Cover Story

The massive disruptions of the global supply chain that occurred in 2020 during the pandemic have increased momentum for the reshoring of manufacturing jobs to the United States, primarily from China.

In the last century, our 2020 State of the Year has been tops in tobacco, textiles and furniture. Today, North Carolina is on the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing, biotech, gene therapy and unmanned aerial systems.

Economic development organizations and government officials have joined forces with local businesses to keep creating inspiring and innovative ways to meet the most urgent needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are their stories.

The red-hot growth sector of cybersecurity has created more than a million new jobs. The bad news: half of these critical cyber jobs are going unfilled due to a shortage of skilled workers.

Business Facilities didn’t let the COVID-19 crisis skew the results in our 16th annual rankings report: They remain the most credible and comprehensive location leaderboards.

Business Facilities' 2020 Metro Rankings Report takes a look at hot topics in economic development on the city and global level, including logistics, startup ecosystems, job growth, cost of living, and more.

The COVID-19 crisis is bringing out the best in communities from coast to coast. Economic development organizations are giving small businesses financial lifelines. They’re also teaming up with local businesses to create a supply chain for critical medical supplies.

Texas wins our top honor for a record fourth time with a bonanza of new investments in projects creating thousands of new jobs in a diverse group of growth sectors throughout the Lone Star State.

Trade wars may come and go, but U.S. ports are in it for the long haul: expanding their services and dredging harbors to make way for ships carrying gigantic containers.

Our 15th annual rankings report maintains BF’s standard for credible and comprehensive results. Rankings categories may evolve over time, but our commitment to an unbiased assessment of valid metrics never wavers.

Business Facilities' 2019 Metro Rankings Report takes a look at the hot topics in economic development on the city level, including job growth, economic growth potential, tech opportunities and more.

Business Facilities' 2019 Global Rankings Report measures international locations’ progress on a range of factors, including artificial intelligence, renewable energy, economic growth potential, global competitiveness, and beyond.

Attracting foreign direct investment has become a top priority for economic development organizations seeking to leverage the status of the U.S. as the top global destination for FDI.

Today’s workforce training and talent acquisition is a multi-faceted effort that brings targeted skills to students, and new workers to locations they’ll be happy to live in.

Virginia may be for lovers, but these days the Commonwealth also is getting a ton of love from emerging high-tech growth sectors and businesses looking for the perfect corporate HQ site.

For excitement alone, we probably should call Amazon’s HQ2 the “Deal of the Century.” Jeff Bezos’ mega-project produced the first tie in the history of our annual competition.

The competition for foreign direct investment is intensifying, with locations far and wide vying to become prime destinations for FDI.

Workforce training is still job one for locations vying to compete for high-tech projects, but talent acquisition—a.k.a. recruiting—now is a critical component for success.

As cyber threats multiply at an exponential rate, an emerging cybersecurity sector tries to keep pace, with government agencies forming close alliances with world-class institutions of higher education.

From national manufacturing innovation institutes to university-led high-tech clusters and incubators, locations far and wide are stepping up to bring tomorrow’s breakthroughs to today’s market.

The 13th annual edition of our rankings report tracks growth sectors that seem to be emerging overnight from thin air in uncharted waters, telling you who’s out front in cybersecurity, offshore wind energy and the other frontiers of the 21st century.

The logistics and distribution industry is poised for a great leap forward as new technology digitally transforms the supply chain from end to end.

The most successful workforce development efforts are teaming with education resources to develop job-specific vocational studies in high schools, community colleges and universities.

The Lone Star State reaffirms its dominance as the most dynamic state economy in the U.S., an energy and exports powerhouse with a seemingly boundless potential for growth.

The U.S. will need to fill about 3.5 million jobs in advanced manufacturing in the next decade, but as many as 2 million of these jobs may remain unfilled if we don’t close the skills gap.

BF’s 12TH ANNUAL RANKINGS report is our most comprehensive analysis to date of the locations that are leading the pack in the most important benchmarks for sustainable growth in the 21st century. Part One: State Rankings.

BF’s 12TH ANNUAL RANKINGS report is our most comprehensive analysis to date of the locations that are leading the pack in the most important benchmarks for sustainable growth in the 21st century. Part Two: Metro Rankings.

States, regions, businesses and higher ed resources are joining forces in an aggressive and innovative effort to fill the skilled labor shortage in the United States.

The global life sciences industry has adopted an attitude of cautious optimism, expecting reliable growth that will fall short of pre-recession investment surges.

The Crimson Tide is rolling, big time, and now it’s brought in our top honor: Alabama is BF’s 2015 State of the Year.

Seven of nine planned federally funded national manufacturing innovation institutes are getting a head start on tomorrow’s high-growth technologies.

We’ve revamped our Metro and Global rankings this year to include some new technology oriented benchmarks.

Our 11th annual rankings report is Business Facilities’ most comprehensive evaluation to date of state, metro and international leaders in more than 50 critical categories essential to site selection choices.

There hasn’t been a lot of good economic news coming from Europe these days, but the continent is getting a much-needed boost from its growing biotech/pharma labs.

Winning the race to fill the high-tech jobs of the 21st century requires an ongoing commitment to match educational programs with future business workforce needs.

Nevada wins the most hotly contested economic development prize in years by bagging Tesla's lithium battery plant near Reno. Washington successfully pulled out all the stops to keep Boeing from leaving the state. Comcast's gleaming new tower will transform Philadelphia's skyline.

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

We’re marking the 10th anniversary of our annual rankings festival by doing what we do every year: refining our rankings criteria to give you the most meaningful benchmarks of state and metro performance.

In this year’s Metro Rankings Report, we’ve taken note of the crucial role exports are playing in the Recovery for many locations by charting their success in two of our rankings categories, Exports Growth Leaders and Exports Recovery Leaders. We've also included our Global Rankings within this story.

A resurgent bioscience sector pulls Europe into recovery, while U.S. biotech leaders train the next generation of an essential skilled workforce.