Headquarters
projects for WhiteWave Foods (left) and McData Corp. (below) were among the high points of 2005
for the Broomfield Economic Development Corp. in Broomfield,
Colo., outside Denver.
R eflecting a U.S.
economy that has averaged 4 percent GDP growth for each of the last 10
quarters, this year's
Top Economic Development Groups represent virtually
every major region of the country. While
the South continues to dominate Site Selection's annual rankings of
top groups based upon actual economic performance — with six of the top 10
and 13 of the top 20 — some of the top-performing organizations also hail
from Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico (see rankings box).
Twelve different states are represented in this year's
rankings. Texas, winner of Site Selection's Governor's Cup award in
March, leads the way with four top-ranked community organizations, including
two in the top 10 and two in the Honorable Mention category. Illinois and North Carolina also both placed two community groups in
the top 10 ranking, with North
Carolina adding a third in the Honorable Mention
list.
The award winners were selected by Site Selection
editors based upon the development organizations' overall performance in the
following categories: total capital investment; jobs created; investment per
capita; jobs per capita; overall economic vitality; depth and breadth of
economic strength; diversity of industry; ability to generate breakthrough
deals; and the overall quality of the group's nomination package, including
verifiable documentation for all projects.
The jobs and capital investment numbers carry the most
weight; the subjective categories are used to separate groups that are
otherwise very close in the rankings.
Several clear trends emerged among the winning communities:
From the US$600 million EADS Airbus project in
Mobile, Ala., to two $120-million projects (Fidelity Investments and LaFarge North America) in Northern Kentucky, nearly
every winner landed one or more breakthrough deals in 2005.
Virtually every winning agency used a
state-of-the-art Web site to generate interest from corporate site
selectors and consultants, with several agencies embarking on major
online upgrades in 2005.
Online databases of available buildings and
sites became a must for top-performing organizations in 2005. Those
groups that didn't have this service simply were not able to compete.
Work-force training initiatives moved to the
top of the "to do list" of winning organizations in 2005. The
ability to quantify and deliver a trained work force in specialized
skill-set categories gave the winners a huge edge over their
competition.
"Partnership" became the operative
word in 2005. Communities that showed the ability to bring together
diverse groups under one united effort to market and promote a
geographical area won more projects than stand-alone cities and
counties.
Not surprisingly, each of the
winning organizations is also led by a well-qualified, senior team of
economic development professionals.
The competition this year was once again extremely close,
as only a few points separated the top 10 organizations from the Honorable
Mention groups.
Listed in alphabetical order by location are the Top 10
Economic Development Groups of the Year:
Broomfield Economic Development Corp. Broomfield, Colorado
"Boom-field"
would be an apt description for what's happening in the city and county of Broomfield,
Colo., located in the northwest quadrant of
the Denver
metro area. The county of 48,000 people last year attracted five corporate
headquarters firms and one divisional headquarters office from a $9-billion
company.
More than $135 million in capital investment and 1,337 jobs
were added to Broomfield in 2005, led by a $34-million investment by WhiteWave Foods and a
$30-million investment by McData
Corp.
"The 2005 breakthrough has been our ongoing efforts to
attract corporate or regional headquarters office or manufacturing
facilities," says Don Dunshee, president and
CEO of the Broomfield Economic Development Corp. "Currently, there are
22 firms that have world, U.S. or major manufacturing headquarters in
Broomfield that employ 13,611 people." Dunshee adds that "we
expanded the available data on our Web site to include real estate
information on sites and buildings, demographics, plus links to state of Colorado and Denver
metro area information on taxes, transportation, labor and incentives." Dunshee notes that Broomfield's ability to
provide a "large pool of highly trained and available tech labor"
was instrumental in landing a $5.5-million facility investment by
Flextronics. The firm will employ 195 workers and occupy 50,860 sq. ft.
(4,725 sq. m.) of high-tech, electronics manufacturing space. Broomfield
isn't stopping there, however. Dunshee said the
county is seeking expanded authority from the state to "increase grant
amounts as job wages exceed the local county average." If the wage is 20
percent higher than the county average, says Dunshee,
the job training grant would increase from $800 per job to $1,500 per job.
Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce Elgin, Illinois
Serving
Elgin and northern Kane County, Ill.,
the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce packs a lot of punch for a community that
just topped 100,000 in population last year.
With 2,137 jobs created and $307 million in capital
investment announced in 2005, the Elgin Chamber's performance rivaled that of
much larger metro areas around the country.
An addition to the former Panasonic
building will be the new home of John B. Sanfilippo
& Son, Inc., an Honorable Mention Top Deal of 2004 that presaged even
more project growth for the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce in Elgin, Ill.,
in 2005.
"The real numbers speak for
themselves," says Chris Manheim, vice president of economic development
for the chamber, which also won a Top Groups award in 2004. "From 2001
to 2005, the Elgin
area economy netted 656 new businesses and 8,007 jobs, according to the
Illinois Department of Employment Security."
Organizationally, the chamber economic development office
is "quite small for a group serving around 150,000 residents and 20-plus
business parks," noted Manheim. "We take a page out of the rural
community development play book: We use a lot of volunteers — literally,
hundreds."
That effort paid off in 2005 as Elgin landed 16 projects of $1 million or
greater. Among the more significant investments was Colony Display
Systems Manufacturing's $24-million, 550,000-sq.-ft. (51,095-sq.-m.)
new plant that created 450 jobs.
"Colony is impressed with Elgin's
location and proximity to the I-90 Tollway,"
said Noel Liston, senior associate at Darwin Realty
and Development Corp. "The central location and easy access by a good
labor force in and around Elgin
[were] essential to the decision-making process."
Like other winners, Elgin
made commitments in 2005 to expand its work-force training efforts and
improve its Web site. Through the chamber's Workforce Development Committee,
the economic development office was able to redirect training dollars to a
"flexible training program" for area manufacturers. Elgin
also worked with the state of Illinois, Aquila Inc. and Ameren Energy to
allow developers and brokers to electronically update their available
buildings and sites on the community's LocationOne
database.
Grant County Economic Growth
Council Marion, Indiana
They
have a saying in Grant County, Ind., whenever a company selects the Marion area for a
significant capital investment. The company "Made It Marion," the folks
at the Grant County Economic Growth Council say.
In 2005, some pretty big spenders "Made It
Marion," including two mega-retailers who each brought a 1
million-sq.-ft. (92,900-sq.-m.) distribution center to town: Wal-Mart and
Dollar General.
Top Groups
Honorable Mention
Albuquerque Economic Development Albuquerque, New Mexico http://www.abq.org/
The two projects, representing
$130 million and 1,400 jobs in combined investment, were two of the largest
projects announced in all of Indiana
last year.
The county of 71,000 people also landed Central
Indiana Ethanol's $58-million, 40-job plant; JSG's
$4 million, 30-worker investment; and Titan Recovery's $4
million, 200-employee regional call center.
For the year, GrantCounty secured $270
million in capital investment and 2,000 new jobs.
"The organization is partnering with the regional work-force
investment board, the local community college and the two liberal arts
colleges to develop tailored training programs and promote lifelong
learning," says Tim Eckerle, executive
director of the GCEGC.
"A company in GrantCounty
recently hired 60 individuals that went through the drug screening process
with only two failures," he says. The same firm's national average for
drug screening failures is 30 percent."
A big part of Marion's
attraction is that it falls within a 400-mile (644-km.) truck drive, or one
day's travel, of Chicago, Milwaukee,
Indianapolis, Detroit,
Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Columbus, Toledo,
Dayton, Louisville,
St. Louis and Springfield, Ill.
Greater Dallas
Chamber of Commerce Dallas-Fort
Worth-Arlington, Texas
Marking three consecutive years as
a top 10 economic development group is the Greater Dallas Chamber of
Commerce, representing the No. 2 performing metro area in the country (behind
Chicago) in total new and expanded plant activity in 2005.
With 309 projects and $3.4 billion in capital investment
last year, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metroplex
was the most dominant region in the most dominant state, Texas.
Major projects highlighting the performance of the
12-county region were a $120-million printing plant expansion by The
Dallas Morning News in Dallas; a $120-million headquarters building
by Hunt Consolidated Inc. in Dallas; a $100-million intermodal terminal expansion by Union Pacific
Railroad in Wilmer; and a $100-million Dallas headquarters expansion
by 7-Eleven Inc.
Vital to the Greater Dallas Chamber's efforts were the
continued strong performances of Fort Worth and Richardson. In Fort Worth, Bell
Helicopter announced a $100-million manufacturing plant expansion
that adds 100 jobs and 66,000 sq. ft. of space (6,131 sq. m.). In Richardson, Fossil
Inc. announced a $13-million expansion that adds 200 jobs and
132,000 sq. ft. of space (12,263 sq. m.). Fort Worth,
whose chamber nets an Honorable Mention this year, also secured major capital
investments from Allied Electronics ($35 million), LG
Electronics ($24 million) and Klabzuba Oil
& Gas ($30 million).
Richardson, known as the Telecom Corridor, averages 50
technology companies per square mile and is one of the densest high-tech
areas in the U.S. Texas Instruments is on track this spring to complete its
$3 billion wafer fab plant in Richardson, one of
the largest capital investments ever undertaken by a U.S. company on American
soil.
Greater Houston
Partnership Houston, Texas
The mass exodus of Houston residents fleeing the path of Hurricane Rita
last fall was the exact opposite behavior of corporate America in
2005. With 214 large-scale corporate facility projects last year, the Houston-Baytown-SugarLand metro area was third in the country,
behind only Chicago and Dallas.
Topping the list of capital investments was Natural Fuel
& Energy, which last year announced a $60-million plant in Houston to manufacture biodiesel fuel. The Houston Cement Co. announced a new
$42-million factory and distribution warehouse, and the Metronational
Corp. said it would build a new $36-million office building.
Other big spenders in Houston
last year included Invensys Process Systems ($12 million), Glass Wholesalers
Warehouse ($10 million), Sverdrup Technology ($6 million) and Mitsubishi
Caterpillar Forklift America
($4 million).
What makes the Houston
area so attractive to companies? Besides its 5.3 million people and work
force of more than 2.6 million, Houston
has a reputation as a fast-growing technology center. Some 21 Fortune 500
companies are headquartered in Houston, and 51
of the world's 100 largest non-U.S. corporations have non-retail operations
in Houston.
The Port
of Houston is the
world's sixth largest and routinely ranks first in the nation in volume of
foreign tonnage and second in the nation in total tonnage. Houston
has more than 300,000 students enrolled in more than 60 colleges,
universities and technical schools throughout the area. The median age of Houston workers is 33,
compared to the national median age of 36.
Mobile Area Chamber of
Commerce Mobile, Alabama
Mobile's Brookley Field is the site of EADS' proposed
$600-million assembly plant for aerial refueling tanker assembly. The project
was just one highlight of a banner year for Mobile, with more waiting in the wings.
While EADS Airbus and its $600
million, 1,150-worker project rightfully grabbed the headlines in Mobile in 2005,
outsiders may not know that Mobile garnered 25 facility projects totaling
more than $800 million in capital investment in 2005. AustalUSA announced it would employ 600
workers making high-speed aluminum ferry boats. APM Terminals North America announced
it would hire 310 workers at a new container terminal warehouse.
Other significant investments came from Kimberly-Clark
Corp. ($38 million), SPI/Mobile Pulley and Machine Works ($11 million), Masonite International ($9 million) and Kvaerner Oilfield
Products ($4 million).
The Mobile market has a population of 400,000 and is the
largest metro area along the Gulf of Mexico between New
Orleans and Tampa.
The Mobile metro area includes Mobile and
Baldwin counties and is centrally located between Houston,
Memphis, Atlanta,
Dallas and Tampa. Thus it is quickly becoming known as
a hub for the region, linking area companies not only with major U.S. markets but also with emerging markets in
Central and South America.
The Mobile Area Chamber maintains a buildings and sites
database for the area, with each property offering a photo, important
characteristics and a map. Information is provided by the local real estate
community.
Mooresville-South Iredell
Chamber of Commerce Mooresville, North
Carolina
They're getting used
to winning contests in Mooresville, the place NASCAR fans like to call "Race CityUSA."
Repeating from last
year as a top economic development group, the Mooresville-South Iredell
Chamber of Commerce raked in 37 projects totaling $302 million in investment,
1,125 jobs and 1.77 million sq. ft. (164,433 sq. m.) of space in 2005. Not
bad for a community of just 25,000 people.
Part of the No. 1 Site
Selection Micropolitan Area of Statesville-Mooresville,
N.C., the town of Mooresville is known as the corporate
headquarters location of Lowe's and the home of many NASCAR Nextel Cup racing
teams.
Major projects
announced in Mooresville last year included Lowe's Companies' $110-million
headquarters, NGK Ceramics USA's $60-million expansion, Polymer Group's
$40-million expansion and WinCup's $25-million
expansion.
Melanie
O'Connell Underwood, executive director of economic development for the
chamber, is quick to credit the regional partnership with bringing many jobs
to Mooresville.
"The 16-county
region that makes up Charlotte USA is our biggest resource when it comes to
recruiting new businesses and generating new jobs," she said.
"Without the region as a whole, we wouldn't be where we are today.
Creating new jobs and increasing capital investment in our community takes a
cooperative effort on behalf of local governments, businesses and
citizens."
The chamber recently
completed a strategic planning process that resulted in a new branding
campaign and new strategic direction for the community's economic development
efforts.
Serving
a three-county area with a population of 350,000, Northern Kentucky Tri-Ed posted a banner year with 41 new or expanding
companies, 2,997 jobs created and $444 million in new capital investment.
A road extension agreement among several
governments was crucial to making Fidelity Investments' $120-million campus
expansion in Covington,
Ky., a reality. By extension,
the counties of Northern Kentucky involved
in Northern Kentucky Tri-ED have helped make more happen in the Greater
Cincinnati, Ohio, metropolitan area. (Click schematic above for larger
detailed image.)
To put this achievement into
perspective, consider this: Northern Kentucky Tri-ED serves only 8.2 percent
of Kentucky's
population, but the group accounted for 26 percent of the state's capital
investment. The area exceeded the expected wage level for new jobs by 26
percent, with an average annual new job salary of $54,965. Northern Kentucky landed
not one but two projects valued at $120 million apiece: Fidelity Investments,
creating 3,500 jobs in a 350,000-sq.-ft. (32,515-sq.-m.) office facility; and
LaFarge North America, creating 100 jobs in a
143,000-sq.-ft. (13,285-sq.-m.) expansion in Silver Grove.
"The three-county Northern Kentucky region has become
a preferred location for companies seeking a headquarters location, room for
future growth and skilled, dependable workers," says Karen Finan, vice president of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED.
"The adaptability of a work force that is constantly being educated and
retrained will allow Northern Kentucky's technical and advanced manufacturing
environment to thrive well into the future." Finan notes that a "redesign
of our Web site is under way to accommodate more efficient use of our
buildings and sites database."
Among other new programs, the organization last year
launched a proactive marketing program targeting industry sectors in advanced
manufacturing, office and corporate headquarters and technology.
Piedmont Triad Partnership Greensboro, North
Carolina
The
12-county Piedmont Triad Partnership landed 42 corporate projects last year
throughout the region of 1.5 million people. Anchored by Greensboro
and Winston-Salem,
the region is a hotbed of high-tech and advanced manufacturing activity. Haywood Pool Products, manufacturer of
swimming pool equipment, announced it would create 75 jobs and invest $10
million at its plant in Clemmons. StarPet,
makers of polymer resins used in food and beverage packaging, announced it
would expand its only U.S.
facility in Asheboro,
creating 40 jobs and investing $44 million. Alcan Inc.
announced it would open a tobacco packaging plant in the ReidsvilleIndustrial Park,
creating 170 jobs and investing $42.6 million.
The "granddaddy"
of them all, however, came in 2004, when Dell Inc. announced it would spend
$100 million to build and equip a state-of-the-art, 400,000-sq.-ft.
(37,160-sq.-m.) manufacturing and distribution plant at the Alliance Science
and TechnologyPark
in Winston-Salem.
The project is expected to generate about 1,500 jobs at the facility within
five years.
The Piedmont Triad Partnership points to several reasons
why so many companies are making large investments in the region:
Construction costs are 30 percent below the national average; the region
boasts the lowest cost of living among all major cities throughout the U.S.;
the area provides many cultural, sports and recreational venues; and state
tax credits include a 25 percent credit for research and development — an
attraction for firms using research coming out of the many colleges and
universities in the region. The region's work force of 638,000 includes
146,000 manufacturing workers and 492,000 professional and service workers.
Downtown locations from Mittal Steel and CNA Financial were among the year's
high points for World Business Chicago.
World Business Chicago Chicago, Illinois
With
389 projects and $6.5 billion in capital investment, the Chicago
metro area was the undisputed king of America's large cities in 2005.
World Business Chicago had a lot do with that. WBC directly
recruited or retained 18,377 jobs and facilitated $3.9 billion worth of
investments.
Among the largest deals were the $550-million Mandarin
Hotel investment, $220-million Trump Tower,
$138-million investment by S&C Electric Co. and
$50-million investment by CNA Financial Group.
Metro Chicago has more
high-tech workers (347,100), more non-stop domestic and international
flights, more manufacturing output and more distribution companies than any
other city in America.
About 50 percent of North American industry is within one day's truck
delivery of Chicago;
75 percent of North American consumers are less than two days away.
