Investor Watch: June 17, 2024

I-35 CORRIDOR

Texas is investing in billions of dollars of improvement projects along its 600 miles of this key North American artery connected to nearly half of the state’s GDP.

OHIO

In spotlighting emerging hubs showing promising activity, CBRE’s U.S. Life Sciences Research Talent 2023 report showed Columbus No. 1 and Cincinnati No. 2 among nine metros when ranked by total NIH funding.

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Quick reports look in on projects from Kirloskar Ferrous Industries in Karnataka; Japanese pharma firm Takeda in L.A.; and Baltic Coast Trading Company in St. Petersburg

Map courtesy of ACEG

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory on June 12 issued the last of four videos about the need to upgrade and expand the U.S. power transmission system to carry more clean energy across more miles. The final piece examines high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines.

That’s the very topic leading off the Shovel-Ready Sites section in the May 2024 issue of Site Selection, where we excerpt findings and recommendations from Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) after their September 2023 update of a 2021 report contained 36 ready-to-go projects totaling around 10,000 miles and 132 GW of transmission capacity.

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Graph courtesy of Gallup

The 2024 edition of Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace” report says while the level of global employee engagement is near an all-time high at 23%, it’s stagnated. As for the remainder, 62% are not engaged and a worrisome 15% are “actively disengaged.” Gallup estimates that low engagement “costs the global economy US$8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP.”

Photo by Patryk Jaracz courtesy of IPA

Last week the International Photography Awards announced this photograph by Patryk Jaracz titled “Kids learning how to ride a bicycle in the fields of Ukraine” had won the Grand Prize in its “OneShot: Searching for Peace” special competition.