
chains, and how congestion and other pressures can hurt the
American economy and consumers,” said American Trucking
Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. “ATRI’s
bottleneck report highlights the areas of our transportation
network in need of investment so we can get goods and people
moving. The cost of doing nothing is felt in needless
delays, wasted fuel and time.”
PHOTO OF THE
DAY
Photo courtesy of MTA
If you’ve ever uttered some variant of, “It’s like Grand Central Station
around here,” chances are you didn’t have this scene in mind. This
photo, made on December 29 by Marc A. Hermann of New York’s Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, shows the brand new Grand Central Madison
terminal underneath and adjacent to the existing Grand Central Terminal,
15 stories below street level. It opened to the public on January 25 and
will begin full Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) service on February 27.
“The approximately $11.1 billion public works project is one of the
largest in the United States and will save commuters with East Side
Manhattan destinations the extra time needed to travel to and from Penn
Station, the LIRR’s existing terminus in Manhattan,” says a release from
law firm Greenberg Traurig, which advised the MTA during the project’s
development.
The MTA is North America’s largest transportation network, serving 15.3
million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area with the nation’s
largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other
U.S. transit systems combined. The expanded service will add 271 LIRR
trains per day, increasing LIRR systemwide service from 665 to 936
trains per day. “Faster, more convenient travel that brings Long Island
closer to the heart of the city will be a major shot in the arm for the
local economy and the effort to get people back to offices, theaters and
shopping,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber earlier this month. “This
is the biggest service increase in LIRR history,” said Catherine
Rinaldi, interim president of the LIRR and president of Metro-North
Railroad. “Long Islanders will benefit from a combination of Grand
Central Madison service, the new LIRR Main Line third track and a second
NYC terminal that links to the east side. The LIRR has created a new
schedule with robust reverse commute service that links the entire
region to Long Island’s homes, jobs, entertainment and education.”
