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SUPER SITES


From Site Selection magazine, January 2008














Ready If You Are


A Super Site in Van Wert, Ohio.







Industrial megasites try to maximize infrastructure and flexibility all at once.





by ADAM BRUNS
adam.bruns bounce@conway.com













B




ig jobs can happen without big parcels. But having large land ready for action never hurts.


   Among super sites taken by super projects in the past year, one of the top finishers is the PUL Alliance-Wellspring site near Tupelo, Miss., which received the nod from Toyota early in 2007 for a new assembly plant. All due respect to the area's existing employer base, it was the biggest thing to swivel out of Tupelo since Elvis.


   Running neck and neck with that project would have to be the November announcement by Rolls-Royce Group of its US$500-million, 500-employee aerospace engine plant in Prince George County, Va., at its Crosspointe megasite (see sidebar).


   Also finishing in the money is India-based Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd., which in June selected Little Rock's Isgrig Select Site, marketed by Entergy Arkansas, for a $100-million tubular steel manufacturing plant that will employ 300. It was the largest single industrial investment in the city's history.


   This year's chart, now in its fourth edition, features a distinctively larger cast of sites, including new entries from Louisiana to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and some prodigious parcels in Florida, Texas, Australia and Egypt. It also includes a few that are otherwise known as business parks, but possess the flexibility to group parcels into a single contiguous unit if the opportunity arises.


   As Jim Smitham, executive director of Butte Local Development Corp., says of the new Port of Montana Business Development District in Butte, "If there was one end-user that wanted to utilize the entire Business Development District or a large portion of it, we would gladly work with them to meet their needs."




White Oak is one of several Super Sites in Virginia, which happily lost one to the new Rolls-Royce project.




Not Quite Blank Canvas

   So would many parties associated with the 11,000 acres (4,452 hectares) called Shoal River Ranch in Okaloosa County, Fla., adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base and the city of Crestview, and first mentioned here in 2004. Three miles deep by seven miles wide (54 sq. km.), the massive area abuts Eglin to the south, a rail spur and US 90 to the north, and is bisected by I-10, though no interchanges yet exist. That could change, says principal owner Stefan Davis.


   "This property is far enough from Crestview's exit that we were told by the DOT district director that if there was an interchange he could support on I-10, the one at Shoal River Ranch would be the one he'd support," he says.


   Davis says some 694 acres (281 hectares) are officially zoned industrial at this point. Asked if the potential exists for more, he says, "Absolutely," citing the willingness and rapport among the various cities and counties the land touches. There is also the potential of some annexation by Crestview. But at the same time, his group's putting all the right touches on the currently approved zone.


   "We have donated a total of about 170 acres [69 hectares] to Okaloosa County for wastewater and water treatment plants, and the county is in the process of putting at least a 12-inch main along the north end of the property," he says. "When I cut the deal, I required them to hold the pipe on the south side of the rail tracks, so nobody would ever have to try and get an easement from the railroad. Development-wise, we've done everything we can to ensure this property will have adequate water and sewer for the entire parcel."


   That's in keeping with what original developer, former oilman Jack Stack, had in mind when he pulled together the land for a cattle operation.


   "When he developed it, he basically created a stormwater system of lakes and dikes and overflow structures, so there are 36 lakes on the property, and none require any water to be pumped into them," says Davis. "Three are several natural springheads in those areas."


   While Davis says some large automotive prospects have come calling, he admits, "It's difficult to have acreage big enough to support some of these industries with all the other things they have to have as well."


   Could that big blank canvas of unoccupied land that now exists – and which Eglin no doubt wants to preserve – provide the right kind of buffer for a large petrochemical operation?


   "Very possible," says Davis.


Mining for Prospects

   The military connection is alive and well in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan too – if that can be said of a property adjacent to a base that was closed by the BRAC process 11 years ago. But the 12,300-ft. runway at the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base (now Sawyer International Airport) is a major sales point, in addition to CN rail and the M-553 highway, says Vikki Kulju, executive director of Telkite Technology Park in Gwinn, Mich.


   "It would be ideally suited for aviation use of some kind," she says. "With Michigan's automotive industry taking a downward spiral, plenty of work force is available to meet the end-user's need."


   Ownership is in the hands of Telkite and Marquette County, she says, noting that most of the parcel is forest. While Potlatch Lumber is the primary company in that business, the area's heritage is mining, led by Cleveland-Cliffs Intl./Kobe Steel's iron operation. Kennecott Mining is also considering a nickel mine, she says. Aviation MRO firm AMR maintains a facility. Other recent expansions tracked by the Conway Data New Plant Database have included projects from surgical implant firm Pioneer Surgical and aluminum product company Superior Extrusion.


   The family of companies is complemented by nearby Northern Michigan University, with Michigan Technological University some 90 minutes away in Houghton, where GE Aviation just sited a project in late November. AMR works with NMU on a work-force development program to staff its 230-person operation at Sawyer.




How Fast Can You Get There?

   As both of the above sites highlight, secure transport options are nearly as essential as secured land options. When it comes to large industrial sites looking for occupiers, "There are a lot of sites out there, but not a lot really close to the Interstate," says Bill Adams, automotive target market specialist and site consultant for TVA. He says some automotive projects on the horizon, especially from companies looking to make a market splash as well as an operational improvement, will "absolutely want to be visible," and being 45 minutes from the national highway network is therefore a disqualifier.





Oxbows like this one at the Pointe Sunshine site in Louisiana occur at several Super Sites in this year's list.



He also points to the fact that most automotive plants, while they may be in semi-rural areas, are usually within 30 to 45 minutes of an MSA.


   That's one challenge confronting a new Tennessee site. Construction just began at the Clarkrange Regional Business Park in Fentress County, which comes in at 994 acres (402 hectares) composed of a 244-acre (99-hectare) first phase and an option on the remainder. It sits approximately 13 miles (21 km.) north of I-40, near Crossville, which is about 75 miles (121 km.) west of downtown Knoxville. Crossville in December learned it would lose 280 jobs due to plant closings by a window and door maker and a cabinet maker.


   Ruble Upchurch, executive director of the Fentress County Chamber of Commerce, says the Clarkrange project has been six years in the making, and has come about due in no small part to the work of his predecessor Scott Sandman, the Industrial Development Board and the property's single owner, the Gerndt family, which has owned it for 130 years. An additional 5,500 acres (2,226 hectares) surrounds the planned park, which is just getting under way with sewer, water, gas, electric and road work, backed by funding and support from entities such as TVA, the Appalachian Regional Commission, USDA,



The former Seneca Depot near Romulus, N.Y.,is one of two military super sites being redeveloped in the state, among many more nationwide.




the state of Tennessee and the Upper Cumberland Development District.


   "After 15 years of begging and borrowing, we're getting TDOT to four-lane to within a mile of the park by 2011," says Upchurch, and there's even a movement afoot to study the revival of rail service. His organization is also working with neighboring counties through the state's "Orange Carpet" program, designed to help rural communities welcome corporate prospects.


Close But Not Too Close

   Perhaps even more important than the flow of traffic is the flow of talent. Nancy Bowen, economic development director in Van Wert County, Ohio, can attest to that. The 1,600-acre (648-hectare) super site in Van Wert was a runner-up last year to Greensburg, Ind.,



Click above to view the Super Sites chart, complete with links to full spec sheets, photographs, etc.



for the new Honda assembly plant.


   Micropolitan Van Wert has most recently seen expansions from food companies Golden Heritage (honey) and Cooper Farms, Central Insurance Companies, handbag maker KAM Manufacturing and toolbox maker Kennedy-Kuhn.


   Bowen says the site is currently under option until 2017. Preliminary engineering for gas, electric, rail and transportation work is all done, and "utility plans will be firmed up with submission of a Job Ready Sites grant application to the state in January to assist with infrastructure improvements."


   But the site is also within shouting distance of the "fertile crescent" of Ohio cities that have been home to incrementally expanding Honda facilities for years: Troy, Anna, Russells Point, Marysville, West Liberty, East Liberty and Raymond.


   Asked if that was a factor for Honda, Bowen says, "Yes, I think we were 'too close' to Honda's existing labor shed. That was one of the issues we heard had floated to the top."


   But other automotive and advanced manufacturing concerns have checked up on Van Wert since then, she says.


   In the meantime, Bowen and other super site promoters around the world are doing all they can to float to the top themselves.





Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine joined Rolls-Royce officials on Nov. 20 to announce the company's selection of the Commonwealth for its new jet engine plant.



Virginia Readies for Rolls


R


olls-Royce Group has touched down in Virginia with a US$500-million, 500-employee jet engine plant on a 1,025-acre (410-hectare) site in Prince George County. But the Virginia expansion that Rolls announced on Nov. 20th could pack even more economic muscle than that.


   "This project has very long legs, and it has depth," Liz Povar, director of business development for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), told the SiteNet Dispatch in early December. "We believe there's a great opportunity for the Rolls plant to be the OEM of aerospace in Virginia, much like an auto plant. We anticipate that there will be a supply chain following. "


   Rolls in October 2006 sent out requests for qualifications (RFQs) to eight selected U.S. states: Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Rolls also notified other countries, but declined to name them. Later it became clear Singapore was a prime global contender.


   When that 2006 RFQ was issued, Povar had already been regularly interfacing with Rolls' top North American officials for three years. Chantilly, Va., in Prince George County is home to Rolls' North American headquarters, as well as the global headquarters for three of its business units: corporate and regional aircraft; helicopters and small gas turbine engines; and energy.


   Rolls put heavy emphasis on fusing work-force quality with educational excellence, extending from K-12 to higher learning. That focus made the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech vital project players. The two schools are creating, on the Rolls site, one of the expansion's most potent job-generating elements: the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing.


   "The pipeline of engineers and the ability for the company to have a highly articulated and well-qualified research and development relationship with institutions like UVA and Virginia Tech was definitely one of their fundamental drivers,"



"The impact of this project will positively affect the entire region and the Commonwealth as a whole," said Renee Wyatt-Chapline, executive director of Virginia's Gateway Region, of the $500-million Rolls-Royce aerospace engine project coming to the site below in Prince George County.




Povar explains from her Richmond office.


   "Rolls wanted to see an education system developed for a 100-year pipeline of workers," she says.


Foresight Created Super Site

   Prince George County's roomy 1,025-acre (410-hectare) site was another valuable find for Rolls. Located in county-owned Crosspointe Centre, that property was already assembled in a single tract and already zoned for industrial use as well.


   "That was absolutely a positive factor," Povar says of the site that Rolls selected. "Mega-sites across the United States are rare. Mega-sites with infrastructure are more rare; and mega-sites that are appropriately zoned are even more rare.


   "Prince George County about 10 years ago began looking at that property and assembling it," she explains. "The people in the county had the foresight to recognize that their proximity to the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas, plus the region's in-place logistics, meant that it was an opportunity."


   Prince George is donating the property to Rolls, whose operation will ultimately double the county's industrial tax base. Prince George officials also feel that the donation will be less capital-intensive than slowly developing the property and selling it off to individual buyers.


   The ready-to-go site speeds the expansion's time frame. Rolls projects that the project's first phase, a $100-million investment creating more than 100 jobs, will be completed and fully operational by the end of 2009.
– Jack Lyne















U.S. Super Sites Gallery


Franklin Farm, Louisiana

Orange Grove, Louisiana


Pointe Sunshine, Louisiana

Telkite Technology Park, Michigan


PEZ Lake Industrial Development, New York

Enterprise South Industrial Park, Tennessee


I-40 Advantage Auto Park, Tennessee

Cooke Industrial Rail Park, Virginia


Meadowville Technology Park, Virginia

New River Valley Commerce Park, Virginia




















TOP OF PAGE






Top of Page |

Letter to Editor |
Site Selection Online |
SiteNet





Site Selection Online – The magazine of Corporate Real Estate Strategy and Area Economic Development.

©2008 Conway Data, Inc. All rights reserved. SiteNet data is from many sources and not warranted to be accurate or current.








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Features

2007 GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT

2007 GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   At 1,680 ft. (512.1 meters) on July 21, 2007, the 141-story Burj Dubai, developed by Emaar Properties, attained official status as the tallest building in the world, besting Taipei 101 in Taiwan by 13 ft. (4 meters). Emaar and its 5,000-plus construction workers and […]

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Trustbelt Report: Building a Better Climate

When Kenall selected Kenosha, Wis., for a new advanced manufacturing investment, the facility location decision reaffirmed the wisdom of recent changes to the Wisconsin business climate.

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Perception and Reality


Basket case or horn of plenty? California is both — it depends on whom you ask. The Golden State’s business-climate burdens are well documented in the business press — including in these pages, where interviews with corporate executives

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TOP UTILITIES 2006

f you think your company faces tough times these days, imagine being an electric utility.    Confronted with record demand for energy, rising fuel prices and global competition, North American power companies must build new business models if they are to thrive.    Consider the latest test for the U.S. power grid, a series of three interconnected […]

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Silicon Empire State

Tech companies are finding the infrastructure and workforce they need well outside of the Big Apple.

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Jackson: Central Mississippi’s Crossroads

Drop your finger in the middle of a map of the Southeast U.S., and you’ll point to Jackson, Mississippi.

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Features

EDITOR’S VIEW

EDITOR’S VIEW From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   EDOs: Are You Ready for Your Close-up? O ne reason this issue of Site Selection is so large is because it contains one editorial survey and four editorial profiles. Profiles are shorter versions of a survey, but they do much the same thing, which is to […]

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION: SHOVEL-READY SITES

hovel-ready” is a term that we are hearing a lot in the national media these days. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act requires that any project that receives an investment from the federal stimulus package be “shovel-ready.” For those of us in the business of helping companies choose a location for their facility investments, […]

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IDRC Abstracts

Abstracts of major presentations of the International Development Research Council (IDRC), the world’s pre-eminent corporate real estate association. “Strategies for Managing Through the Economic Downturn,” Pacific Northwest World Congress, May 14, 2001: Remaining competitive in the global marketplace requires a company to hire and keep the best workers, says Jacques Gordon of LaSalle Investment Management. […]

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The Coliseum That’s Coming To Colorado Springs

He gleefully cops to being a Deadhead.

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EDITORS’S VIEW

ithin days of this issue arriving at your address, many in the U.S. and elsewhere will be noting with sadness and anger the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. What a different world we are in, and have been in for the last five years. It doesn’t seem so long ago that one […]

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Commanding View

Mark Twain found the Upper Mississippi otherworldly, serene and bucolic when he traveled through the region 130 years ago.

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Features

IAMC INSIDER

SEPTEMBER 2007 Arteries of the Economy (cover) Meet a Member IAMC People & Projects Request Information

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Breaking Boundaries: KeyCorp/Johnson Controls/Trammell Crow Alliance Sets Service Delivery Standards

Breaking down outmoded boundaries: It’s a key element in the ongoing revolution in corporate real estate service delivery. And boundary-breaking is precisely what’s driving the creative alliance between Cleveland-based KeyCorp (www.key.com) and service providers Johnson Controls (www.johnsoncontrols.com) and Trammell Crow Corporate Services (www.trammellcrow.com). Formed in September of 1997, the KeyCorp Real Estate Enterprise (KREE) is […]

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All of the Above

Responsible stewardship and progressive goals characterize Colorado’s energy scene.

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Site Selection Snapshot – August 1, 2024

        Cart Before the Horse?           If a proposed 25% tariff were to go into effect, the cost of 12 STS cranes already ordered from Chinese companies by the Port of Virginia (pictured) would balloon from $161.52 million to nearly $202 million, says the AAPA. Photo courtesy of […]

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Digital Derby

North Carolina is one of several states carving out a share of the US$5-billion U.S. computer and video game sector.

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West Virginia to World: ‘We’ve Got Your Back.’

‘We’ve Got Your Back.’

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Features

2007 GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT

2007 GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   The Infrastructure Dilemma Will the U.S. follow the world’s lead in turning to private-sector investment? by JOHN W. McCURRY john.mccurry bounce@conway.com  and ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns bounce@conway.com A ssessing the world’s infrastructure needs is a daunting task. Even more daunting for governments is developing formulas […]

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EUROPEAN UNION

urope enjoyed a return to high levels of foreign direct investment in 2004 (over US$250 billion, including non-EU figures) and remains the most attractive global zone. According to Ernst & Young’s European Investment Monitor (EIM), researched and powered by Oxford Intelligence, FDI is increasingly driven by European cross-border investment, with the U.K. remaining the dominant […]

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Business Climate Bragging Rights

Investment in agriculture, aerospace and food processing projects helps diversify these states' economies.

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All In Good Time

In 1995, Sanford Orkin, former president of Atlanta-based Orkin Pest Control and son of its founder, purchased 922 acres (373 hectares) of land near Athens, Ga., home to the flagship campus of his beloved University of Georgia, for $7 million. Since then the “Orkin tract” has experienced several close misses with major prospects, including an initial prospect in 2000, a never-built Daimler vehicle plant in 2002 and a Novartis vaccine plant that chose Holly Springs, N.C., over the site in 2006.

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WEST ROCK COFFEE CASE STUDY

The name “Ford” is synonymous with “business” in the United States. In Detroit, it conjures up images of automobile manufacturing and assembly lines – dating back to Henry Ford and the Model T Ford.

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New Investments in Manufacturing and Agriculture Sweep Into the Dakotas

Over the next few years, with the help of innovative practices, the processes behind farming and food production will take a new direction that optimizes resources...

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Features

NORTH AMERICAN REPORTS

NORTH AMERICAN REPORTS From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   The Maine Thing Freightliner Gets What It Needs in Coahuila   E by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns bounce@conway.com  arly this summer, Chrysler Group announced three new investments in North America to support production of its Phoenix V-6 engine. While the new plants in Trenton, Mich., and […]

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Pandemic Response Key To Workforce Development

Getting to the top of the mountain and staying there are two different things.

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Editor’s View: Leadership, Among Other Things

I ‘ve saved this space to recognize some outstanding individuals in the corporate real estate profession — the seven winners of this year’s Site Selection Corporate Real Estate Leadership Awards, which were presented at the CoreNet Global Summit this past May, in Salt Lake City. With their permission, we will spotlight the work they do […]

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Secret Sauce

Haven’t worked with your state’s MEP? Maybe it’s time to start.

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Top Micropolitans: Built for Speed

If a driver were as dominant in NASCAR as Statesville-Mooresville is in economic development, the officials who run the sport would likely start building more challenging tracks.

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Will the Appalachian Basin Be the World’s Next Energy Hub?

According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, over 40 percent of the retired coal-fired capacity can be found in Appalachia.

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Features

PROJECT FINANCE

PROJECT FINANCE From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   It Tolls for Thee PPP or not, transportation projects seek to monetize assets. by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns bounce@conway.com “A ccording to the Federal Highway Administration, $131.7 billion and $9.4 billion is needed respectively every year over the next 20 years to repair deficient roads and bridges.” […]

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Cultivating the Roots of Canadian Innovation

The top provincial agencies and local economic
development offices for 2016.

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Foxconn Picks Milwaukee for North American Headquarters

The Badger State struck gold again when Foxconn announced it would place its North American headquarters in Milwaukee.

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Through the Mill

With a GDP of more than $300 billion*, Québec represents nearly 20 percent of Canada's economy.

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Local, National and Global Investment Agendas Meet Here

Few locations in China can claim as many benefits to industrial investors as the Changzhou National Hi-Tech District (CND) established in November 1992 on the northern side of the city of Changzhou.

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Amazon vs. Walmart

E-commerce and brick-and-mortar expansion continue their cautious dance toward one another.

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Features

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION: BIOTECH LOCATION STRATEGIES

orcester, Mass., has RNA expert Craig Mello, this year’s Nobel laureate in medicine. Phoenix, Ariz., has Jeffrey Trent, a noted genomics researcher. San Jose, Calif., has Guy Miller, an expert in treating “orphan” diseases and entrepreneur. Houston recently wooed Stephen Wong, a noted inventor and expert in molecular imaging, from Boston, Mass.    For many regions […]

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From Site Selection magazine, March 1999 M A N A G E M E N T     S T R A T E G Y Keeping Sprint’s New HQ Campus on Track Margaret P. Latshaw, Ph.D., is in the midst of what will likely be a high point in her career in corporate real estate. […]

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Each Country Is Happy in Its Own Way

We steal a glance at the findings of the World Happiness Report 2024 and how they align with countries’ economic development climates.

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Strategic Real Estate Alliances Shaky but Steady Steps up the Value-Added Staircase

To outsource or not to outsource — that is not the question. You can never be too thin, it seems, in these downsized days. ?Doing it all? has become tantamount to not doing it all effectively. Scattershot diversification is as obsolete as O.J. Simpson?s viability as a corporate spokesperson. Instead, the big business question is […]

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Global or Bust

Paris-based healthcare and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi last month announced an expansion of its partnership with GDF SUEZ energy services subsidiary Cofely that will implement primarily renewable energy production and distribution systems worth up to €80 million at Sanofi industrial sites around the world over the next five years.

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Taming the Wild West

Can the land of the wild, wild West become the next high-tech haven of choice? It can if more executives follow the example of Kent Holliday, the founder of Eleutian Technology in Cody, Wyo. The world's largest network of certified instructors who teach English as a second language, Eleutian recently made its home in the town.

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Features

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION: WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS

ny discussion of the U.S. economy and strategies to confront global competition for jobs and investment must invariably address the workplace and how it is being transformed by knowledge-centered and technology-driven skills and occupations. More often than not, such dialogue takes on an almost apocalyptic tone, painting scenarios of a society verging on a demographic […]

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A Region of Firsts

Greater Philadelphia leverages its historic position as a global leader in life sciences.

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Bookends

Boosted by projects — often in multiple phases — from such companies as ExxonMobil, Shintech, Honeywell and Westlake Chemical, East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana tops the project tallies of all counties along the Mississippi River from July 2010 through December 2011.

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Round Rock: Where quality of life and opportunity meet.

Home to some 133,000 people and a growing cluster of leading tech companies, Round Rock has proved ideal for families and corporations alike.

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Urban Wilderness Packs Economic Punch

Knoxville’s outdoor amenities lure recreational enthusiasts and the firms that cater to them.

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How Wisconsin Is Tackling the Labor Shortage

Talent attraction efforts receive a big boost in the Badger State.

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Features

TOP UTILITIES 2007

TOP UTILITIES 2007 From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   Business Climate Changers These top utility economic developers know how to renew the economic portfolios of the regions they serve. $500 million in environmental controls, many to be installed at its Sioux Plant (pictured) in St. Charles, Mo., are part of Top Utility Ameren’s $1-billion […]

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How Did Malaysia Do That?

How did Malaysia outperform South Korea in a recent global competitiveness ranking? How did it perform better than Germany, Japan and Taiwan in another, measuring ease of doing business? In the first case, Malaysia ranks 21st in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, beating South Korea by three places.

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Europe or Bust

Biomass projects — many of them expected to produce wood pellets for shipment to the U.K. and other European countries for power production — continue to dot the southeastern United States.

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COVER STORY

JULY 2006 When to Hold ‘Em (cover) Look Inside First Atypical Approach Regional Choices, International Scope Shaw Team Engineers Solutions Give Us Your Opinion! COVER STORY When to Hold ‘Em Shaw Industries Repurposes Assets, Reinvigorates Towns by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns bounce@conway.com “We have embraced the 21st century by entering such cutting-edge industries as brick, carpet, insulation […]

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Who’s Winning — and Losing — Corporate Headquarters

Some fascinating analysis of corporate relocation activity appeared in my inbox just as we were completing work on this issue.

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Sun Tracking Tools

Need to justify an on-site solar installation? These resources may provide answers … or at least provoke the right questions.

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Features

WORLD REPORTS

WORLD REPORTS From Site Selection magazine, September 2007   Swedish Auto Supplier Opens Plant in Romania German Axle Maker Rolls Into Australia   Germany Powering Up As World’s Solar Leader Phoenix-based First Solar has opened a solar module plant in Frankfurt an der Oder in the former East Germany. The plant is located in a […]

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Two Leaders

Government, business, academic and NGO officials from the 34 nations of the Western Hemisphere and beyond came to Atlanta in November for the fourth Americas Competitiveness Forum.

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Actions Speak Loudest

Governors continued to advance renewable energy, energy efficiency and other forms of clean energy during their 2013 state legislative sessions, according to a report released Oct. 21 by the National Governors Association (NGA).

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West Is the Best

*State Rankings Criteria: Green Industry projects as tracked by the Conway Data New Plant Database from Jan. 2008- March 2010 (including renewable energy manufacturing and supply chain facilities, biofuels and biomass, recycling plants, electric vehicle supply chain, etc.); Number of LEED Certified projects as of May 10, 2010 (USGBC project database); LEED Certified projects per […]

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Green Crude

Projects aimed at producing fuel from algae continue to advance around the globe with the help of private and government funding. If and when algae-based fuels become commercially viable on a large scale, New Mexico could be one of the major centers of production. Sapphire Energy has built a large research and development center in Las Cruces and plans to commission a 100-acre algae field this spring near the southern New Mexico town of Columbus.

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Workspace Management is Change Management

The stature of the workspace design industry is rising significantly thanks to renewed interest in designers’ ability to make office space and other work environments more productive — not just easier to look at. Speakers at a recent forum in New York, entitled “Measuring Workplace Performance — The Workplace at the Millennium,” shared their experiences […]

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Features

COVER STORY

COVER STORY From Site Selection magazine, July 2007   Get in Line A regional economy may set sail behind an expanding fleet of nuclear plants. T by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns bounce@conway.com Southern Co.’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, located in Waynesboro, Ga., is one of more than a dozen nuclear sites in the Southeast […]

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Making Waves

The Caribbean rides the crest of rising call center and BPO activity.

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Dynamic Data Duo

Google likes to use the power usage effectiveness, or PUE, metric to calculate the energy costs of housing and cooling servers on server farms such as the one located in Lenoir, N.C.

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‘One City’

Geographically speaking, you can’t get more Mid-Atlantic than the nation’s capital.

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The Israeli Connection

In late November, Merck KGaA, the Darmstadt, Germany–based pharma, chemical and life science company, made the latest in an ongoing series of investments in one of the most R&D-intensive economies in the world: Israel.

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P&G Investment Headlines Region’s Strong Industrial Momentum

The healthy rate of industrial expansion in West Central Ohio doesn’t get more robust than at Procter & Gamble’s plant in Lima...

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