The Digital Edition of “To the Stars,” the Conway
Custom Content division’s newly published Kansas economic
development guide, is now available. Inside, read our conversations
with Gov. Laura Kelly and Lt. Gov. and Commerce Secretary David
Toland; learn what’s happening in entrepreneurship, higher education
and infrastructure; and discover the latest projects and progress in
such fields as advanced manufacturing, animal health, corporate
services, logistics and bioscience, among other sectors.
By exclusive arrangement, Miles Sandler of the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation explores how Kansas City’s change-making strategy has
implications for other regions seeking to build a skilled, diverse
workforce.
A conversation with Mark Jaronski, deputy commissioner of Explore
Georgia, reveals how the state tourism office led the industry in
gaining market share during the worldwide pandemic.
As revealed by Time late Thursday night and by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine
via a 5 a.m. tweet the following morning, Intel made history last
week by announcing the first major semiconductor fab in the U.S.
Midwest, a $20 billion investment that will create two chip plants
and some 3,000 direct jobs in New Albany, part of the Columbus metro
area. The project should create 7,000 construction jobs and a host
of spinoff and supply chain projects in its wake. Intel is also
investing $100 million in education partnerships to cultivate both
talent and research. “These factories will create a new epicenter
for advanced chipmaking in the U.S. that will bolster Intel’s
domestic lab-to-fab pipeline and strengthen Ohio’s leadership in
research and high tech,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. Watch this
space and the pages of Site Selection magazine for
more exclusive insights into how this project came together and what
it means for Ohio and the United States.
Medical imaging equipment company United Imaging earlier this month
announced that construction had kicked off on a new manufacturing
and R&D base in Shanghai. Designed by Gensler, the campus will
encompass 420,000 sq. m. (more than 4.5 million sq. ft.) and
integrate functions such as technology R&D, intelligent
manufacturing, international training and global branding.
Completion is expected by the end of 2024. The complex will include
a digital, intelligent “super factory” to promote automatic and
intelligent manufacturing. “Moreover,” said a company release, “with
the Shanghai headquarters at the center, United Imaging will
increase its global production capability with a regional division
of labor across the Changzhou factory, Wuhan base and U.S.
production base.”
Last week UNCTAD’s
Investment Trends Monitor revealed a strong rebound in
global foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2021, with levels in
developed economies tripling the low levels of 2020. Overall global
FDI flows were up 77% to an estimated $1.65 trillion, from $929
billion in 2020, surpassing their pre-COVID-19 levels. In Europe,
more than 80% of the increase in flows was due to large swings in
conduit economies, said UNCTAD. “Inflows in the United States more
than doubled, with the increase entirely accounted for by a surge in
cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As).” Greenfield investment
activity, meanwhile, “remains 30% below pre-pandemic levels on
average across industrial sectors,” UNCTAD reports. “Only
information and communication (digital sector) has fully recovered.”
PHOTO OF THE
DAY
Photo courtesy of Salt River
Project
Last week officials with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA),
Salt River Project (SRP), and leaders of the Navajo Nation agreed to
extend a groundbreaking agreement that paved the way for the
first-ever, large-scale utility solar farm on the Navajo Nation,
called Kayenta I. The groups also signed a contract for a brand-new,
200-megawatt (MW) solar resource on the Navajo Nation called Cameron
Solar that is set to be operational by the end of 2023. The SRP
Board of Directors approved a long-term energy and
environmental-attribute agreement through March 2038 from the 27-MW
Kayenta I portion of the Kayenta Solar generation facility.
“At the start of the Nez-Lizer Administration,” said Navajo Nation
President Jonathan Nez, “we established a new vision for energy
development for the Navajo Nation with the signing of the Hayoołkaał
proclamation, which prioritizes renewable energy initiatives and
supports the transition from coal to other resources to help build
our economy and make our Nation a key stakeholder in renewable
energy across the country. With the partnership of SRP and NTUA, we
are making a statement and taking another big step forward to
building our Nation. This is about Nation building, and the future
of our Navajo people.”
