Investor Watch: May 09, 2022 - Site Selection Magazine

FROM SITE SELECTION MAGAZINE, May 2022 ISSUE

WATER SUPPLY

Atlanta’s Mother of All Water Projects

How the city got ahead of a potential emergency and ensured clean water for a century.

INVESTMENT PROFILE: SALT RIVER PROJECT

Meta Finds an Oasis in the Sonoran Desert

Thanks to a number of factors including Salt River Project’s careful management, an $800 million new data center will actually restore more water than it uses.

EVENTS

SITE SELECTION RECOMMENDS

The Washington Post reported last Thursday that Boeing is looking to move its headquarters from Chicago to the same place Amazon leaders chose for their HQ2: Arlington, Virginia. Site Selection had the whole story covered the LAST time Boeing chose to move its HQ, in 2001 (forgive the ancient formatting). As Site Selection Senior Editor Gary Daughters put it when he heard the news last week, “Boeing, Boeing, GONE.”

TEXAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 2022-2023

GOVERNOR ABBOTT Q&A

The Recruiter Who Never Stops

Gov. Greg Abbott is a tireless Texas promoter with an unparalleled track record.

LOGISTICS

Reverberating Boom

New records are made to be broken in Texas industrial development.

PROJECT WATCH

Kansas

Québec-based Bombardier in April designated Wichita as its new U.S. headquarters. The location includes an expanding service center (from three hangars to seven in the past four years) and a leading flight test center and is also home to the newly renamed Bombardier Defense. The expanding defense market is a key area of growth, the company said, as it confirmed additional firm orders for modified versions of its Global 6000 aircraft, as part of a potential $465 million order from the United States Air Force. “Wichita was the obvious choice as the home of Bombardier’s new U.S. Headquarters and Bombardier Defense,” said Éric Martel, President and CEO, Bombardier. “For more than 60 years, the established skills and expertise from the Air Capital of the World is second to none, and this latest confirmation from the United States Air Force is a testament to the confidence they have in our aircraft and importantly, in the strength of our people in Wichita.” Bombardier is actively recruiting to immediately fill more than 180 jobs in Wichita and close to 500 jobs across the U.S.

Source: Conway Analytics

Louisiana

Entergy, one of Site Selection’s perennial Top Utilities in Economic Development, sometimes drives that process with its own facility investments. Last week the company selected West Monroe, Louisiana, to expand its contact center operations with 170 new jobs that will bring the location to a head count of around 220, serving customers across the company’s four-state service territory in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. More locally in the West Monroe area, the expansion will help drive economic development through job creation and additional spending. “Entergy’s expansion of its West Monroe customer service center demonstrates a strong commitment to communicating effectively with its 1.1 million utility customers in Louisiana,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. “With a presence in nine out of every 10 parishes in our state, Entergy plays a key role in supporting Louisiana’s emergency response and community recovery efforts after severe weather events. This announcement is good news for the state’s 2022 hurricane season preparations, and good news for the economy of Louisiana’s Northeast Region.”

Source: Conway Analytics

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Photo by Stuart Brunton courtesy of VisitScotland

As reported by this morning’s edition of Scotland business publication Daily Business, the 2022 World Forum for FDI got underway today in Edinburgh with FDI training sessions and special events for attending site selectors and corporate decision-makers. This image of Edinburgh’s skyline as seen from Calton Hill was made last year by photographer Stuart Brunton.