National government leaders showed up recently for the inauguration of
this new distribution center in Landriano, near fashion capital Milan,
from YOOX NET-A-PORTER. “For the first time in the company’s history,
the operations of both NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER will be managed from
this global hub,” said the company, calling it one of its most important
logistics and operations investments in the last 20 years. The hub will
effectively double inventory capacity for both brands, and also will
include a digital production hub dedicated to “creative innovation and
the creation of visual content for Italian and global luxury brands.”
Geoffroy Lefebvre, CEO of YOOX NET-A-PORTER, said the new global hub
“reflects our commitment to innovation and long-term growth, and to
Italy in particular, the country where YOOX was founded 21 years ago. We
are proud to continue investing in local talent and to constantly
improve the shopping experience for our more than 4.5 million customers
across 180 countries worldwide.” The company has offices and operations
in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Japan, China and Hong Kong, including
nine distribution centers and seven digital production facilities.
Farmer-owned cooperative California Dairies in late September broke
ground at a 30-acre site in northern Kern County for a new
220,000-sq.-ft. ultra-high temperature (UHT) and extended shelf-life
(ESL) milk processing facility. “This is an exciting day and marks the
launch of a transformational investment being made by our
farmer-owners,” said Brad Anderson, CDI’s President and Chief Executive
Officer, as he made opening comments. “This new facility will process
our Kern County-produced milk into innovative fluid milk products that
have been seeing growth in demand throughout the U.S. and international
markets.” The region has had significant milk production but no local
processing facilities, the co-op said. More than 300 member dairies ship
17 billion pounds of milk annually from their farms to California
Dairies, headquartered in Visalia in the state’s Central Valley, with
other operations in Fresno, Los Banos, Tipton and Turlock. The
organization last year closed a facility in Artesia that had been
operating since 1958.
The entire Choose Washington 2021-2022 publication — complete with
exclusive leadership interviews, industry sector reports and profiles of
projects and communities across the state — is now available via Digital
Edition.
SITE SELECTION
RECOMMENDS
Top 20 Life Sciences Startup Ecosystems
The team at Startup Genome, with LaunchVic, has released the Life Sciences Edition of the 2021 Global Startup
Ecosystem Report, with rankings topped by Silicon Valley,
Boston, New York, London and San Diego. Nearly half of life sciences
unicorns between 2015 and 2020 were created in those top five
ecosystems. “Series A investment in life sciences crossed $10 billion in
2020,” the report states. Overall, the top 25 ecosystems are led by
North America (48%), followed by Europe (24%) and Asia (20%), with MENA
and Oceania each accounting for one ecosystem in the top 25.
“Startup ecosystems with a density in talent, funding, programs and
academics in life sciences should be focused on building on these
strengths and creating policies for life sciences founders to thrive,”
said Marc Penzel, founder and president of Startup Genome. The National
Venture Capital Association (NVCA) thinks a startup visa allowing
foreign-born entrepreneurs to launch high-growth companies and create
jobs would be one of those policies. The “Let Immigrants Kickstart
Employment (LIKE) Act” was introduced this summer, following publication
earlier this year of a new NVCA report entitled Immigrant Entrepreneurs Can Drive Economic Growth in
the Pandemic Recovery.
Top Emerging Life Sciences Startup
Ecosystems
PHOTO OF THE
DAY
Photo courtesy of CMU and Adrianople
Group
Where would you guess this international campus of Carnegie Mellon
University is located? If you guessed Kigali, Rwanda, you have earned a
gold badge. Carnegie Mellon University Africa was founded in the Kigali
Special Economic Zone a decade ago, and is a catalyst for innovation.
Learn more about its economic development role and the region’s
larger-scope special economic zone (SEZ) ambitions in an exclusive
Online Insider coming to SiteSelection.com in November from Thibault
Serlet
