The epic reputation of Epic Systems continues to grow, and so does its
campus, as the medical software company is adding two new buildings —
named “Creatures” and “Guilds” — to its “Wizards Academy” cluster. The
expansion will add 1,700 new jobs to the company’s existing Verona
headcount of 11,600. The company also has a “Storybook”-themed campus
where its newest building, named “Castaway,” opened in January. As documented by the Wisconsin State Journal
earlier this month, the gargantuan footprint of Epic even includes a
treehouse constructed from materials left over from the company’s first
campus, constructed nearly 20 years ago in this town southwest of
Madison.
South Carolina–based Kyocera AVX, a global manufacturer of advanced
electronic components, has opened this advanced manufacturing facility
for ceramic and tantalum capacitors in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The
new facility features 1.2 million sq. ft. of manufacturing and
warehousing space. The complex consists of three separate buildings
housing manufacturing and office spaces, break areas, a sports arena, a
pavilion, and a cultural center for employees to practice Thai customs
and gather for sponsored events. “The construction process began in
2019, took more than 6 million man-hours to complete, resulted in zero
reported injuries, and earned Kyocera AVX both local and national
recognition for its handling and prevention of COVID-19 during
construction,” said the company, which maintains 33 research, design,
manufacturing and customer support facilities in 16 countries around the
world.
Driven in part by the presence of 33 federally funded labs, Colorado is
the No. 2 state for technology and science and welcomed $1.75 billion in
higher education R&D in 2021.
The Arc of Dreams, created by South Dakota Artist Laureate Dale Claude
Lamphere, crosses the Big Sioux River in downtown Sioux Falls.
Photo courtesy of Travel South Dakota
In December the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity
(FREOPP), a non-profit think tank focused on “expanding
economic opportunity to those who least have it,” published
its ranking of the 50 U.S. state public
university systems by median lifetime return on
investment. The winner? South Dakota, where the
median ROI is $217,000, nearly twice the national median of
$118,182. Minnesota comes in second, followed by No. 3 Iowa
and No. 4 Kansas — a clean sweep for the Midwest when it
comes to making a good living. Yes, the list includes the
lowest-ROI systems too (Hawaii, Louisiana and New Mexico).
“High-ROI states commonly have a well-developed technical
college system. A preponderance of career-oriented majors at
four-year schools also plays a role,” said the report, which
also analyzed the highest-ROI individual programs. Nursing
programs at the University of Texas at Arlington and Ohio
University were highest ranked, followed by a business
degree at Indiana University’s flagship campus in
Bloomington.
Top 10 State Public College & University Systems by Median
ROI
In 2022, Kentucky notched its second-best year in history for new plant
investment and its fourth-best for job creation. Put 2021 and 2022
together, and you get the best two-year economic development run in
state history.
Photo by Victor Diaz Lamich for Montréal en Lumière, courtesy of v2com
newswire
Bonne Journée de la Langue Française! Happy French Language Day to you and yours. According
to Amsterdam-based BoldData, 16 million companies in 30 countries are
French-speaking, and more than 720,000 of them are in Canada, most of
them in Québec. That’s where last month, for the second year in a row,
the unique multimedia experience known as the Skating Loop was open to
thousands during the annual Montréal en Lumière Festival at the Quartier
des Spectacles downtown. The nearly quarter-mile elevated loop was
illuminated by 165 LED lights and featured projected images on the side
of a building, a custom-made soundtrack and yes, a custom-built Zamboni
for ice maintenance. Watch for the Québec spotlight in the May 2023 issue of Site Selection.
