ransportation equipment manufacturing remains the dominant industry in the United States, according to
Site Selection‘s annual tally of new and expanded corporate facilities.
For the third consecutive year, facilities devoted to automotive manufacturing claimed the No. 1 spot in new and expanded plants, accounting for 712 projects in 2001. The second-highest ranking industry was fabricated metals, which
accounted for 419 new and expanded plants last year.
Rounding out the top five in 2001 were the chemicals industry (370 new and expanded facilities), machinery manufacturing (368) and food processing (366).
To be included in Site Selection‘s New Plants Database, a corporate expansion project must meet one of three minimum criteria: $1 million in capital investment, 50 new jobs or 20,000 sq. ft. (1,858 sq. m.) of new floor area.
Despite the automotive industry’s slowdown in 2001, the total number of new and expanded facilities declined only slightly from the previous year, when 732 projects devoted to transportation equipment were reported.
The nationwide recession, however, did take a toll on overall new plant numbers, as Site Selection‘s database recorded 10,808 corporate expansion projects in 2001 — compared to 12,529 projects in 2000.
Michigan Leads
the Pack
With the automotive sector once again leading the charge of new and expanded corporate facilities, it came as no surprise that Michigan ranked No. 1 in the number of large-scale transportation equipment projects. In fact, Michigan accounted for the three largest transportation projects in 2001 — and eight of the top 15.
The largest transportation investment of 2001 — a US$2 billion project by Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich. — tempered an otherwise rebuilding year for Ford. On Jan. 11 of this year, Ford announced that it would close five plants and eliminate 35,000 jobs.
Such wasn’t the case in 2001, however, as Ford announced major facility expansions in Dearborn, Chicago, Cleveland, Norfolk, Va., and Brook Park, Ohio. In those five cities, Ford announced that it would invest $4.35 billion into new and expanded facilities.
But Ford didn’t commit all of its capital to the U.S. Internationally, Ford Motor Land last year committed $475 million toward 11 expansion projects in Europe, South America and Mexico.
Michigan also led the pack by registering four of the 12 largest facility investments in the fabricated metals industry in 2001, according to Site Selection‘s New Plants Database. Showing its dominance in this field, Michigan recorded the three largest capital investments in metal fabrication: a $75 million General Motors plant in Flint, a $55 million DaimlerChrysler project in Sterling Heights and a $55 million Hayes Lemmerz International facility in Muskegon.
Following closely behind Michigan was Kentucky, which recorded four of the top 15 fabricated metals projects in 2001. The largest such project for the Bluegrass State was the $38.2 million expansion for Mubea Inc., in Florence.
Texas-Sized Win for Chemical Plants
If Michigan is the clear leader in the automotive industry, then it should come as no surprise that Texas cleans up in the chemicals industry. Site Selection‘s New Plants Database shows that Texas accounted for eight of the 15 largest chemical plant expansions in the U.S. in 2001, including the largest investment — a $1.75 billion petroleum gasification plant for Port & Sabine Power I Ltd., in Port Arthur.
The largest chemical plants nationwide included investments by such household names as Pfizer, Marathon, Phillips 66, Shell, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dow Chemical.
Illinois also demonstrated its resilience in this sector, registering three of the top 10 capital investments. The largest was a $500 million new plant for Marathon Ashland Petroleum in Robinson.
Other big regional winners in Site Selection‘s annual top industries competition were New York and the Southeast. New York accounted for three of the six largest projects in the machinery manufacturing sector, while the Southeastern U.S. registered seven of the top 15 plants for food processing.
The largest machinery project was a $500 million investment into an engine plant by General Motors Powertrain in Tonawanda, N.Y. Two food processing plants tied for first on the list: a $100 million coffee plant for Folger’s in New Orleans and a $100 million baked beans plant for Bush Brothers in Chestnut Hill, Tenn.
