Quick-hitting stories cover projects from LMG and Mercedes-Benz in
Germany; U.S. LNG in Europe; CloudHQ in Brazil; Hyundai’s $18 billion
bet on EVs in South Korea; hydrogen plants in Spain; AWS in Australia;
and Indian Oil in Odisha, India.
As jurisdictions across the nation confront attainable housing
challenges, a brand new tool from the U.S. Census Bureau
delivers an interactive map of national, state and county building
permit data, showing how many single-family, multi-family and total
housing units have been authorized in every one of the 3,143 U.S.
counties.
The tool shows a U.S. map of housing units authorized and year-over-year
change based on the size and color of circles on the states of the map.
“By hovering over the map, users can see the amount of change with state
and county historical data going back to 2010,” says the Bureau. “A
forthcoming visualization will show metro area data back to 2014.”
Just as information from the Conway Projects
Database is a leading indicator of job creation and economic
activity, Building Permits Survey (BPS) data serve as a leading/early
indicator of future residential construction activity. Moreover, unlike
many federal data sources that are spotty or lagging, the data are
reliable and up to date: “Response rates for the BPS are quite high,
there is no sampling error in the estimates, and average revisions to
the data are relatively low,” says the Bureau.
The map and chart displayed here show national trends as well as the Top
10 states by number of authorized housing permits in 2022. County-level
analysis shows Dallas County and Houston’s Harris County among the
national leaders last year. Watch for more coverage in a new feature,
America’s Best Counties, appearing in the July 2023 issue of Site Selection. — Adam
Bruns
Transportation statistics are a must for any location
analysis. Founded in 1971, TRIP is a private, nonprofit
organization that researches, evaluates, and distributes
economic and technical data on surface transportation
issues. The most recent TRIP report on Interstates includes
this chart displaying the states with the greatest increase
in vehicle miles of travel on their Interstate highways from
2000 to 2019. Watch for more infrastructure analysis in the
2023 Global Groundwork Index rankings in
the September 2023 issue of Site Selection.
The Riverfront at Las Colonias is a 140-acre mixed-use business park
with seven shovel-ready pad sites along the Colorado River near Downtown
Grand Junction in Colorado. The business park is located within an
Opportunity Zone, and new investments may be eligible for tax incentives
through deferrals, reductions, and eliminations of certain capital gains
taxes.
The commercial business park includes several shovel-ready sites and
features attractive amenities nearby, including an amphitheater, a
botanical garden, a river park, and a zip line.
The Grand Junction area is the largest metropolitan region in western
Colorado and includes access to a regional airport and I-70. The
community offers an ACT-accredited workforce and a strong talent
pipeline through Colorado Mesa University.
The region features stunning natural landscapes and world-renowned
biking trails. It’s a hub for innovation with cutting-edge research and
technology facilities, advanced manufacturing, health care, and a
thriving agricultural sector.
“Michigan: Pure Opportunity®,” the 2023-2024 edition of the Michigan
Economic Development Guide from Conway Custom Content, is now live in full Digital Edition format. Read our
interviews with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Economic Development
Corporation CEO Quentin L Messer Jr. Learn about the state’s approach to
its unique intellectual property, workforce and research assets. Get an
overview of Michigan’s investment-ready sites. Find out how the state is
charging toward a clean energy future. Dig into project news from the
mobility/automotive, life sciences, agribusiness, professional services
and advanced manufacturing sectors. Discover in exclusive Investment
Profiles what’s going on at Kettering University and Consumers Energy.
And gain valuable insights into the state’s tech, engineering and design
prowess, all in one powerful publication.
PROJECT WATCH
British Columbia
Thanks to C$900,000 from the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund, Vitacore will
upgrade equipment and retrofit a building to serve as the hub of the
company’s PPE recycling program. Vitacore will process 12.5 million
masks and respirators per month at its facility in Port Coquitlam, one
of 21 municipalities that comprise metro Vancouver. The project is one
of 14 receiving more than C$8 million in funding from the provincial
government, with another $25 million on the way for the next round.
“This added funding will strengthen our ability to prevent plastic
pollution and reduce our use of virgin resources to make plastic
products by turning used plastic into an economic asset instead of an
environmental burden,” said B.C. Minister of Environment and Climate
Change Strategy George Heyman. “The funding we received through the
CleanBC Plastics Action Fund is helping us expand our single-use mask,
respirator and PPE recycling capacity,” said Mikhail Moore, president,
Vitacore Industries Inc. “The first of its kind in Canada, our PPE
recycling program effectively reduces the environmental impacts these
items have on our landfills and oceans.” B.C. is a leader in extended
producer responsibility (EPR), where companies and producers are
responsible for the collection and recycling of the products they
create. Around 315,000 metric tons of plastics are captured annually in
B.C.’s EPR programs.
Germany’s PVS Plastics Group is investing in a second U.S. injection
molding site in Johnson City, with a production area of 53,800 sq. ft.
The other site in Huber Heights, Ohio, is also being expanded. The two
sites are part of a global portfolio that includes sites in the
company’s hometown of Niedernhall, Germany; Hungary and China. The
company’s products include plastic overmolding components for electric
motors and engines as well as impellers for ventilation technology (fans
and blower wheels). The Plastics Industry Association reports that
Tennessee Tennessee is home to plastics manufacturers and establishments
engaged in plastics processing, marketing, support and captive
activities that directly employ 30,562 people. Nationally, Tennessee is
ranked 12th in plastics industry employment, with plastics and dependent
industries combined employing 960,000 people in the state.
directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon
at the Public The
Site Selection Managing Editor Adam Bruns made this photo on Sunday
evening as the Upstate Shakespeare Festival presented by The Warehouse
Theatre staged one of four weekly performances of “The Merry Wives of
Windsor” at Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville. A three-week
run of “Macbeth” begins July 6th. And it’s all free of charge. (Watch
for more reporting from the region in the Upstate South Carolina
Intelligence Report in the July issue of Site Selection.) Shakespeare in
the Park festivals are popping up across the country, from the 63rd
season of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival at Louisville’s Central Park
to productions of “Hamlet” and “The Tempest” gracing the Public
Theater’s Delacorte Stage during this summer’s 61st season of Free
Shakespeare in the Park in New York’s Central Park. However, two
“Hamlet” performances have been canceled this week due to the heavy
wildfire smoke that has invaded New York City.
