BF-Sept/Oct-2014

About 2,000 people are employed at Toyota’s manufacturing facility in Blue Springs, MS, where the best-selling Toyota Corolla is made. Overall, more than 3.2 million vehicles of all types have been produced in Mississippi.

State Focus: Mississippi’s Got It All

Low energy and operating costs, customized incentives and a highly skilled workforce have businesses flocking to the Magnolia State.
Iowa is meeting businesses’ growing needs for highly skilled workers, like the technicians pictured here. Nearly 33 percent of Iowans ages 25 to 34 hold bachelor’s degrees. Iowa’s refundable tax credit on R&D activities has allowed many bioscience companies to build new research centers.

State Focus: Iowa Keeps Attracting Major Business Expansions

Fiscal stability, a low cost of doing business and a skilled workforce are a formula for growth in the Hawkeye State.
Rogers State University is a regional four-year university serving northeastern Oklahoma and the Tulsa metropolitan area.

State Focus: Oklahoma – Oil, Cattle and Much, Much More

The Sooner State is diversifying into a variety of hot growth sectors, including a rapidly expanding hub of data centers.
Gerresheimer Glass, Inc. manufactures and distributes high-quality glass and plastic products for the global pharma and healthcare industry from their Vineland, NJ plant.

Location Focus: New Jersey – The Place For Giant Opportunities

The Garden State fields a powerful lineup of assets for business, including a highly educated workforce and game-changing tax incentives.
Italian motorsports innovator, Dallara, built the first American installation of their futuristic race simulator in Indiana.

State Focus: Indiana – A State Of Action

Indiana continues to prove that it can get the job done.
Sugar Land Town Square is an award-winning development that combines some of the nation’s most successful retailers, businesses and a first class hotel and conference center into one 32-acre lifestyle center.

Location Focus: Texas – Big and Getting Bigger

There’s no "mercy" rule in economic development: the Lone Star State keeps crushing the competition.
Goods being loaded into carts at a port.

Industry Focus: Ports & FTZs – Drivers For Commerce And Trade

Foreign-trade zones are playing a greater role in development efforts geared to increased imports and exports.
TSYS Global Headquarters.

Industry Focus: Call Centers – Welcome Home

When communicating with call centers, familiarity can make all the difference.
President Obama announces NC State’s selection to lead the Next Generation Power Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a consortium of industry, government and academic partners.

Business Report: North Carolina – Next Generation Power Electronics Hub

North Carolina wins a $140-million Manufacturing Innovation Institute to develop wide-band semiconductors for power electronics.
Sacramento skyline.

Business Report: California – Sacramento County Plans For The “Next Economy”

The Capital Region Prosperity Plan sets six priorities, including an “ecosystem” for innovators and entrepreneurs.
The Port of Oswego provides on-dock rail-and-truck loading, making for a smooth transition of goods to market. The Port’s just-in-time storage capabilities provide additional flexibility to delivery schedules.

Feature Story: Logistics – Big Wheels Keep On Rollin’

So far, 2014 has been a banner year for freight haulers, but this success has a down side: a capacity crisis may be looming.
Larry Parman.

Snapshots: 60 Seconds… With Larry Parman, Oklahoma Secretary Of Commerce

Business is booming in Oklahoma, and the state's secretary of commerce explains how and why things are only going to get better.
Southfield, MI, native Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans, has purchased or leased a huge swath of downtown Detroit and is aggressively revitalizing the Motor City and transforming it into a 21st-century high-tech hub.

Feature Story: Michigan Governor’s Report – Reinventing Michigan

Gov. Rick Snyder has identified core problems and brought stakeholders together to solve them in an effort the governor likes to call relentless positive action.
Samsung has invested more than $13 billion in its semiconductor fabrication complex in Austin. TX.

Cover Story: High-Tech Hubs

With smart new regional growth strategies and generous federal funding initiatives, high-tech hubs are springing up all over the United States.
Jack Rogers

First Word: Look at the Bright Side

If you’re as tired as we are of hearing about rampaging terrorist threats, gloomy climate-change predictions and virulent diseases, then this issue of Business Facilities is the antidote.
tax credits

Listen Now: Living And Learning In Lubbock, Texas, With John Osborne, CEO, Lubbock EDA

Lubbock EDA CEO John Osborne discusses business climate and downtown revitalization in the Business Facilities Podcast.
Economic Development Awards

Enter The 2024 EDO Awards! Deadline Extended To March 21

Submit your story to Business Facilities' editors for consideration in the 2024 Economic Development Organization Awards.
2023 Deals Of The Year

2023 Deals Of The Year

Entries for Deal of the Year awards spanned industries, investment types, and winning strategies. Here are the stories of this year’s picks.

[VIDEO] Camp Hall – A Next Generation Commerce Park in South Carolina

Camp Hall is a first-of-its-kind, master-planned industrial work space located in Charleston, S.C. As a convergence of people, place and programming, Camp Hall delivers thoughtful infrastructure and logistical features that empower people — and business — to thrive.

Location Spotlight: The Rhode Island Advantage

Rhode Island’s ideal location in the Northeast boasts all the benefits of major commercial centers, including easy access to top companies, all manner of transportation, and world-class universities.