Press Release: Site Selection Names 2009 Competitiveness Award Winner, Top Economic Development Groups and Top Deals

Atlanta, May 3, 2010: Site Selection has named the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) the winner of its Competitiveness Award, which recognizes excellence on the part of a state-level economic development group, and its Top Economic Development Groups of 2009. These agencies were honored with plaques at an awards ceremony on April 26^th at the Industrial Asset Management Council’s Spring 2010 Professional Forum at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Competitiveness Award goes to the state with the most points earned in a 10-factor index based mainly on Site Selection publisher Conway Data Inc.’s New Plant Database of new and expanded facilities. For 2009 performance, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership scored 410 points. Louisiana (393), Texas (392), Tennessee (375) and Pennsylvania (371) round out the top five.

“You know what you get when you come to Virginia,” says VEDP Director Jeff Anderson. “The corporate income tax rate hasn’t changed; we have very low business taxes and a very consistent regulatory environment for businesses. Consistency is a much more significant criterion than it has been in the past.”

Site Selection magazine has also named its top non-state-level economic development groups in the U.S. for 2009. The full list of Top Groups and Honorable Mention designees appears below. Coverage of these awards, as well as the Top Deals of the Year (see below) appears in the May 2010 issue.

“Despite the economic slowdown, 2009 produced a bumper crop of high-performing economic development organizations,” said Ron Starner, general manager of Site Selection publisher Conway Data and author of the report. “As we looked at locations producing the most jobs and securing the most capital investment, it became clear that the most competitive communities were not retreating. In fact, they did the opposite. They increased their marketing and promotional efforts and got even more aggressive in targeting and wooing business retention and expansion projects. Above all, they got creative and sought out new solutions while a lot of their competitors stuck with old strategies and tactics. And they played to their strengths. Those that did that most successfully created the foundation for primary industry expansion and job growth.”

Local economic development groups were first ranked according to four objective categories: new jobs, new jobs per 10,000 residents, new investment amount and new investment per 10,000 residents. Then they were scrutinized for more subjective attributes — among them innovation, leadership and customer service.

Top Deals Demonstrate Resilience, Repatriation and Repurposing
The Top Deals of 2009 were determined by level of capital investment, degree of high-value jobs, creativity in negotiations and incentives, regional economic impact, competition for the project and speed to market. “But most of all, they’re determined by the companies themselves, many of which have continued to plunk down major capital around the globe despite the difficult financing environment,” writes Managing Editor Adam Bruns in the May issue.
Trends among the Top Deals include repatriation of jobs to the United States by U.S. companies; U.S. foothold establishment by foreign firms; out-of-the-box repurposing of the empty boxes populating the industrial facility landscape; an assist from economic recovery funds; and a recognition that some emerging markets may finally have arrived.

Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., delivers expansion planning information to 44,000 executives of fast-growing firms. Now in its 56th year, Site Selection is also available via Site Selection Online (www.siteselection.com. The SiteNet Dispatch, a weekly e-mail newsletter, goes to more than 28,000 industry professionals. Site Selection is the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council (www.iamc.org). Conway Data is an international publishing and association management company headquartered in Atlanta. The firm manages the Industrial Asset Management Council, the Development Hall of Fame and the World Development Federation (WDF), offers consulting services and awards the annual Conway Safe Skies Award.

Top North American Deals of 2009 (in alphabetical order by company)

Boeing Co.
North Charleston, S.C.
$870 million 4,000 jobs

Carbon Motors
Connersville, Ind.
$350 million 1,550 jobs

Fisker Automotive
Wilmington, Del.
$193 million 2,500 jobs

Hybrid Kinetic Motors
Bay Minette, Ala.
$3.43 billion 5,000 jobs

IBM
Dubuque, Iowa
$93 million 1,300 jobs

Medtronic
San Antonio, Texas
$23 million 1,400 jobs

NCR Corp.
Duluth and Columbus, Ga.
2,120 jobs

Nissan North America
Smyrna, Tenn.
$2.5 billion 1,300 jobs

Tianjin Pipe Co.
Corpus Christi, Texas
$1 billion 600 jobs

Xtreme Power/Clairvoyant Energy
Wixom, Mich.
$1.3 billion 3,250 jobs

North American Honorable Mention

Caterpillar, Seguin, Texas, $170 million, 1,400 jobs
KD ABG MI, LLC (Dow Kokam), Midland, Mich., $665 million, 885 jobs
Heliosphera US, Philadelphia, Pa., $500 million, 400 jobs
Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Pooler, Ga., $325 million, 500 jobs
Procter & Gamble, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, $250 million, 2,400 jobs
SNF Holding Co., Plaquemine, La., $362 million, 512 jobs
Ubisoft, Toronto, Ont., $429 million, 800 jobs
Umoe Solar, Miramichi, N.B., Canada, $600 million, 350 jobs
V&M Star, Youngstown, Ohio, $650 million, 350 jobs
Wacker Chemie, Charleston, Tenn., $1 billion, 500 jobs

Top International Deals of 2009
Airbus
Tunis, Tunisia
$78 million 1,500 jobs
Bosch Solar Energy
Arnstadt, Germany
$719 million 1,700 jobs

Cubic Integrated Group
Chongqing, China
$400 million 25,000 jobs

Fresh Electric
Kutaisi Free Zone, Republic of Georgia
$1.2 billion 2,500 jobs

General Motors
Gravatai, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
$725 million 1,000 jobs

Hybrid Kinetic Motors
Tianjin, Shenyang, Anhui and Ningbo, China
$2.8 billion

Novartis
Shanghai and Changshu, China
$1.25 billion 1,000-plus jobs

SB LiMotive
Ulsan, South Korea
$407 million 1,000 jobs

Siemens
Istanbul, Turkey
$134 million 2,000 jobs

Vale
Maraba, Brazil ($3.3 billion, 3,500 jobs)
and Sohar, Oman ($1.4 billion, 600 jobs)

International Honorable Mention
Bosch, Renningen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, $160 million, 1,500 jobs
Chery-Socma Automotive, Chaco, Argentina, $450 million
National Integrated Industries Complex, Amman, Jordan, $165 million, 5,000 jobs
Eli Lilly, Sesta Fiorentino (Florence), Italy, $453 million, 1,500 jobs
Foxconn, Corlu, Turkey, $60 million, 2,000 jobs
Genshare, Viña del Mar, Chile, $30 million, 1,000 jobs
Harbin Hafei Airbus, Harbin, China, $350 million, 1,000 jobs
Michelin India, Tamil Nadu, India, $827 million, 1,500 jobs
Navifico, uMshwathi, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, $12 million, 4,000 jobs
Nissan, Sunderland, U.K., $339 million, 350 jobs

Top Economic Development Groups of 2009
Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, Ala.
Baton Rouge Area Chamber, La.
Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, N.C.
Charlotte Regional Partnership, N.C.
Dallas Regional Chamber, Texas
Greater Houston Partnership, Texas
Kansas City Area Development Council, Kan.-Mo.
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Tenn.
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, Pa.
Select Greater Philadelphia, Pa.
World Business Chicago, Ill.

Honorable Mention Economic Development Groups of 2009
Charleston Regional Development Alliance, S.C.
Greater Memphis Chamber, Tenn.
Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Ariz.
Greater Washington Initiative, D.C.
Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, Va.
Indy Partnership, Ind.
Metro Atlanta Chamber, Ga.
New York City Economic Development Corp., N.Y.
San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, Texas
Schuylkill Economic Development Corp., Pa.