Based on objective data sources, the 14th annual Global Best to Invest
rankings showcase the top countries and metro areas in terms of their
outlook for corporate investment.
North Carolina claims another Prosperity Cup, which recognizes
state-level agencies and initiatives that deliver jobs and investment.
Here’s how they did it.
Named for Conway Data Founder Mac Conway, whose influence on the nascent
economic development industry helped make it a key location
differentiator, these awards recognize the efforts of those who worked
tirelessly to bring projects large and small to their communities last
year.
BigRentz has put together a lengthy but entrancing study of the complete
Amazon portfolio of major fulfillment centers, including ranked lists of
states by most Amazon square footage and square footage per capita, a
map of forthcoming locations and a tiny list of the five lonely states
that don’t have a major Amazon distribution center. Among its findings:
“By the end of 2023, Amazon will have at least 319 million square feet
of warehouses (that’s the size of 138,695 average-sized houses).”
PROJECT WATCH
France
Pittsburgh-based PPG announced last week that it will invest $17 million
to build an aerospace application support center (ASC) in Toulouse, a
location it said was “strategically located near aerospace customers and
the Toulouse Blagnac Airport.” This will be the company’s 17th ASC
globally, fifth ASC in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region
and the second in France, in addition to the ASC in Gonfreville.
Capabilities at the ASC will include a development and qualification
laboratory for aerospace materials, a color blending area for coatings,
and a spray booth for hands-on training. It will also house filling
lines for touch-up kits, a transparencies inspection cell, customized
packaging capabilities for third-party products, chemical management
resources and a customer service center.Dirk Thelen, PPG general
manager, Aerospace, EMEA, said, “The new facility will enhance our
ability to provide unparalleled responsiveness and customer support,
leading to faster qualification of products and higher participation in
new projects, earlier in the development cycle.”
Just weeks after opening a huge new headquarters campus in Billund, the
LEGO Group has opened this new digital office in Copenhagen. One of four
digital workspaces around the world, it currently houses 100 employees,
but will be a base for up to 400 eventually. The company says it is
actively recruiting engineers, product managers, UX/UI Designers,
technical program managers, digital security specialists and data
scientists. “Digital offices in Billund, London and Shanghai will also
be expanded to accommodate the growing team which will nearly triple in
size over a three-year period to more than 1,800 globally,” the company
stated. Chief Digital & Technology Office, Atul Bhardwaj said, “Our
digital transformation is one of the single largest investments the LEGO
Group will make in a generation. We’ve been blending physical and
digital experiences for many years and are excited by our progress. But
we have big ambitions so are accelerating our investment and expanding
our digital team.” Designed to reflect the company’s playful spirit, the
site “will also support the company’s Best of Both approach to work
which balances the best of working in the office and from home.”
Photo by Félix Michaud courtesy of Studio
Jean Verville via v2com newswire
The redesigned offices of Les Entreprises d’électricité E.G. Ltée (EG)
in Saint-Jérôme, northwest of Montréal, are minimal and theatrical all
at once, as this playful photo demonstrates. The interior design by Jean
Verville Architecte earned one of 14 Prix d’excellence awarded by the
Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ) in April. “By deploying 250
stainless steel strut channels, an imposing architectural device
organizes distances and proximities, circulations and groupings,” say
the architects. “These metal profiles, common in the electrical field,
are used to fix the partitions, to support the furniture, and to
camouflage all of the wiring.” EG’s co-owners, in the architects’
summary of the project, called the rehab of a derelict industrial
building from the 1980s “a complicit, mischievous adventure … an amazing
result for and, above all, worthy of our team.”
