Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce has been awarded Business Facilities‘ 2020 Deal of the Year Gold Award for the Tesla Gigafactory plant that will produce the electric vehicle maker’s new Cybertruck.
”The plant that will build Tesla’s first entry into the truck market was one of the most coveted projects of the year,” said Editor in Chief Jack Rogers. “The Cybertruck assembly plant vaults Austin into the top tier of automotive manufacturing hubs.”
The new Gigafactory, which will be built in southeastern Travis County, will produce Tesla’s Model Y SUV and its new wedge-shaped electric Cybertruck, creating 5,000 jobs when it scales to full production in 2023.
BF’s Silver Award goes to Louisiana Economic Development for Grön Fuels, a $9.2-billion complex at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge that will produce low-carbon diesel fuel from renewables. The project, which was hailed as the port’s largest in 20 years, is expected to bring a total of 5,585 new direct and indirect jobs to Louisiana’s Capital Region.
“Louisiana is a national leader in fossil fuels, but it is busy preparing for a green future,” Rogers said.
The 141-acre complex at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge will produce up to 180,000 barrels per day of low-carbon diesel from nonfossil feedstock, including soybean oil, corn oil and animal fats.
The City of Charlotte and the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance snared BF’s Bronze Award for Centene’s Regional Headquarters, a 1-million-square-foot campus that will bring 3,237 new jobs to the University City neighborhood.
“The dynamic and diverse growth in the Charlotte region was a major factor in BF’s designation of North Carolina as our 2020 State of the Year,” Rogers said.
In one of its most competitive Deal of the Year contests to date, BF also awarded Honorable Mention Awards to:
- West Virginia Development Office for the Virgin Hyperloop project
- Missouri DED/Missouri Partnership for the Accenture Tech Center
- Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development for the Northrop Grumman expansion
- JobsOhio for the Ultium Cells battery plant
- Pflugerville, TX for the Amazon distribution center
- Marion County, SC for Leisure Pools & Spas
- Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for GM’s Spring Hill expansion, which will build electric Cadillacs
- Irving-Las Colinas (TX) for Microsoft
- Kansas Department of Commerce for its Grain Belt Express wind-power transmission grid
BF’s 2020 Deal of the Year judges were Howard Silverman, President and CEO, The CAI Global Group; Philip Anderson, President and CEO, P.W. Anderson & Partners; David Hickey, Managing Director, Hickey & Associates; Angelos Angelou, President of Angelou Economics; and Glenn Mair, Director, MMK Consulting.
Business Facilities is a national publication that has been the leading location source for corporate site selectors and economic development professionals for more than 50 years.
