2021 Chief Executive Guide to Site Selection

2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

THE GREAT RESHUFFLING

How Covid changes everything.

And doesn't.

Ohio

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1 - Cushman Wakefield: Q3 2019 | 2 - Fortune Magazine, 2020 | 3 - EMSI; IPEDS 2019

0%

state tax on corporate profits

2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

EDITOR

Dan Bigman EDITORS-AT-LARGE

CONTENTS

Jennifer Pellet Jeffrey Sonnenfeld DIGITAL EDITOR

C.J. Prince PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

2 Up for Grabs

Rose Sullivan

By Dan Bigman

Rebecca M. Cooper

8 Welcome to the Great Reshuffle What Covid will—and won't—mean for the future of where and how America does business.

By Dale Buss

CHIEF COPYEDITOR ART DIRECTOR

Gayle Erickson CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Dale Buss, Daniel Fisher, Craig Guillot, Patrick Lencioni EDITOR EMERITUS

J.P. Donlon

15–64 State Profiles In alphabetical order, a primer on economic development programs, workforce quality, the tax and regulatory environment, economic activity and more for each of the contiguous states.

By Craig Guillot

PUBLISHER

Christopher J. Chalk 847-730-3662 | cchalk@chiefexecutive.net DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Lisa Cooper 203-889-4983 | lcooper@chiefexecutive.net MANAGER, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Rachel O’Rourke 615-592-1198 | rorourke@chiefexecutive.net

CHIEF EXECUTIVE GROUP EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Wayne Cooper CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Marshall Cooper DIRECTOR OF EVENTS & PUBLISHER, CORPORATE BOARD MEMBER

Jamie Tassa CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER

Dan Bigman PUBLISHER, STRATEGICCFO360.COM

KimMarie Hagerty DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

Simon O’Neill VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES

Melanie Haniph VICE PRESIDENT

Kendra Jalbert RESEARCH DIRECTOR

Melanie Nolen DATA SERVICES DIRECTOR

A NOTE ON SOURCES

Jonathan Lee

All state-page information was compiled from a variety of sources, including state and local economic development agencies (incentives, deals, big company listings); state and local press reports (deals, governors’ and governor-elect quotes, C-Suite testimonials); company press releases (deals, C-Suite testimonials); state governor’s offices and press releases (quotes, deals, C-Suite testimonials); campaign websites and press releases (quotes and related information); The Fortune 500 (headquarters locations); The Tax Foundation (tax ranking); The National Center for Education Statistics (high-school graduation rates); The U.S. Census Bureau (college degrees); The Bureau of Labor Statistics (unemployment, as of Oct. 2020); and Chief Executive’s Best and Worst States for Business database (quality of life).

Leigh Townes

DIRECTOR, CORPORATE BOARD MEMBER INSTITUTE CONTROLLER

Brittney Smith MARKETING MANAGER

Simone Bunsen EVENTS SPECIALIST

Rachael Gaffney DATA ANALYST

Denise Gilson BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES

Jared Walker, Lara Morrison RESEARCH ANALYST

Isabella Mourgelas

CHIEF EXECUTIVE NETWORK PRESIDENT

Rob Grabill DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS

JoEllen Belcher EXECTUTIVE DIRECTOR

Chuck Smith MARKETING DIRECTOR

Janine O’Dowd 2019 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION 1

THE 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

UP FOR GRABS IF YOU COULD LIVE AND WORK ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU LIVE AND WORK? If you’re Elon Musk or, apparently, one of about 82,000 or so other people who left the state last year, the answer is not California. Sky-high taxes and housing costs, the nation’s densest regulatory thicket and seasonal end-of-times natural disasters are driving workers and companies elsewhere.

It isn’t just California’s anti-business, anti-worker vibe that’s pushing people out. It’s Covid—more exactly, the Covid-and-technology-induced possibilities for millions of highly paid Americans who have discovered—surprise!—that their jobs can be done from anywhere. But rather than ignite a new wave of schadenfreude among other states (we're looking at you, Texas), California’s loss is a warning. In a post-Covid world, the rules of the relocation racket are being rewritten. Fast.

For starters, more mobile employees mean shallower corporate roots. And there will be more mobile employees—count on it. At a Yale summit for CEOs in December, 85 percent of the 100 or so big-company corporate chieftans in attendence said they'd be shrinking their office footprint— many substantially—in the year ahead. If half of a company’s headquarters employees don’t need to come to the office anymore, moving HQ becomes a much simpler decision. What does all this mean for cities and states competing for relocations? What kinds of incentives make sense when bringing a company to your area may not mean bringing all the employees or the new jobs that traditionally go along with them?

That's why, in the decade to come, much of the game may shift to luring individual "superworkers"—high-salary, high-skill, entrepreneurial individuals who can work from anywhere— as much as companies. It’s easy to picture a working world where the nation’s best and brightest settle in a place in their 20s or 30s to raise their families—and remain there for decades, working remotely for multiple employers or starting multiple companies, based in multiple locations.

In this scenario, competing for highly paid talent becomes even more central to the economic development game. Personal taxes, cost-of-living considerations and lifestyle options become the essential ingredients for success. It’s happening now. Beyond Texas luring Musk and others, Florida is feasting on Wall Street’s elite—soaring taxes in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut make the case for them. Even little Vermont is in on the game, offering personal incentives to high-tech remote workers who dream of coding slopeside.

This doesn’t mean every company in every industry will come out of Covid and shift how they’ve done things for decades, obviously. There are many facilities where remote work doesn’t work—at least not yet. The dream of bringing a gleaming, high-tech factory to town, with the hundreds or even thousands of great jobs that come along with it, will always make governors and mayors salivate. But those opportunities will become more rare. Thanks to automation, the factories of the future—as has happened with data centers, call centers and so on—won't require as many workers as they once did. Will all of those factory workers even need to go inside the building? We'll see.

One thing is for sure: CEOs, states and site selectors—as well as individuals—will have a lot to talk about in the years to come.

Announcing his relocation to Texas at a Wall Street Journal conference in December, Musk said California had become “a little complacent, a little entitled” when it came to attracting high-tech companies like Tesla and others. California, he said, “has been winning for a long time. And I think they’re taking them for granted a little bit." As this new era begins, perhaps they’re not alone?

—Dan Bigman, Editor

2 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

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THO UG HT L E A D ER S HIP P ROV I DE D BY DE LO I T T E C ONS U LT I NG LL P

Succeeding in the New Business Climate The acceleration of macro-economic trends due to the pandemic will have a material impact on work models, industry sectors, geographies and government support. Understanding and planning for the implications will present opportunities to thrive.

BY MATT SZUHAJ AND SARAH RAEHL

BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, SEVERAL macro-economic trends related to talent availability and skill requirements were already underway and expected to be realized over the next 10-15 years. At the start of 2020, the U.S. was experiencing the lowest unemployment rates since 2000 at just more than 4 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), driven by a labor demand that was outpacing supply, particularly within skilled positions. Key factors contributing to this include: • A decline in workforce participation: This may be due to trends like the aging population and young adults staying in school longer prior to joining the workforce, according BLS data.

• Insufficient technical graduate pipeline: The rapidly changing pace of technology is driving demand for hundreds of thousands of tech workers, but the U.S. education system has been unable to produce enough graduates with those skills up to this point. It is estimated that 58 percent of new jobs in STEM between 2016 and 2026 will be in computing, but only 35 percent of U.S. high schools offer computer science, and less than 10 percent of STEM graduates in 2017 studied computer science.* • Increase in automation: As companies continue to scale robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent automation (IA) to enterprise-level solutions, a shift in job requirements for relevant positions and a need for significant upskilling will be required to keep pace with the talent needs of the impacted industry.

• Digitization of the workforce: The number of occupations defined as having “high digital content,” meaning they require knowledge of and skill working with computers/electronics, has tripled from 2002 to 2016, according to the Brookings Institute.

• Tech talent geographic concentrations: The supply of technically skilled workers has historically been concentrated in a handful of cities that have created technology ecosystems. The top 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) by tech employment (which include cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) employ one in three new tech workers in the U.S., and six MSAs had tech employee concentrations that were more than double the national average, according to CompTIA’s Cyberstates 2018 workforce report.

IMPACTS ACROSS VALUE CHAINS Many of the above factors have been further accelerated and magnified following months of operating within the pandemic environment. Automation within manufacturing, R&D and rapid prototyping appears to be happening at a record pace as companies strive to be responsive to the needs born out of the pandemic, while ensuring a safe and healthy operating environment. Furthermore, as companies are looking ahead to a post-pandemic world, it is likely that the shifts we’re experiencing now will dramatically change how business is conducted in the future, with varying impact across the value chain.

• Office: Existing corporate office spaces are expected to undergo a transition in the post-pandemic environment.

Organizations operating in corporate offices can evaluate the potential for a permanent transition to remote work, or if a hybrid approach may be best suited for their needs, with select employees coming back to the office. Additional considerations include rethinking the office’s physical space requirements and opportunities to reduce and repurpose office space, as well as renegotiating leases. Corporate leaders can also consider longer-term deployment implications, including potentially rebalancing footprints between urban core and suburban locations to mitigate any future issues with high-density facilities, such as elevator capacities and multi-tenancy.

• Manufacturing: The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated a distinct need for production facilities to be agile; practices and facilities that can easily pivot and flex to avoid significant disruption to their supply chain or loss of productivity within their workforce will win out. Companies

are taking steps to enable enterprise footprint resiliency and decentralize their manufacturing capabilities to multiple regional facilities to reduce dependency on a single geography and readily shift sourcing and production to less impacted locations.

• Distribution and logistics centers: Distribution and logistics centers are becoming increasingly important as consumers have adopted new purchasing habits during the pandemic. The mandated shutdown of non-essential physical stores accelerated the shift to online shopping platforms. Moving forward, the prioritization of e-commerce over in-store purchases is likely to require organizations reliant on distribution and logistics centers to evaluate their facilities networks and confirm that their facility locations are optimized to mitigate business disruption impacts and ensure efficient delivery.

IMPACTS ACROSS INDUSTRIES The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn will vary across industries, in some instances causing a slowdown whilst accelerating growth in others. Additionally, factors such as changing consumer preferences, distribution channels, supply chain realignment and government policies and regulations will also impact industry sectors. While the effects of Covid-19 are farreaching, four select industries offer representative examples of those that are expected to thrive:

long-term, vaccine, active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug substances for established and mature products, and testing reagents production are areas within the broader life sciences industry that appear to be primed for growth. Segments such as remotehealth (portable imaging and cardiac equipment) and in-home care (chronic disease treatment and management) are also likely to experience accelerating growth in response to the pandemic. This growth will, in part, be driven by government policies that aim to improve supply chain resiliency. Similar to the food industry, an economic downturn caused by the pandemic may create headwinds for the life sciences industry, as a potential loss of jobs may lead to a reduction in health insurance coverage.

• Food and agribusiness: In the early days of Covid-19, consumer behavior shifted towards a tendency for stockpiling, leading to increased consumption of food and household products. In the long-term, the need for food security may drive many countries to seek out a level of sufficiency in local Cybersecurity: The pandemic, as well as the food production as well as supply resulting office and school closures, has chain resiliency. In the U.S., this led to an increase in remote working may lead to the installation and learning options. This outcome of additional capacity in In the short term, may require an increase in, and existing food processing the reallocation of IT resources to there may need to be a operations to meet demand address changing cybersecurity reallocation of resources as well as growth of niche needs. For example, organizations segments that make use may have to make significant to address the immediate of agriculture products upgrades to VPN services strained cybersecurity needs of a previously exported in large by remote working and learning. amounts, such as alternative Additionally, the increased post-pandemic world. proteins from soybeans. collection of personal information Additional factors, namely for health and unemployment changing consumer preferences, benefits may have led to an uptick in increased market size, and a shift phishing activity during the pandemic that in where food is being consumed—athas been cited by the European Union Agency home versus out-of-home consumption—will for Cybersecurity. also drive growth in segments of the food value In the short term, there may need to be a reallocation of chain. Conversely, an economic downturn caused resources to address the immediate cybersecurity needs by the pandemic may create headwinds that limit of a post-pandemic world. Longer-term considerations growth in the food industry. For example, with a lower will likely include addressing the increased demand for disposable income and an increased sensitivity to cloud capacity. prices, consumers may seek lower-cost food options.

• Semiconductor Production: The Covid-19 • Life Sciences: The Covid-19 pandemic has pandemic may lead to a realignment of the supply significantly disrupted the global drug supply chain, chains for hardware required to support cybersecurity resulting in an increased interest in drug production infrastructure. For example, in response to national self-sufficiency around the world. Along with drug security concerns, two new pieces of bipartisan legislation production, a short- to mid-term increase in demand have been introduced by the U.S. Congress to boost for medical supplies related to the treatment and microelectronics production capacity in the U.S. The prevention of Covid-19 will likely lead to a boost in Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors manufacturing activity around personal protective (CHIPS) for America Act was introduced in June 2020 equipment (PPE), ventilators and pumps. However, and seeks to increase federal incentives to stimulate the decrease in elective procedures has impacted advanced chip manufacturing, enable cutting-edge producers of products such as surgical supplies, research and development, secure the supply chain orthopedic implants and cardiovascular devices. In the and bring greater transparency to the microelectronics

ecosystem. The second bill, the American Foundries Act, seeks to authorize the Departments of Commerce and Defense to award grants for the creation and expansion of microelectronics facilities, as well as R&D funding through various government agencies. As a result of these proposed bills and increased government interest in local semiconductor production, there appears to be an increased interest in locating new wafer fab production facilities in the U.S. The green economy may also gain momentum postpandemic, benefiting sectors such as renewable energy, sustainable packaging and battery technologies.

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE The COVID-19 pandemic is also impacting how states and local governments are supporting business in light of the accelerated labor and talent changes. With the increasing number of remote workers, many states have issued or revised economic development-related policies that take the remote employees into account for incentives eligibility requirements. For example: • Virginia’s new statutory language enables telework positions that are held by Virginia residents to be eligible when offering performance-based economic development incentives for new, competitive siteselection projects.

• The new employment thresholds in Nebraska are determined by utilizing the number of hours worked, including the hours worked under “Work from Home Arrangements,” whereas, historically, only hours worked while at a project location qualified.

Other states are providing capital assistance to help companies during the pandemic. For example, Ohio’s Workforce Retention Loan Program provides qualifying JobsOhio companies unsecured, forgivable, interest-free loans, allowing monthly payroll draws to help maintain employment levels during the pandemic.

Some states are offering new programs and incentives to create new businesses and enhance existing businesses that are in high demand due to the pandemic. For example, Georgia has added an incremental incentive for businesses that manufacture PPE and hand sanitizer—these businesses can claim an additional $1,250 per job per year for five years under the Job Tax Credits Act. Increasingly, states and local governments have come to realize that budgetary constraints are not necessarily germane as incentivized new businesses will yield tax revenues that can provide the budget for the incremental incentives. This trend could indicate limited material changes to traditional programs and could accelerate the development of new policies and discretionary incentives, such as the Good Jobs for Michigan and the More Jobs for Marylanders programs.

The pandemic has created a new normal that will have a lasting impact on companies, geographies, and economic development. Organizations will need to evolve their talent strategies to address changing skill requirements and shortages due to increased automation, geographic dispersion of permanent and remote workers and the evolution and preservation of corporate culture.

Additionally, companies will have to evaluate whether the current trend of workers moving from dense urban areas to smaller cities is a long-term reality or just a short-term reaction to the pandemic. The likely implication is the adoption of new regional hub and spoke deployment models. State and local economic developers will likely have to evolve their investment attraction strategies and incentives to include an increased emphasis on capacity building to attract skilled workers that may work for multiple companies under job sharing/crowdsourcing/ remote arrangements. Even though all of these trends were occurring prior to the pandemic, the inevitable acceleration will make planning and flexibility paramount for market participants to thrive.

Matt Szuhaj (maszuhaj@deloitte.com) is a managing director and Sarah Raehl (sraehl@deloitte.com) is a senior manager in the Real Estate & Location Strategy practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP. Special thanks to contributors: Abiola Olooto-Golly and Christina Jin. *Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Code.org’s Advocacy Coalition’s 2018 State of Computer Science Education, U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of our legal structure. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

This article contains general information only and Deloitte is not, by means of this article, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. This presentation is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor.

Deloitte shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article.

8 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

WELCOME TO THE GREAT

G N I L F F U H S E R

How Covid changes everything about where America does business. And doesn't.

BY DALE BUSS ORD MOTOR SPENT MORE THAN A century expanding operations throughout metro Detroit. Now, in the wake of Covid-19, new CEO Jim Farley and Executive Chairman Bill Ford are accelerating a planned consolidation of Ford’s facilities in the region, as the company holds off bringing its salaried people back to the office until July and reconfigures their workspaces.

But, at the same time, Ford’s leaders just recommitted the company to completing a new, $750 million technology complex in downtown Detroit that assumes digitally talented millennials and Gen Z-ers will flock to work cheek-by-jowl on a hip new campus centered around the renovated Michigan Central train station, beginning in 2022—just two years removed from the pandemic.

“We still think there will be a need to come together safely to collaborate, strategize and do innovative work,” says Carolina Pluszczynski, development director for Ford’s project. “Workers are increasingly demanding choice, so employers need to find ways to make the workplace a destination rather than a container for people. They need to give people reasons to come into the office, and we think Michigan Central will be such a destination.”

Such dilemmas have become front-and-center for CEOs these days, part of a tectonic and still-unfolding geographic reset of business across the country and around the world in the wake of the pandemic.

Company leaders are grappling with a number of crucial questions that will determine where a substantial amount of American economic activity occurs for decades to come.

These challenges include: When and how will

leisure activities like tourism and spectator sports snap back? What will it mean to "work in the office"?

Should CEOs site more operations away from congested cities? Nearer? Are capital investments going to trickle away from the coasts and more into the middle of the country? And should they really decouple supply chains from China?

The fates of companies are being radically bifurcated by what business they’re in and where they’re located. CEOs are dealing with not just a tale of two cities but a tale of two universes, and the commercial real estate market reflects this disparity. “I’ve never seen such a separation between haves and have-nots,” says Walt Rakowich, who is on the board of Host Hotels, the world’s largest hospitality chain, and led a multi-billion-dollar turnaround of Prologis, a San Francisco-based REIT that invested in logistics facilities after the Great Recession. “The haves are data and distribution-driven real estate, such as warehouses and data centers—as well as residential houses. The have-nots include leisure-driven real estate such as hotels and offices. They’re moving in two different directions.”

Differing outcomes by geography are illustrated

by Big Tech. Even as the tattered business reputation of downtown Seattle reinforces Amazon’s 2019 decision to back away from one of the biggest office-space leases in the city’s history, for instance, the ecommerce giant has been plowing ahead with construction of its new “HQ2” in Arlington, Virginia.

While Amazon prepares to break ground and buys a Radisson Hotel in the vicinity for $150 million just to get it out of the way, Virginia’s colleges and universities are executing pre-Covid plans to double

2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION 9

the number of technology engineers they graduate over the next decade.

“Amazon is moving pretty briskly,” says Victor Hoskins, CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority in Virginia.

“Covid may have even accelerated their plans.”

Adding to their stress is that CEOs can decide issues about the future geography of their companies in widely disparate ways— all of which can all be considered logical at the moment, based on their assumptions about the future. Consider the radically different views from players and experts about the post-pandemic fate of America’s largest cities.

“The fact is it’s going to be harder to get people to come to work downtown," says Wendell Cox, head of Demographia, an urban-policy consultancy in St. Louis. "The exodus to the suburbs was started by Covid, but who knows how much it’s being driven by other things. The majority of households in this country are very concerned about security.”

But Sam Zell, who keeps coming to his downtown high-rise office overlooking the Chicago River every day, calls Cox’s way of thinking poppycock. “We are social animals,” says Zell, a legend in REITs and head of Equity Group Investments in Chicago. “Urban cores are created for our proximity to one another—for mating purposes, for stimulation, for all the things that human beings are all about. I just don’t imagine in a post-Covid world that we’re going to be spread out and all unconnected.”

Here are the key tensions in the geographic rebalancing of business, their implications for companies and what some CEOs are doing about them:

Leisure vs. Work Activities Entire industries are crumbling under pandemic lockdowns. “The pandemic is going to wipe out a lot of really good people who own campus housing properties, apartment buildings, retail and hotels—they’re going to lose their buildings,” says Mike Tingus, president of Lee & Associates, a commercial real estate brokerage in the San Fernando Valley of California. “Legislative adoption of no evictions for renters is really tough. The chances of them making up four to six months of rent in the next 12 months are virtually impossible. So, it’s only putting off the inevitable.”

Host is fine, with “the best balance sheet of any hotel owner in the business,” Rakowich attests. “But less-capitalized companies are going to have some problems. It’s about the ability to sustain a downturn from a capital perspective, how much leverage is on your balance sheet and where you’re profiting from it.”

At the same time, Rakowich says, “in the short run there are likely to be opportunities to buy certain real estate, perhaps at reduced values, from the have-nots. And longer term, there will still be the need for quality hotels, office buildings and retail centers. People still like interacting with each other and getting out. We’ll still travel. We’ll get back to some semblance of what we had, and when we do, we’ll see resurgence in those areas.”

Offices vs. Remote Work Siemens USA spent several years building a strong “virtual culture” that came in handy during the pandemic, says President Barbara Humpton. These technology-based capabilities—rang-

10 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

Arizona: Adjusting to Game Changers Sun Corridor has been keeping its powder dry for a major economic-development opportunity, and that opportunity is now for the public-private agency that serves as a chamber of commerce for the Tucson area.

In the wake of the pandemic, the agency is “doubling down on our efforts. We decided now wasn’t the time to sit back,” says Sun Corridor President and CEO Joe Snell. “We increased our spending and dipped into reserves we had set aside, increasing our outreach to companies and site selectors with our marketing message.”

Sun Corridor also performed a “gap analysis of what happens post-pandemic and what we need to shore up to win” new jobs, Snell says. Now the group is considering ways to grant financial credits to businesses that meet thresholds for numbers of remote workers in the Tucson area.

“We’re also looking at whether we can provide day-care centers in different parts of our area.”

Snell also is looking at Sun Corridor’s attributes from different angles now, such as in logistics. In a new season of drastically reduced air travel, “being a mid-sized city and not having a top-10 airport isn’t as important as it was before,” he says. At the same time, Tucson is seeking to take advantage of the shakeup in American manufacturers’ sourcing in China, offering its close proximity and strong rail links to Mexico as an advantage.

“To companies that were doing business in China before, we’re saying, ‘Let’s get closer,’” Snell says. “Do your IP in Tucson and your manufacturing in Mexico.”

Sun Corridor’s efforts already are panning out: As 2020 closed, its pipeline of qualified companies that are looking to relocate surged over the previous year, Snell says.

ing from digital simulation of entire factories to IoT systems that help clients customize space usage— provide a real leg up for the global industrial giant.

But Humpton also says, “One thing missing is networking and meeting new people and new customers. You have to work really hard through digital interfaces to build new relationships. There’s a magic to person-to-person that we can’t replace. And you need that to build your culture.”

Other CEOs also are reckoning with the future of offices—places where many of them invested heavily over the past several years to attract and retain millennial workers who deemed workplace culture as crucial. Remote work forced by the pandemic succeeded for many companies “because the technology tools were better than expected, and productivity didn’t take a significant hit,” says Larry Gigerich, head of the Ginovus economic-development consultancy in Fishers, Indiana.

But now, notes Jay Garner, head of the Site Selectors Guild of consultants, “we’re hearing CEOs say that creativity and innovation wane as a result of not working in groups, especially for millennials and GenZ-ers, who like socialization and miss the ‘creative collision.’” So, handicappers predict that post-pandemic re-occupation of offices eventually could reach 80 to 90 percent of pre-Covid levels, but no one is sure.

Hunt Military Communities CEO John Ehle believes “the novelty of working remotely wore out around July.” The head of the largest U.S. military-housing owner, based in El Paso, Texas, adds, “People are starting to miss their routines, and the separation between work and home, and work with colleagues. They’ve spent way too much time on video conferences and phone calls.”

Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, sees many CEOs agreeing. “So many ideas are shared in interactions in the office, having that day-to-day personal contact makes a difference,” he says. “The original thought of massive empty buildings isn’t going to come to pass.

You’ll see a blend.” In fact, says Jon Cesaretti, a principal at Crowe Horwath consultants in Chicago, CEOs “are not walking away from offices but repositioning them. They may be taking a big office and chopping it up into three or four smaller offices.”

Thus, various “hybrid” solutions are emerging to the problem of the office and will become the new normal. Waste Management CEO Jim Fish, for example, was concerned about having to shoehorn the company’s 1,100 employees into the company’s new headquarters building in downtown Houston, which was scheduled to open by early 2021, leaving little room for growth even though it’s a spanking-new structure. Now his goal is up to 900 people.

“Now, that concern has gone away with Covid,” Fish says. “We segregated our office employees into three categories even before Covid, and now we have put a lot more in a ‘hybrid’ category, especially tech folks. But the people who will be there will still need a workspace, so it may be similar to what you see at a consulting firm where people are traveling a lot and have more shared versus personalized space.”

Cities vs. Suburbs An anti-urban narrative for some CEOs has firmed up thanks to the pandemic, summer riots in some large U.S. cities and school closings. It stipulates that millennials with young children are fleeing city cores, facilitated by remote work. “Suburbs and exurbs have become very attractive to them for quality schools and quality of life that they’re not finding in the urban core,” Gigerich says. “Also, they can be in places where they don’t have to take public transportation if they don’t want to.”

Adds demographer Joel Kotkin, “Middle-class people will live in cities and even have kids there and then raise them until about the age of five. But once they need more space and want to send them to school, they’ll move out to the suburbs.

Most of the cities where there has been trouble are controlled by regimes that are against charter schools.

Education reform simply won’t take place in those areas. Most growth now will be in smaller cities and suburbs.”

Meanwhile, city cores such as Manhattan and the Loop area of Chicago will “keep young people who are less concerned about the pandemic and think that the homeless are local color,” Kotkin says. “They aren’t worried about screaming crazy people on the streets, and they’re going to see this as an opportunity. Artists and certain upper classes without kids will stay. But cities simply can’t be centers of corporate activity the way they were in the 1950s or 1960s or the way that things were being imagined until now.”

Yet, others argue for a scenario far more favorable to the restoration of cities. “We’re at the extreme of the exodus,” says Peter Jackson, CEO of Bluescape, a visual-collaboration software provider based in San Carlos, California. “Places in the mountains or on the beach are going up in value by 30 percent

"We segregated our office employees into three categories even before Covid, and now we have put a lot more in a hybrid category, especially tech folks. But the people who will be there will still need a workspace..."

2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION 11

to 100 percent. But these were knee-jerk reactions.

And with vaccines, I wouldn’t be surprised to see those markets deteriorate by half of that percentage increase or more by late next year. ‘I really wanted to put my kid in this high school to play this sport,’ and so on.”

Zell, who several years ago famously predicted the end of the American suburb, allows as how, “as a result of Covid, all of the empty houses in Lake Forest” in suburban Chicago “have been repopulated.

But I don’t think we’re seeing an exit of population or an exit of activity from central cores. The magnet of urban areas isn’t being permanently changed. What’s going on is that the people who represent the core of that don’t have the same kind of connection to the city that previous generations had.”

In any event, some effects of the pandemic pounding of big cities are clear. Downtown real estate will see devastating effects “as leases come up for expiration and then companies want less space,” Gigerich says. Shared-office space is also in serious oversupply.

On the flip side, Zell says, “the hottest form of real estate in cities is probably industrial distribution” as ecommerce delivery proliferates.

“Simple rectangular buildings are easy to create, so in the next few years we’re likely to see a significant oversupply.” And in the food business, the pandemic is leading to the establishment of more third-party, cold-storage space within striking distance of urban areas, as well as “ghost kitchens” that are putting together meals for pickup and delivery, bystepping traditional restaurant kitchens, says Scott Kupperman, head of Kupperman Location Solutions in Lake Forest, Illinois.

"Large heartland metropolitan areas like Nashville, Austin, Detroit, San Antonio, Grand Rapids and Dallas-Ft. Worth are all gaining educated millennials far more rapidly than coastal 'magnets.'"

Coasts vs. the Interior The middle of the country clearly has been gaining on the coasts in the midst of the pandemic, aided by the technological dispersion of white-collar work and heartland attractions, including lower costs of doing business, less expensive housing, reasonable taxes, strong schools and underrated quality of life.

“Large heartland metropolitan areas like Nashville, Austin, Detroit, San Antonio, Grand Rapids and Dallas-Fort Worth are all gaining educated millennials far more rapidly than coastal ‘magnets’ like New York,

12 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

Los Angeles or even the Bay Area,” Kotkin says.

What’s more, a post-Covid “rubber-bander” phenomenon is snapping more young workers back to their birthplaces. “People will say, ‘I can go live in the Rockies or near my mother in Mankato, Minnesota— or just about anywhere if you’re valuable enough to your company,” says Cox. “It’s a much broader reset than ever.”

By January, in fact, three major companies—Tesla, HP Enterprise and Oracle—said they would spurn California to move their headquarters to Texas, where Chief Executive consistently has found America's best business climate. First Databank, for example, “accelerated” its move of jobs from its headquarters in South San Francisco to satellite offices in Indiana and North Carolina. “They’ll see a little more growth over time, though I wouldn’t say it’s being driven by the pandemic in a major way,” says Bob Katter, president of the publisher of drug-information software.

California is a “more expensive place to do business, ” but there’s “tremendous talent there. So we’re trying to strike a balance.”

Meanwhile, as Antoine van Agtmael and Fred Bakker argue in the book, The Smartest Places on Earth: Why Rustbelts Are the Emerging Hotspots of Global Innovation, the Midwest already has become an epicenter of a growing interface between manufacturing and technology, where a legacy of industrial expertise is fertilizing growth in technologies ranging from self-driving cars to digital agriculture.

Flyover-country business legacies also are benefiting companies like Clearcover. The Chicago-based startup provides online car insurance and employs about 150 tech workers in downtown Chicago. Why not design Clearcover’s ecommerce capabilities in Boston, New York, San Francisco or Seattle? One key is that much of the traditional insurance industry grew up and still resides in Chicagoland. “We went through an analysis and tried to find the best overlap between a market where we could find world-class tech talent, great insurance talent and where we could raise a lot of capital,” says CEO Kyle Nakatsuji. “It boiled down to Chicago and the coasts, and Chicago won on better access to all the insurance talent from Allstate, State Farm, Kemper, Aon and other insurance companies here.”

Still, many doubt that economic shifts from dominant coastal nodes will be extensive. “Whether it’s Hollywood for entertainment, Hartford for Insurance, Silicon Valley for tech or New York for financial services, you will find that for another city to develop the capabilities to support these industries from nothing is a lengthy and difficult process,” says Antonio Argibay, founder and managing principal of Meridian Design Associates, an architecture and design firm with offices in Miami and New York City.

The fate of New York is perhaps the biggest issue in this arena. “It’s too early to tell” whether there might be a permanent aversion to the Big Apple by CEOs and their employees, Cesaretti says. But he believes apocalyptic scenarios will be proven wrong. “New York has seen much worse. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, New York was a disaster, and it came back. I have a hard time believing it will be abandoned now.”

William Sankey lodges a firm vote of confidence in his hometown. “We continue to see professionals—even people we hire in other markets—still have a desire not only to come back to the office but to move to New York,” says the CEO of Northspyre, which produces software for running real-estate projects from its headquarters in Brooklyn and elsewhere. “That speaks volumes about how modern workers feel about wanting to work together in a creative environment in cities.”

Foreign Sourcing vs. Reshoring Many CEOs are rethinking their manufacturing supply chains in the wake of pandemic disruptions and considering rising American political sentiment against China.

“We’re moving forward three to four years in just a few months,” Cesaretti says. “Manufacturers in the Midwest are getting very large contracts to do various things that used to be done outside the country.”

Michigan is poised to take advantage, promoting the state as “a software hotbed, where software development can converge with our business-friendly climate and high concentration of engineers to create many industries of the future,” says Josh Hundt, chief business development officer for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Mark Burton, the group’s CEO, adds that the state also sees a great opportunity “in re-shoring or on-shoring, given our strengths in manufacturing and advanced manufacturing.”

Consider Arizona, too. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract maker of silicon chips for iPhones and other devices, announced last summer it intends to build a major plant near Phoenix that could involve total spending of $12 billion and create more than 1,600 jobs. “It’s a very big deal if someone really is taking the plunge to go to a place where there is no other manufacturer of microchips,” Cesaretti says.

“Other players in the industry are going to think that’s a big deal too. And suppliers are all going to locate nearby.”

A bipartisan movement also has begun in Washington, D.C., for the federal government to consider subsidizing U.S. construction of microchip factories as Asian and European governments have done. “But with all the Democrats in Washington, it will be a challenge to make sure those dollars don’t all get allocated to coastal locations,” Gigerich says. “If you’re going to get into that game as the federal government, you’ve got to do it correctly.” CE

Webasto: Welcoming a Hybrid Future Several years ago, Webasto Roof Systems made a concerted effort to overhaul a corporate culture that had become a lifeless, stale drag on productivity and overall results. Chiefs of the U.S. arm of a big German auto supplier hired consultants, launched a website about culture and conducted a three-day, all-hands conference at a casino in downtown Detroit to jump-start the transformation and create kumbayah moments.

“What has been done previously is clear and in front of us and a great achievement and starting point,” says Giuseppe Barile, the operation’s new CEO. “We are one team. The challenge we face is to keep it and improve it.”

Indeed now, Barile is trying to ensure Webasto’s model new workplace culture survives the Covid-19 remote-work paradigm. What’s more, he’s got to do so while honchoing the company’s move from its current headquarters building in Rochester Hills, Michigan—the site of the white-collar part of the cultural transformation—to a $40 million facility that is being refurbished to serve as Webasto’s new headquarters for a growing workforce in another suburb, Auburn Hills, several miles away.

“The ‘one team’ concept depends on socialization of our people,” Barile says. “So now, we have to envision a new way of working together in the new building. Do we somehow go back to the office or not?”

Barile decided to reconfigure the new headquarters to support a hybrid operations model with some Webasto employees staying home and others of the 400-strong workforce being assigned to the building, with flexibility for all. This will include a “hotelization” in which workers will digitally book desk spaces in a facility that will include fewer desks than employees.

“Somehow the office will be populated,” Barile says.

“People can decide if they work from home or the office, but the office is a melting pot for our values and an important place for socialization and recognition that you are with Webasto and our values.”

THOUGHT LE ADERSHIP C ON TEN T PROVIDED BY LUBBO CK, T X

LUBBOCK: A TALENT HUB IN TEXAS

A robust educational pipeline, strong talent pool and reputation for friendliness are attracting businesses to this West Texas region.

LUBBOCK’S DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN A BALANCING ACT of the best kind: Thanks to its geography, business diversity and leadership, the city has come to occupy a sweet spot in the economic life of the state and the nation. The region of about 640,000 people, in fact, is known as the “Hub City” of West Texas, with a varied and welcoming economy—and with a foot in the state’s hallmark oil and gas business but without dependence on it.

“We have a steady economy, given that we have education, agriculture and healthcare as our primary industries, which are all very reliable,” says John Osborne, CEO of the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance (LEDA). “And companies that we do have in oil also tend to be in multiple industries but want to have access to the oil fields south of us.”

Lubbock’s economic diversity means that it provides a great platform for growth for all types and sizes of companies. Its outsized educational pipeline, which graduates about 13,000 new workforce candidates each year from local colleges and universities, aligns with the increasing talent needs of business. And Lubbock’s reasonable cost of living, manageable size, strategic location and West Texas friendliness complete what can be an irresistible formula for CEOs making site decisions.

“Some people say it’s the flattest place you’ll ever see—but the people are absolutely wonderful,” says Lloyd Whetzel, president and CEO of XFab Texas, a unit of a German company that employs about 420 people in Lubbock making semiconductor chips and most recently received a $1 million investment by the City of Lubbock in a clean room that launched XFab into the solid-state-battery business.

Mike Williams seconds that emotion. “The labor pool is a very good one,” says the managing director of the Lubbock operation of Red River Commodities, a seed product company with two facilities and about 140 employees in the city. “They’re very capable and hard-working individuals who always do their jobs and are willing to help one another if there are tough times.”

Lubbock boasts a number of distinct advantages over other U.S. cities, including others in Texas. The hometown of rock-and-roll legend Buddy Holly is centrally located in West Texas, on Interstate 27 and smack between Interstate 40, which runs through Amarillo about 75 miles to the north, and Interstate 20, which runs through Midland and Odessa about 75 miles to the south. Not insignificantly,

Known as the “Hub City” of West Texas, Lubbock lures businesses with a wealth of talent and a strategic location.

Lubbock is located on the main line of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway that connects major metropolitan areas of the Central and Western United States. Lubbock also rests on the northern fringes of the famous Permian Basin oil formation. “A lot of people who live in the basin come and shop in Lubbock, and companies locate here for easy access to the Permian Basin, but we aren’t as affected by the labor shortages—or the busts—that can occur because of the oil industry,” Osborne says.

Still, perhaps the biggest edge enjoyed by businesses in Lubbock is its workforce. With sprawling Texas Tech University, two other universities and one of the state’s strongest community colleges, Lubbock continually generates an ample supply of talent to satisfy the growing needs of companies in a number of sectors.

“We are an engineering-dependent company, with 70 engineers here in Lubbock, so we have great cooperation with Texas Tech,” says Whetzel, whose company is a major supplier of chips for automobiles ranging from tire-pressure monitoring sensors to airbag controllers.

The university “also has a lot of capabilities in material science.”

The city’s community college, South Plains College, opened a technical training center featuring state-of-the-art equipment and spaces for specialties, including automotive repair, culinary arts and IT networking in 2017. The college also partnered with a Lubbock arm of the Austin Coding Academy and four truck-driving simulators, to help supply talent for the local industry, and is currently undergoing major renovations, including plans to open a new academic campus in 2022.

For CEOs who love what they see in Lubbock and need a little something extra for their site decisions, LEDA comes through. For example, when Fargo, North Dakota-based Red River weighed adding a second facility to its wild bird seed processing plant in Lubbock, the company was able to get city and county tax abatements to beat out Dallas-Ft. Worth and add about 45 jobs.

LEDA also extended job-creation incentives to XFab a few years ago, assisted with obtaining tax abatements, and even helped garner state support for its solid-state battery initiative. “They’ve been very good,” Whetzel said of the agency, “in helping us expand our capacity and capabilities in different technologies and market segments.”

2020 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Alabama “Mazda and Toyota’s increased commitment to the development of this manufacturing plant reiterates their belief in the future of manufacturing in America and the potential for the state of Alabama to be an economic leader in the wake of unprecedented economic change.”

—Gov. Kay Ivey

TAXES

6.5% top corporate income tax rate

#40 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

MANUFACTURING A POST-COVID FUTURE

BIG DEALS

Manufacturing in the Cotton State has so far held up well in the face of the pandemic. Mazda and Toyota are hiring more than 4,000 workers and remain on track to open their joint venture assembly plant in Huntsville in 2021. As auto manufacturers shorten global supply chains to reduce risk, it is expected to benefit many OEMs operating in the state. Hyundai, Lockheed Martin, Airbus and ArcelorMittal have all announced notable projects in the past two years.

• Lockheed Martin announced in September 2019 it would add 272 jobs at its flagship location in North Alabama.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Warrior Met Coal announced in February 2020 a $578 million mining operation that will create over 370 jobs.

Alabama Jobs Act: Offers an annual cash rebate of up to 3% of the previous year’s payroll for projects creating at least 50 net jobs and an annual income tax credit of up to 1.5% of qualified capital investment for projects.

Workforce Development: Offers pre-employment screening and training with a state income tax credit of up to $1,250 per apprentice, for up to 10 apprentices.

Port Credit: Offers state income tax credit of up to $50 per TEU, $3 per net ton of bulk cargo or $.04 per net kilo of air cargo for shippers in manufacturing, warehousing or distribution.

Growing Alabama Credit: Offers state income tax credit for investing in qualified projects, including site preparation and public infrastructure for industrial sites.

EDUCATION

90% of students

graduated high school in 2018

24.9% of adults age 25

EDCs Alabama Department of Commerce Business Development Division madeinalabama.com

and up have a bachelor’s degree or higher

Economic Development Partnership of Alabama edpa.org

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 5.8%

Amazing Alabama amazingalabama.com

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

Economic Development Association of Alabama edaa.org Birmingham Business Alliance birminghambusinessalliance.com

#49

POPULATION GROWTH 2.6% increase between 2010 and 2019

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Launched in 2018, the “Success Plus” initiative aims to expand the state’s skilled labor pipeline by 500,000 workforce-ready employees by 2025. The Alabama Office of Apprenticeship provides resources for apprenticeship programs and is expanding its activities across the state after receiving additional funding from the U.S. Department of Labor in July 2020.

• Hyundai announced in November 2019 it would invest an additional $410 million and create 200 jobs at its assembly plant in Montgomery.

• Airbus announced plans to build a new $40 million hangar at its manufacturing facility in Mobile in January 2020.

• Mazda Toyota Manufacturing announced in August 2020 an additional $830 million investment in its assembly plant being constructed in Huntsville.

• ArcelorMittal announced in August 2020 a $500 million expansion project and 200 new jobs at its AM/NS Calvert mill.

BIG COMPANIES One Fortune 500 company is headquartered in the state: Regions Financial Hyundai Toyota Boeing Aerojet Rocketdyne Blue Origin Mercedes-Benz

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Mazda Toyota Manufacturing is proud to call Alabama home. Through strong support from our state and local partners, we have been able to further incorporate cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, provide world-class training for team members and develop the highest quality production processes.” –Mark Brazeal, Vice President of Administration, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing “We are grateful for the support that Honda has experienced with our communities, our local and state leaders and our supplier partners.” –Mike Oatridge, Senior Vice President, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama “We have invested more than $1 billion in Mobile because of the terrific team of employees there—and because of the support and welcome we continue to receive from the Gulf Coast community.”

–Jeffrey Knittel, Chairman and CEO, Airbus Americas

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2020 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Arizona “We’re incredibly proud that [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing], one of the world’s leading technology companies, has chosen Arizona for this high-tech project, one with national and global significance. They could have picked any place in the world to build this advanced manufacturing factory. They chose Arizona for our unbeatable business climate, already thriving tech sector and ready access to an international supply chain.”

—Gov. Doug Ducey

TAXES

4.9% top corporate income tax rate

#20 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 79% of students graduated high school in 2018

28.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 8% RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#34

POPULATION GROWTH

13.9% increase between 2010 and 2019

16 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

MANUFACTURING MOMENTUM

BIG DEALS

The manufacturing industry is on the rise in the Grand Canyon state. In fiscal year 2018, there were more than 177,000 Arizonans working in manufacturing, producing a total gross state product of $47 billion. In 2019, the state experienced its strongest manufacturing growth in 30 years with new announcements by companies like NXP Semiconductors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and CP Technologies.

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced in May 2020 a $12 billion manufacturing facility and 1,600 new jobs in Phoenix.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Blockchain technology company ZorroSign announced in August 2020 the relocation of its worldwide headquarters to Phoenix.

Quality Jobs Tax Credit: Offers up to $9,000 in tax credits spread out over a three-year period for each new qualifying job.

Job Training Grants: Offers reimbursement of up to 75% of the approved training costs for eligible employees, up to $8,000 for each located in rural areas.

Qualified Facility Tax Credit: Offers a refundable tax credit equal to 10% of the capital investment, up to $20,000 per qualified job created, for a manufacturing or manufacturing research-related facility.

Research and Development Tax Credit: Offers an income tax credit for R&D activities. Credit is non-refundable and equal to 24% of the first $2.5 million in qualifying expenses, plus 15% of the qualifying expenses in excess of $2.5 million.

EDCS Arizona Commerce Authority azcommerce.com Greater Phoenix Chamber phoenixchamber.com Sun Corridor Inc. suncorridorinc.com Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation aredf.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The 2020 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence by Results for America noted Arizona as a model state in using results and data-driven best practices in government goals and innovation to improve efficiency.

It’s partly attributed to the Governor’s Fundamentals Map, which was released in 2017 and lists goals under six statewide priority areas, including economic advancement and fiscal responsibility.

• Nanomoneo announced in August 2020 a new applied research operation and 14 new jobs at the University of Arizona Center for Innovation in Tucson.

• Amazon announced in August 2020 11 new sites and more than 3,000 jobs in the Phoenix metro area.

• CP Technologies broke ground in June 2020 on its new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Prescott. The project is expected to create 200 jobs over the next four years.

• Benchmark announced in June 2020 a new manufacturing facility in Tempe.

BIG COMPANIES Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Avnet Freeport-McMoRan Republic Services Insight Enterprises Magellan Health

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We selected Tucson as our home, over several other locations because of the technical infrastructure, services available to early-stage companies, reasonable regulatory environment and social stability.”

—Juliann Talkington, President, Nanomoneo “Arizona has proven to be an excellent location for Benchmark to grow and thrive. The support we’ve received from the community, government officials and our state’s great universities have all contributed to our ability to partner with some of the world’s largest OEMs to bring their innovations to life.”

—Jeff Benck, CEO, Benchmark “We’re very excited to establish our global operations hub in Greater Phoenix. The region offers a supportive ecosystem for a rapidly growing tech company like ours—with mechanisms in place at the academic, state and municipal levels—especially through the efforts of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) and the City of Phoenix Community and Economic Development teams, which helped drive our decision to relocate.” —Shamsh Hadi, CEO, ZorroSign

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Arkansas

NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NATURAL STATE

“It’s not surprising that Amazon has selected the Port of Little Rock as the newest location for its next project. Arkansas has a trained workforce and is centrally located with easy access to miles of interstate, rail and navigable waterways. I am delighted by Amazon’s decision and confident that the Port of Little Rock will be a great fit for the company.”

—Gov. Asa Hutchinson

TAXES

6.5% top corporate income tax rate

#46 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

89% of students

graduated high school in 2018

A robust manufacturing and logistics sector should help Arkansas weather the economic fallout from the pandemic. Bedrock companies, such as Lockheed Martin, Simmons Prepared Foods, Walmart and J.B. Hunt, continue to grow and expand their presence in the state.

Amazon announced in July 2020 that it will open its first fulfillment center and create more than 1,000 jobs in Little Rock. The new Plug and Play program, which is supported by partners like Walmart and Tyson Foods, established a global location in Northwest Arkansas and will accelerate the innovation of new supply chain technologies.

KEY INCENTIVES Advantage Arkansas: Offers a state income tax credit for the creation of jobs with wages equal to or above the lowest county average hourly wage.

Tax Back: Offers sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials, machinery and equipment to eligible businesses.

Equity Investment Tax Credit: Offers a discretionary income tax credit of up to 33.3% of the amount invested for technology-based businesses offering wages above state or county averages.

Customized Training Grants: Offers flexible and customizable grants to reimburse for on-site and off-site training for newly created positions.

Infrastructure Grants: Offers a discretionary incentive to cover infrastructure needs for site preparation, industrial access and facility improvements.

22.6% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 6.2% RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#45

EDCS Arkansas Economic Development Commission arkansasedc.com Arkansas Association of Development Organizations arkansaseconomicregions.org Little Rock Regional Chamber littlerockchamber.com Fort Smith Regional Alliance fortsmithregionalalliance.com

BIG DEALS • Lockheed Martin announced in June 2019 a $142 million expansion and 326 new jobs at its center of excellence in Camden.

• Zekelman Industries announced in July 2019 it will build the world’s largest continuous ERW tube mill in Blytheville, investing more than $150 million and creating 75 jobs.

• Carvana announced in September 2019 a $40 million inspection and distribution center and 400 new jobs in West Memphis.

• Structurlam Mass Timber announced in December 2019 it will invest $90 million and create more than 130 jobs at a plant in Conway.

• DXC Technology announced in October 2019 it will expand operations at its offices in Conway and create an additional 1,200 jobs over the next three years.

• Amazon announced in July 2020 plans to build its first fulfillment center in Little Rock in 2021. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.

BIG COMPANIES Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Walmart Tyson Foods Murphy USA J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dillard’s

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “For us, it was the state of Arkansas, and the community really rolled out a red carpet for us. It was introducing us to key resources. It was picking up the phone and getting licensing. It’s just been a really smooth civil process in a very short period of time, which is not common.”

—Jared Smith, General Manager, Fiocchi “We’re delighted to be building out our network of operations in Little Rock, Arkansas. We greatly appreciate the strong support from local and state leaders as we look to open our first fulfillment center and second delivery station in the state.” —Alicia Boler Davis, Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment, Amazon

POPULATION GROWTH

3.5% increase between 2010 and 2019

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE In response to the pandemic, the state launched the Arkansas Ready for Business initiative in the spring of 2020.

It offers Arkansas businesses attention and assistance to ensure physical and economic health of their employees and businesses.

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

California “Covid-19 will be with us for a long time, and we all need to adapt. We need to live differently. And we need to minimize exposure for our health, for our families and for our communities.”

—Gov. Gavin Newsom

TAXES

8.84% top corporate income tax rate

#48 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

BIG DEALS

The Golden State has taken significant measures to ensure public health in the pandemic with some of the most restrictive regulations in the country. Officials say the short-term economic impact will be offset by the long-term benefits of stamping out the virus. In the meantime, the state is still home to an advanced manufacturing hub in Los Angeles and the capital of tech in Silicon Valley. And while CEOs may often gripe about taxes, California remains home to 53 Fortune 500 companies and one of the nation’s top talented workforces.

• California Competes Tax Credit program offered $20 million credits to NBCUniversal to build sound stages and create 800 quality jobs in the state.

KEY INCENTIVES California Competes Tax Credit: Offers a total of $180 million in tax credits for companies that want to locate, stay or grow in the state.

California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority: Offers up to $100 million every calendar year for a full sales and use tax exclusion on equipment and machinery used in advanced manufacturing processes in high tech and clean tech.

Research & Development Tax Credit: Offers an income tax credit for paid qualified research expenses for wages, supplies and contract research costs.

83% of students

graduated high school in 2018

33.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

9.3%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#19

POPULATION GROWTH 6.1% increase between 2010 and 2019

EDCS California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development business.ca.gov Greater Sacramento Economic Council selectsacramento.com Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation laedc.org San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation sandiegobusiness.org San Francisco Office of Economic & Workforce Development oewd.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Employment Training Panel offers funding to employers who assist in upgrading the skills of their workers through training that leads to good-paying, long-term jobs. ETP is a funding agency, meaning businesses determine their training needs and how to provide that training. In October 2020, ETP announced approval of 28 contracts worth over $8 million in job training funds for 6,300 workers.

• California Competes Tax Credit program offered $5 million in tax credits to CTC Global Corporation to create 149 jobs.

• Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works) started construction on a 208,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Palmdale.

• Katerra committed to creating 648 jobs in the state with the awarding of $10 million in tax credits from the California Competes Tax Credit program.

• Universal Standard Housing committed to creating 560 jobs with a $17 million award from the California Competes Tax Credit.

BIG COMPANIES 53 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Apple Alphabet Chevron Wells Fargo Intel Facebook Walt Disney HP Cisco Systems Oracle

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We are thrilled to be a part of Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem…The expanded facility equips us to better support Silicon Valley companies and to fast-track their project fulfillment, allowing them ultimately to quickly grow and thrive.” —Ghislain Devouge, Global Vice President and General Manager Consumer Technology, UL “We are proud to call the city of San Bernardino our West Coast home. We look forward to creating more jobs and continuing to make a positive impact on the local community.” —Alice Thompson, Chief Operating Officer, Home Chef

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Colorado

CLIMBING THE RANKS IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE

“Colorado has the perfect business climate, entrepreneurial spirit, resilient and skilled workforce to help support the [Wix’s] continued expansion. These new jobs will be a strong addition to Colorado’s rebounding economy, and this Denver location will offer tremendous opportunity for continued growth.” —Gov. Jared Polis

Colorado’s economic diversity has helped offset some of the declines in tourism related to the pandemic.

Sectors such as manufacturing and cloud computing continue to grow, while the life sciences sector has seen new interest from companies such as AGC Biologics.

Robinhood, Marqeta and Emerson Electric have also announced major expansions in Denver and Boulder.

KEY INCENTIVES Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit: Offers a performance-based incentive for companies that create 20 or more net new jobs over an eight-year period with a minimum wage that is at least 100% of the county’s average annual wage.

Strategic Fund Incentive: Offers a cash payout based on the wage levels of the net new jobs created.

TAXES

4.63% top corporate income tax rate

#17 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

81% of students

graduated high school in 2018

40.1% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#10

POPULATION GROWTH

14.5% increase between 2010 and 2019

Location Neutral Employment (LONE) Program: A performance-based incentive that combines the Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit and Strategic Fund to encourage remote-work employment practices.

Skill Advance Colorado Job Training Grant: Offers a reimbursement of costs associated with job training that increases transferable skills to support the company’s competitiveness and enhance workers’ long-term employment opportunities.

Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant: A collection of five advanced industry grants that promote growth and sustainability by accelerating commercialization.

EDCs Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade choosecolorado.com Economic Development Council of Colorado edcconline.org Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation metrodenver.org Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corporation coloradospringschamberedc.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

BIG DEALS • Robinhood announced in October 2019 it would open a $34 million office and create 791 jobs in Denver.

• SOPHiA Genetics announced in March 2020 the creation of an R&D facility and nearly 100 jobs in Aurora.

• Emerson Electric announced in May 2020 a $100 million expansion of its operations and 250 new jobs in Boulder.

• AGC Biologics announced in June 2020 a $100 million investment and 280 new jobs at a facility in Boulder.

• Marqeta announced in June 2020 the selection of Denver as the site of its HQ2. The project will create 535 jobs.

BIG COMPANIES Eleven Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Arrow Electronics DaVita VF Qurate Retail DISH Network Ball Corporation Liberty Media Newmont DCP Midstream

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “The breadth of highly skilled and diverse talent in Denver across [the finance and technology] industries make the city a natural fit for Robinhood.”

—Gretchen Howard, Chief Operating Officer, Robinhood “When we were hiring our first group of employees at Guild in 2016, we knew we wanted to operate in a place where we could attract great tech talent. As a Colorado native, I knew that the talent pool in Denver was equally strong to comparable cities.” —Rachel Carlson, Co-founder and CEO, Guild Education “What brought us to Colorado is the power of place. It’s steeped in outdoor heritage. But it was also the purple state component. You see individuals and companies coming together to make decisions that are good for humanity and the environment—that really aligns with our company’s mission.” —Steve Rendle, CEO, VF Corporation

The Location Neutral Employment (LONE) program was launched in 2019 to promote remote-work opportunities throughout the state’s rural communities. The program offers a discretionary incentive of tax credits and cash grants to create jobs in Colorado with at least a portion of employees hired to work remotely from rural areas. LONE also offers marketing grants of up to $5,000 to eligible rural counties in the state to market their communities to remote employers.

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2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION 19

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Connecticut “It’s been our priority from day one to get more services online and create a true digital government where our business owners can spend time online—not in line…Our economy depends on us continuing to lead the way with new technology to attract the best talent and minds in the country. Our citizens expect us to work across agencies so residents can interact with one seamless government—not siloed agencies.”

—Gov. Ned Lamont

TAXES

7.5% top corporate income tax rate

#47 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 88% of students graduated high school in 2018

38.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.1%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#21

POPULATION GROWTH

0.2% decrease between 2010 and 2019

20 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

COMEBACK IN THE CONSTITUTION STATE

BIG DEALS

A September 2020 analysis by Moody’s Analytics found Connecticut’s economy was operating at 86 percent of where it was before the pandemic started. That put it in the middle of the state rankings, but ahead of New York and Massachusetts. Gov. Ned Lamont attributed this to the fact that manufacturing and construction continued to operate. Several new projects have been announced since the start of the pandemic, including big investments by Americold, SCA Pharma and Amazon.

• IT company GalaxE.Solutions announced in September 2019 a new Innovation Center in Hartford that would create hundreds of jobs.

KEY INCENTIVES Urban and Industrial Site Reinvestment Tax Credit: Offers a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on qualifying projects with a minimum investment of $5 million in distressed communities and $50 million in all other communities.

• Americold announced in May 2020 a 250,000-squarefoot warehouse in Plainville that will employ more than 130 workers.

• SCA Pharma will expand its production facility in Windsor by 40 percent to approximately 150,000 square feet.

• Amazon opened in August 2020 a 400,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Cromwell. The company is also constructing a $200 million center in Windsor that will employ more than 1,000.

BIG COMPANIES

Angel Investor Tax Credit Program: Offers a credit of 25% for investments between $25,000 and $1 million.

Thirteen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including:

Bioscience Innovation Fund (CBIF): The $200 million, 10-year fund offers investments and loans to early-stage companies, non-profits and universities pursing advancements in healthcare, life sciences and innovation.

Cigna Charter Communications Hartford Financial Synchrony Financial XPO Logistics Booking Holdings Stanley Black & Decker United Rentals EMCOR Group Xerox Holdings

Accumulated R&D Tax Credit Program: Enables companies to capitalize on unused tax credits for capital projects that increase employment, expand the business or generate substantial returns to the state economy.

EDCs Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development portal.ct.gov/DECD AdvanceCT advancect.org Metro Hartford Alliance metrohartford.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Gov. Lamont announced in July 2020 the creation of the Connecticut Workforce Development Unit, an office that will develop workforce policy and coordinate the workforce ecosystem around a common strategy and set of goals. The unit is committed to crafting leading policies that catalyze educators, businesses, nonprofits and state agencies to develop curricula and programs that are aligned with the needs of employers.

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “I enjoy the overall environment in Connecticut, and I love working and living here. There is an impressive, growing biotech hub emerging in New Haven, and I’m very proud to say that Arvinas is included in that.”

—John Houston, CEO, Arvinas “The state offers a great quality of life—the environment, the schools, the culture, the diversity and friendliness. But it’s also energizing to be surrounded by an active and supportive innovation ecosystem and to be able to partner with the state’s robust aerospace ecosystem and other high-growth potential companies in the area.” —Kevin Burns, CEO, Precision Combustion “There are so many great things about running a business in Connecticut. For example, I love the quality of the workforce here. The employees we are able to hire are smart, innovative and productive. And they love living here. From the top-flight school systems to the beautiful beaches, farms and countryside.”

—Cindi Bigelow, CEO, Bigelow Tea

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Delaware “The addition of more than 300 new jobs from Barclays is welcome news as we work to bolster our economy from the impact of Covid-19. Today’s announcement reaffirms that Delaware remains a great place for any company to put down roots, grow and create jobs. Delaware has a talented and dedicated workforce, an ideal location and quality of life that’s second to none.”

—Gov. John Carney

TAXES

8.7% top corporate income tax rate

#11 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 87% of students graduated high school in 2018

31.4% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.6%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#23

POPULATION GROWTH

8.4% increase between 2010 and 2019

MOVING FORWARD IN FINTECH

BIG DEALS

The First State continues to prosper as a leader in financial services and fintech, which accounts for 9% of employment in the state, with 21 patents per 100,000 residents, the most of any other state. In addition to big brands like JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, M&T Bank and Citibank, the state has recently attracted fintech companies like Acorns and Fair Square Financial.

• Carvertise announced in December 2019 an expansion of its headquarters and 50 new jobs in Wilmington.

KEY INCENTIVES Delaware Strategic Fund: Offers grants and low-interest loans to promote job creation and capital investment.

New Economy Jobs Tax Credit: Offers an annual tax credit of up to 40% of the withholding taxes collected for employers who add at least 200 new jobs with an annual salary of $70,000, or 50 new jobs with salaries of at least $120,000.

New Business Facility Tax Credits: Offers a credit of $500 per employee hired and $500 for every $100,000 in capital invested for companies that create 5 jobs and invest at least $200,000.

Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund: Allows companies to make funded roadmap infrastructure improvements to support job-creating projects.

Workforce Training Grants: Offers matching grants of up to $100,000 per project for workforce training and development.

EDCs Delaware Economic Development Authority Division of Small Business business.delaware.gov Delaware Prosperity Partnership choosedelaware.com Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, Wilmington, Delaware wilmingtonde.gov

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE In October 2019, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership was awarded a workforce readiness grant by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to help improve the state’s tech talent pipeline. The funds will be used to support a diverse IT talent strategy that enhances competitiveness of industries in the state while creating new opportunities.

• Farmers of Salem announced in January 2020 it would relocate its headquarters to Delaware.

• Amazon announced in May 2020 a 3.7 million-squarefoot distribution center and 1,000 new jobs in Newport.

• Barclays announced in June 2020 it would invest $6.9 million and create 323 jobs at a call center operation in Wilmington.

BIG COMPANIES Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: DuPont Corteva Navient (HQ) Chemours (HQ) Sallie Mae (HQ) Incyte (HQ) JPMorgan Chase M&T Bank Discover Marlette Funding Fair Square Financial

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Our history goes back to the early 1900s with our roots in Delaware. With our great employee base and the talent pool in the area, Delaware is an ideal locale for Solenis, and we are excited about continuing to grow here.” —John Panichella, CEO, Solenis “We’re proud to have our FMC Stine Research Center, one of the most advanced agricultural technology R&D campuses in the world, located right here in Newark, Delaware. Innovation is critical to our success, and FMC will continue to invest in this important location of more than 500 acres because of the exceptional workforce in Delaware, proximity to world-class academic institutions and a business-friendly climate.” —Mark Douglas, CEO, FMC Corporation “Amazon has found an outstanding, passionate workforce, strong state and local support and incredible customers across the state.” —Ryan Smith, Regional Director of Operations, Amazon

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Florida

ECONOMIC SUCCESS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

“The Space Coast has become a hub for the aviation and aerospace industry, and my administration continues to make it a priority to expand this high-wage and important business sector.”

—Gov. Ron DeSantis

Economic diversification efforts over the past decade helped Florida weather the massive drop in tourism due to the pandemic. On the Space Coast, companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Embraer ramped up production for upcoming space missions, while financial services companies and life sciences companies continued to invest in cities like Orlando.

The Sunshine State attracted several new projects since the start of the pandemic, with notable investments by companies like FIS, Cantor Fitzgerald, SIMCOM and Accel.

KEY INCENTIVES TAXES

4.50% top corporate income tax rate

#4 on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 86% of students graduated high school in 2018

29.2% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Capital Investment Tax Credit (CITC): Offers an annual corporate income tax credit, for up to 20 years, for projects that create a minimum of 100 jobs and invest at least $25 million in eligible capital costs.

High Impact Performance Incentive: Offers a grant for projects in clean energy, life sciences, financial services, corporate headquarters and other sectors that invest $50 million and create 50 jobs over a three-year period.

Research and Development Tax Credit: Offers a credit of up to 10% of the excess qualified research expenses.

Urban Job Tax Credit Program: Offers between $500 and $2,000 per qualified job for eligible businesses located in one of 13 designated urban areas.

Veterans Florida Business Training Grant: Offers matching grants of up to $8,000 per veteran employee trained in high-demand fields.

6.5%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#13

POPULATION GROWTH 14.2% increase between 2010 and 2019

EDCs Enterprise Florida enterpriseflorida.com Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance gflalliance.org Miami-Dade Beacon Council beaconcouncil.com Tampa Bay Economic Development Corporation tampaedc.com Orlando Economic Partnership orlando.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE As a partnership between the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and CareerSource Florida, the Apprentice Florida campaign aims to help raise awareness of and expand registered apprenticeships in targeted industry sectors.

22 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

BIG DEALS • FIS announced in November 2019 an expansion of its headquarters and 500 new jobs in Jacksonville.

• Aerion Supersonic announced in April 2020 a $300 million investment and 675 new jobs at its Melbourne campus.

• MPLT Healthcare announced in April 2020 a new corporate headquarters and 75 jobs in Boca Raton.

• Cantor Fitzgerald announced in July 2020 plans to open an office and create 80 new jobs in Jacksonville.

• Accel International Holdings announced in July 2020 a manufacturing facility in Port St. Lucie that will create 125 jobs by 2021.

• SIMCOM International announced in August 2020 a $109 million headquarters facility and 50 new jobs in Orlando.

BIG COMPANIES 19 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: World Fuel Services Tech Data Publix Super Market Jabil AutoNation Lennar CSX Office Depot Hertz Global Holdings Darden Restaurants Raymond James Financial

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “From the first day that FIS called this city home, Jacksonville has been a true partner in our ability to attract a world-class workforce and achieve our growth goals.”

—Gary Norcross, Chairman, President and CEO, FIS “After a significant amount of discussion and planning, Cantor Fitzgerald is pleased to open an office in Jacksonville.” —Thomas Anzalone, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Operations, Cantor Fitzgerald “Having evaluated a number of potential locations for our new home, we are excited to partner with Florida and the Melbourne community to create a sustainable supersonic future.” —Tom Vice, Chairman, President and CEO, Aerion Supersonic

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Georgia

PROSPERITY IN THE PEACH STATE

“We’re incredibly proud to have announced this unprecedented number of jobs for hardworking Georgians over the past three months…we continue to shatter our previous numbers, and most importantly, create opportunities in every region of the Peach State.” —Gov. Brian Kemp

TAXES

5.75% top corporate income tax rate

#32 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

82% of students

graduated high school in 2018

30.7% of adults age 25

If the numbers are any indication, the pandemic hasn’t slowed down economic development in Georgia. The state announced more than $3.7 billion in new investments and more than 10,000 jobs in the first fiscal quarter of 2020, with top-performing industries including processing, manufacturing, logistics and distribution.

Microsoft, Zillow and SK innovation announced projects in the past year.

KEY INCENTIVES Job Tax Credit: Offers a tax credit of between $1,250 and $4,000 per year for five years for every new job created.

Port Tax Credit Bonus: Offers a tax credit for companies that increase imports or exports through a Georgia port by 10% for base port traffic amount that equals at least TEU. Quality Jobs Tax Credit: Offers a credit of $2,500 to $5,000 per new job annually for five years for companies that create 50 jobs that pay at least 10% above the average wage of the county.

R&D Tax Credit: Offers a tax credit for research and development activities, including lab work, prototyping products or processes, or conducting tests on new manufacturing equipment.

EDCs Georgia Department of Economic Development georgia.org

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

Invest Atlanta investatlanta.com

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce choosecolumbusga.com

4.5%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

Savannah Economic Development Authority seda.org

QUALITY OF LIFE

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

POPULATION GROWTH

The Georgia FinTech Academy was formed in 2018 and has a goal of producing more than 2,000 graduates by 2023 to address the workforce needs in the financial technology industry.

#17

9.6% increase between 2010 and 2019

• SK innovation announced in June 2020 a nearly $1 billion expansion and 600 new jobs at its manufacturing facility in Commerce.

• German automotive parts manufacturer GEDIA Automotive Group announced in July 2020 an $85 million investment and 200 new jobs at a manufacturing facility in Dalton.

• Zinus USA announced in August 2020 it will build a $108 million manufacturing facility and create 804 new jobs in McDonough.

• Zillow Group announced in August 2020 it will establish a southeastern hub in Atlanta and create 200 jobs.

• Deluxe announced in September 2020 it will establish an innovation center and create 709 jobs in Sandy Springs.

BIG COMPANIES Eighteen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Home Depot UPS Delta Air Lines Coca-Cola The Southern Company Aflac Genuine Parts WestRock

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Atlanta has a rich culture and history of innovation, making it a unique place for tech growth. We are excited to expand our presence and further engage with the community and surrounding region, contributing positively to technical opportunity, digital fluency and economic development.” —Terrell Cox, General Manager, Microsoft “The Atlanta area has been a great partner for the tech sector to thrive and innovate, and we look forward to our continued growth in the market.”

—Jeremy Wacksman, President, Zillow “Atlanta provides us with a lower-than-average operations cost compared to other major cities, and there is a very supportive business-to-business SaaS community we can tap into for knowledge sharing.”

—Keith Reynolds, President, Zinus U.S.

BIG DEALS • Microsoft announced in May 2020 a $75 million investment and 1,500 new jobs at a facility in Atlanta.

• Perspecta announced in June 2020 it will open a regional office at the Georgia Cyber Center in Augusta and create 178 jobs.

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Idaho “Idahoans have faced much hardship this year, but we have been working hard to ease the challenges and restore the prosperity Idaho had before the global pandemic.” —Gov. Brad Little

TAXES

6.93% top corporate income tax rate

#21 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 81% of students graduated high school in 2018

26.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

GROWING IN THE GEM STATE

BIG DEALS

As indicated by several reports and data points, Idaho is one of the leading states in terms of economy prosperity and recovering from the global pandemic. Gov. Brad Little attributes the success to responsible management of the pandemic response, allocation of federal relief dollars, reduction in red tape for businesses and fiscal conservatism. Tandem Diabetes Care, Amazon and Ericsson recently announced projects in the state.

• Tandem Diabetes Care announced in December 2019 a major expansion in Boise.

KEY INCENTIVES Idaho Tax Reimbursement Incentive: Offers a performance-based incentive, with a tax credit of up to 30% for up to 15 years on new state tax revenues generated by companies seeking to expand and add new jobs in the state.

Idaho Opportunity Fund: Offers funding at the discretion of the Idaho Commerce director for infrastructure improvements to attract new commercial or industrial facilities.

Idaho Business Advantage: Offers a wide package of incentives, including tax credits, sales tax rebates and property tax exemptions, for business that invest at least $500,000 and create at least 10 jobs averaging $40,000 per year.

Workforce Development Reimbursements: Offers up to $3,000 for the training of new full-time employees or for helping restrain employees facing layoff.

EDCs

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Economic Development Districts of Idaho commerce.idaho.gov

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

Southern Idaho Economic Development southernidaho.org

5.5%

QUALITY OF LIFE

#16

POPULATION GROWTH

14% increase between 2010 and 2019

Boise Valley Economic Partnership bvep.org Nampa Economic Development cityofnampa.us

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission program supports commercialization partnerships and invests in the development of new businesses, research facilities, new products and high-value jobs through Boise State University, Idaho State University and the University of Idaho.

24 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Military training instrumentation leader Ravenswood Solutions announced in May 2019 it would relocate its operations from Fremont, California, to Boise.

• TORCHx opened a new home office and expanded operations in Boise in August 2020.

• Ericsson agreed in September 2020 to acquire Boise-based Cradlepoint for $1.1 billion.

• Amazon is constructing a 650,000-square-foot robotics fulfillment center that will employ as many as 2,000 workers in Nampa.

BIG COMPANIES Four Fortune 500 companies are located in the state: Albertsons Micron Technology Boise Cascade Lamb Weston Holdings J.R. Simplot WinCo Foods Lamb Weston Paylocity

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “As we considered locations across the country, Boise immediately stood out as the place to take root and build a high-performing team because of its strong talent pool and community values.” —Jack Markham, President, TorchX; General Manager, Constellation Real Estate Group “We’re excited to open our first customer fulfillment center in Idaho and to bring more than 1,000 full-time jobs to the city. Amazon is committed to creating a positive economic impact in Nampa and enhancing the customer experience throughout the region.”

—Alicia Boler Davis, Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment, Amazon

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Illinois “Manufacturing has been a cornerstone of the Illinois economy for generations, providing high-quality job opportunities for residents across the state.”

—Gov. JB Pritzker

TAXES

9.5% top corporate income tax rate

#36 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

PROSPERITY IN THE PRAIRIE STATE

BIG DEALS

Like many major urban areas, Chicago has taken a big economic hit during the pandemic. Despite the challenges, the Prairie State remains an economic powerhouse and a home for dozens of Fortune 500 companies. Banking, life sciences and manufacturing continue to grow, while recent investments by companies like Facebook, Ford and Amazon are helping maintain the momentum.

• Ford Motor Company announced in February 2019 a $1 billion investment and 500 new jobs at its Chicago assembly and stamping plants.

KEY INCENTIVES Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE): Provides tax incentives to encourage companies to locate or expand operations in Illinois when there is active consideration in another state.

Employer Training Investment Program (ETIP): Offers training incentives to help businesses increase productivity, reduce costs, improve quality and boost competitiveness.

Illinois Apprenticeship Education Expense Tax Credit Program: Offers employers a tax credit for qualified educational expenses associated with qualifying apprentices.

87% of students

Research and Development Tax Credit: Offers credits and assistance to businesses engaged in R&D activities.

34.1% of adults age 25

Manufacturing Machinery & Equipment: Offers a 6.25% state sales tax exemption against purchases of consumable items used in the manufacturing process.

graduated high school in 2018 and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.8%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#35

POPULATION GROWTH 1.2% decrease between 2010 and 2019

EDCs Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity illinois.gov Intersect Illinois intersectillinois.org World Business Chicago worldbusinesschicago.com Chicago Regional Growth Corporation chicagoregionalgrowth.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Since the start of the pandemic, Illinois has created an array of new grant funding and assistance programs designed to help navigate new economic burdens.

These programs include the $20 million Downstate Small Business Stabilization Program, the $636 million Business Interruption Grant (BIG) program and the $25 million Rebuild Distressed Communities program.

• BlueCrew announced in June 2019 relocation from San Francisco to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart and the creation of 100 jobs.

• Crate and Barrel began construction in October 2019 on a $75 million logistics facility in Romeoville that will create 200 jobs.

• Amazon announced in June 2020 that it will build two fulfillment centers in Matteson and Markham, creating 2,000 jobs.

• Facebook announced in June 2020 it will build a $800 million data center in DeKalb.

• Ferrara Candy is building a $100 million distribution complex in DeKalb that is expected to employ more than 500 people.

BIG COMPANIES Thirty-seven Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Walgreens Boots Alliance State Farm Insurance Boeing Archer-Daniels-Midland Caterpillar Allstate United Airlines Deere Exelon AbbVie

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “There are many variables that enter into the decision process for data locations, and DeKalb provided many compelling reasons for Facebook to bring our newest data center to Illinois.” —Rachel Peterson, Vice President of Data Center Strategy, Facebook “Having a factory in Illinois means that we will be closer to our American customers and will help strengthen local production and employment.

—Kristof Vereenooghe, CEO, EVBox “We are thrilled to partner with the State of Illinois to advance our shared goals of expanding digital infrastructure, preparing our local workforce for the jobs of the future, while putting Illinois back on the manufacturing map.” —Baber Abbas, CEO, viaPhoton

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Indiana “Hoosier manufacturers are driving our economy forward, building the products that power our world every day.” —Gov. Eric Holcomb

TAXES

5.5% top corporate income tax rate

#10 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

88% of students

graduated high school in 2018

25.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

HOLDING STRONG IN THE HOOSIER STATE

BIG DEALS

Manufacturing has held strong in the Hoosier State in 2020 and throughout the pandemic. Between January and September, 187 companies committed to more than 20,000 new jobs and $3.1 billion in investment over the next several years. Toyota, Subaru, Palmer Trucks and Panacea Medical Technologies made notable announcements in the past year.

• Toyota announced in January 2020 an additional $700 million investment in its operations in Princeton and 150 new jobs by the end of 2022.

KEY INCENTIVES Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE): Offers a refundable corporate income tax credit based on the tax withholdings generated from new job creation.

Headquarters Relocation Tax Credit (HRTC): Offers a refundable tax credit that equals 80 percent of the total payroll in Indiana for small, high-growth businesses that relocate their headquarters to the state.

Hoosier Business Investment (HBI) Tax Credit: Offers a corporate income tax credit as a percentage of the eligible capital to support projects that support job creation or capital investment.

Industrial Development Grant Fund: Offers assistance to municipalities to perform infrastructure improvements and upgrades needed to serve proposed projects.

5%

Skills Enhancement Fund Workforce Training Grant: Offers assistance to support the training and upgrading skills of employees required to support new capital investments. Grants may be provided to reimburse up to 50% of eligible training costs over a two-year period.

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

EDCs

QUALITY OF LIFE

Indiana Economic Development Corporation iedc.in.gov

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

#36

POPULATION GROWTH

3.8% increase between 2010 and 2019

Indy Chamber indychamber.com Greater Fort Wayne Metro Chamber Alliance greaterfortwayneinc.com Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville growthallianceevv.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Indiana State Trade and Export Promotion (IN-STEP) program helps small businesses develop and expand export-related activities and open new markets for Hoosier-made goods around the world. Eligible small businesses can apply with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation for reimbursements of export-related activities like trade missions, foreign trade shows and educational programs.

26 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Subaru of Indiana Automotive announced in February 2020 it will invest $158 million and add 350 jobs at its manufacturing operations in Lafayette.

• Panacea Medical Technologies announced in February 2020 it will locate its first U.S. operations in central Indiana and create up to 65 high-wage jobs.

• Palmer Trucks announced in July 2020 an expansion of its operations in central Indiana and 220 new jobs by the end of 2022.

• Industrial pipeline project distributor Harrington announced in July 2020 it will establish a distribution center in New Haven to serve the Great Lakes region.

BIG COMPANIES Eight Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Anthem Cummins Eli Lilly Steel Dynamics Berry Global Group Zimmer Biomet Holdings Thor Industries Simon Property Group

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Panacea is fueled by ideas and innovations, and we’re excited to tap into the talented Indiana workforce to ensure every cancer patient has access to the best radiotherapy treatment. We’re thankful for the support from the state of Indiana and the city of Noblesville.”

—Raghu Padmanabhan, CEO, Panacea Medical Technologies “We’re proud to continue investing in Indiana. We also appreciate the tremendous support these plans have received from the state, Tippecanoe County and the city of Lafayette.” —Scott Brand, Senior Vice President of Administration and Quality, SIA “The greater Fort Wayne area was where we started our search process for a new regional distribution center because of its central location in relation to many of our branches. As we’ve started work here, the City of New Haven has been a great partner for us in facilitating a smooth and efficient startup.” —David Burnett, Director of Strategic Supply Chain, Harrington

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Iowa

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM

“Iowa’s small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and they need our support now more than ever to fully recover and grow during this challenging time.”—Gov. Kim Reynolds

The economic momentum Des Moines has cultivated over the past decade is expected to help it weather the economic storm better than many other metro areas.

Moody’s Analytics examined the country’s top 100 metro areas in July 2020 and noted the region as one of those best positioned for a quick recovery. Moody’s attributed it to the educated workforce and the large number of residents working in insurance and financial services jobs, which easily transitioned to remote work.

Companies that have recently expanded in the state include Cargill, BAE Systems, Nestlé Purina, and Kraft Heinz Company.

KEY INCENTIVES

TAXES 12% top corporate income tax rate

High Quality Jobs: Offers loans and tax credits to offset the cost incurred to locate, expand or modernize an Iowa facility.

#42 on the Tax

Iowa New Jobs Tax Credit: Offers an income tax credit for companies that enter into a New Jobs Training Agreement and expand its Iowa employment base by 10% or more.

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 91% of students graduated high school in 2018

28.2% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Research Activities Tax Credit: Offers an additional tax credits for companies that meet the qualifications of the Federal Research Activities Credit. May be doubled under certain conditions.

Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training (260E): Assists in job training for expanding companies engaged in manufacturing, warehousing, wholesaling or research and development.

EDCs

3.6%

Iowa Economic Development Authority iowaeconomicdevelopment.com

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

Greater Des Moines Partnership dsmpartnership.com/growing-business-here

QUALITY OF LIFE

Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance cedarrapids.org

#14

POPULATION GROWTH 3.6% increase between 2010 and 2019

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Iowa Certified Site Program currently offers 27 development-ready sites across the state for company needs. In addition, the This is Iowa initiative is deigned to spur economic growth by encouraging visitors to explore and relocate to Iowa.

BIG DEALS • BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration announced a $139 million manufacturing facility and 650 new jobs in Cedar Rapids.

• Nestlé Purina PetCare Company announced a $140 million expansion and 73 new jobs in Clinton.

• Kraft Heinz Company announced a $61 million expansion and 32 new jobs in Mason City.

• Siculus announced a $400 million data center and 31 new jobs in Altoona.

• Midland National Life insurance Company and North American Company for Life and Health Insurance announced a $65 million headquarters and 125 new jobs in West Des Moines.

BIG COMPANIES Six Fortune 500 companies are located in the state: Principal Financial (Fortune 500 headquarters) Casey’s General Stores (Fortune 500 headquarters) Meredith American Equity Investment Life Holding Renewable Energy Group HNI BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Lopez Foods ClaimDOC ConAgra Foods Packaged Foods

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Iowa has been our headquarters since we were founded in 1879. It has remained so, even as we evolved into a global company, because of the access to a talented, highly productive labor pool. Iowa is affordable with great education and a quality of life that appeals to millennials, seniors and everyone in between. The state has also emerged as a hub of innovation, another reason companies should have Iowa at the top of their list as they look to start up or expand a business.”—Dan Houston, President and CEO, Principal Financial Group “Iowa’s research credit helps enable our Iowa employees in developing meaningful innovation through equipment and technology to meet significant global challenges, such as producing more food and building infrastructure for rapid urbanization.” —Michael Rubino, Manager, Finance Integration, John Deere “Iowa’s approach to doing business centers on building relationships and creating conditions that pave the way for long-term growth and success. Iowa’s economic development team approached our project and investment with a spirit of innovation, leadership and service.” —Tom Bishop, Director of Government Relations, BAE Systems

• Cargill announced a $210 million chemical facility and 14 new jobs in Eddyville.

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Kansas “I’m excited to announce our new partnership with URBN and to welcome them to Kansas. This is a transformational project for our state, bringing a new, high-profile corporate partner and as many as 2,000 good-paying jobs. This was a true collaboration to generate an economic development success story that will deliver benefits in Wyandotte County and beyond in our state.” —Gov. Laura Kelly

TAXES

7% top corporate income tax rate

#34 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 87% of students graduated high school in 2018

32.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.3%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#22

POPULATION GROWTH

2.1% increase between 2010 and 2019

28 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

LAUDED FOR LOGISTICS

BIG DEALS

Centrally located between the East and West Coasts with access to interstates and the 6th largest rail network in the nation, the Sunflower State continues to grow as a critical logistics and distribution hub.

Walmart, Urban Outfitters, Empirical Foods and SFC Global Supply Chain all announced significant investments in the past year.

• Walmart announced in December 2019 a $235 million e-commerce warehouse facility and 300 new jobs in Topeka.

KEY INCENTIVES Promoting Employment Across Kansas: Offers retainment of 95% of their employees’ state withholding tax for new jobs that pay at or above the county median wage.

High Performance Incentive Program: Offers up to a 10% tax credit for companies that pay above industry average wage, invest 2% or more of annual payroll in training programs or are in a qualifying NAICS. Kansas Industrial Training/Retraining: Offers grants to cover training, instructor salaries and curriculum materials for new job development.

Property Tax Abatement: Offers up to 100% abatement for up to 10 years by certain local governments for qualifying businesses.

EDCs Kansas Department of Commerce kansascommerce.gov Greater Topeka Partnership topekapartnership.com Greater Wichita Partnership greaterwichitapartnership.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Workforce Aligned with Industry Demand (AID) aims to address the skills gap currently challenging companies across the state. In partnership with the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Department of Commerce, AID helps companies develop, fund and refine their recruitment and training processes for high-growth industries. .

• Empirical Foods announced in December 2019 a $252 million manufacturing facility and more than 250 new jobs in Garden City.

• Intervet announced in March 2020 a $100 million expansion and 10 new jobs in De Soto.

• Lineage Logistics announced in August 2020 a $110 million facility and 127 new jobs in Olathe.

• Urban Outfitters announced in August 2020 a $403 million distribution facility and 1,073 new jobs over 10 years in Kansas City.

• SFC Global Supply Chain announced a $600 million manufacturing facility in July 2020.

BIG COMPANIES Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Seaboard YRC Worldwide Euronet Worldwide

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Our priorities in identifying the home for our new omni-channel distribution center focused on people, and it was the quality of the local workforce and the commitment of their representatives in the state that convinced us this is the right place to be… As the center of our distribution network, this facility makes Kansas a home for us for the long-term, and we look forward to building relationships across the state as we grow together.” —David Ziel, Chief Development Officer, Urban Outfitters “We want to thank the state of Kansas and the Wichita community for going above and beyond to support our business. We are excited to establish the Bell name in Wichita.” —Mitch Snyder, President and CEO, Bell Textron, Inc.

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Kentucky “While navigating the pandemic’s challenges, we continue working to help companies create jobs for the future of Kentucky and our residents.”

—Gov. Andy Beshear

TAXES

5% top corporate income tax rate

#24 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 90% of students graduated high school in 2018

23.6% of adults age 25

INNOVATION IN THE BLUEGRASS STATE

BIG DEALS

Even in the wake of the pandemic, Kentucky saw a steady flow of economic development projects in 2020 with such companies as Gentis Solutions, HVAC Distributing, Shyne Labs and Crown Holdings. The state has also put a stronger focus on its innovation ecosystem with programs for entrepreneurs, small businesses and educational institutions. The new Kentucky Commercialization Ventures partnership helps develop academic innovations into viable tech companies.

• Technology engineering firm STEP CG announced in February 2020 a $5.3 million expansion and at least 83 new jobs at its Covington headquarters.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Shyne Labs began hemp-processing operations in July 2020 at a $9 million facility in Simpson County that will create 60 jobs.

Kentucky Business Investment Program: Offers income tax credits and wage assessments to eligible companies that locate or expand operations in the state.

SBIR-STTR Matching Funds Program: Matches, on a competitive basis, up to $150,000 for Phase 1 and up to $500,000 for Phase 2 federal SBIR and STTR awards.

Kentucky Small Business Credit Initiative (KSBCI): Offers credit enhancement programs to help lenders finance creditworthy small business that would typically fall just outside of normal lending guidelines.

Bluegrass State Skills Corporation's Skills Training Investment Credit: Offers grants and tax credits to businesses that sponsors skills-training programs for their employees.

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

EDCs

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Cabinet for Economic Development ced.ky.gov

7.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#40

POPULATION GROWTH 3% increase between 2010 and 2019

Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce frankfortky.info Commerce Lexington locateinlexington.com Greater Louisville Inc. greaterlouisville.com Louisville Forward louisvilleky.gov

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Gov. Andy Beshear announced in July 2020 the creation of Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV), a new private-public partnership that aims to develop academic innovations into job-creating tech companies.

The KCV team will work with innovations at educational institutions to provide resources to develop marketable products, services and business from research findings and intellectual property.

• Gentis Solutions announced in February 2020 a new corporate headquarters and 80 new jobs in Covington.

• Crown Holdings broke ground in February 2020 on a plant in Bowling Green that will create 126 jobs.

• Rajant announced in June 2020 a $2 million relocation project and 26 jobs in Rowan County.

• HVAC Distributing announced in August 2020 plans to create 175 full-time jobs in Graves County.

BIG COMPANIES Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Humana Yum Brands Ashland Global Holdings Brown-Forman Tempur Sealy International Texas Roadhouse Valvoline

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We are very excited about starting this next chapter in our company’s future. The convenient Covington location will enable us to meet more frequently with our clients and to also recruit excellent technical talent for our consulting positions.” —Tom Flessor, COO, Gentis Solutions “Moving from California has been quite a difference, definitely for the better. Franklin is a very business-friendly city and welcomed our company to the community. I appreciate the work that the Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development did to help us locate our new plant in Simpson County.” —Allan Huang, President, Shyne Labs “Rajant was originally attracted to Kentucky due to aerospace advances and more specifically to the Morehead State University Space Science Center, which was brought to our attention by U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers.” —Robert Schena, Co-Founder and CEO, Rajant

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Louisiana

GROWING PROSPERITY IN THE PELICAN STATE

“From Lafayette to Baton Rouge and New Orleans and across North Louisiana’s I-20 Cyber Corridor, Louisiana is leading the way with cutting-edge tech firms creating quality jobs for our digital future.”

—Gov. John Bel Edwards

TAXES

8% top corporate income tax rate

#41 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

81% of students

graduated high school in 2018

23.7% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

9.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#50

POPULATION GROWTH

2.5% increase between 2010 and 2019

30 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

Louisiana has been steadily improving its business climate, climbing from #30 in 2019 to #23 in 2020 in Chief Executive’s Best & Worst States for Business. The state’s nationally recognized workforce training program and growing talent base recently attracted new investments by companies, such as Raistone Capital, Click Here Digital, SchoolMint and Ampirical.

KEY INCENTIVES LED FastStart: Nationally recognized workforce training program that offers customized employee recruiting, screening and training solutions at no cost to eligible companies.

Angel Investor Tax Credit: Offers up to a 25% tax credit for individual investors who invest in early-stage, wealth-creating businesses that seek startup and expansion capital.

Industrial Tax Exemption: Offers a property tax abatement for up to 10 years on a manufacturer's eligible new capital expenditures.

Quality Jobs: Offers up to a 6% rebate on annual payroll expenses for up to 10 years and a state sales/use tax rebate on capital expenses or a 1.5% investment tax credit for qualified jobs.

EDCs Louisiana Economic Development opportunitylouisiana.com Baton Rouge Area Chamber brac.org Greater New Orleans, Inc. Regional Economic Development gnoinc.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Launched in July 2020 by Louisiana Economic Development and the Edward Lowe Foundation, the American Academy of Entrepreneurs is the first of its kind in the U.S. It offers intensive, retreat-style programming via video conferencing technology and pairs participating companies with business mentors. Following the retreat, they then engage in six-month, one-on-one meetings to collaborate and focus on an identified scope of work.

BIG DEALS • Biotech firms AxoSim, Cadex Genomics and Obatala Sciences announced in November 2019 they will create 135 jobs at the University of New Orleans and the New Orleans BioInnovation Center.

• Ampirical announced in December 2019 a new headquarters and 400 new jobs near Covington.

• E.I. Williams Industries announced in February 2020 a new manufacturing facility and 100 new jobs in Sarepta.

• Raistone Capital announced in March 2020 a financial technology hub and 50 new jobs in New Orleans.

• Click Here Digital announced in May 2020 the relocation of its corporate headquarters and 100 new jobs in Baton Rouge.

• Cabot Corporation announced in July 2020 a $90 million investment in its plant in Ville Platte.

• Software company SchoolMint announced in July 2020 it will relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to Lafayette and create 178 jobs.

BIG COMPANIES Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: CenturyLink Entergy Pool LHC Group

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “The vibrant and growing tech culture here is exciting, and we expect to create hundreds of high-tech jobs over the next decade. We look forward to bringing a bit of Silicon Valley to Lafayette, while also deepening the local roots first put down by our Smart Choice division.”

—Bryan MacDonald, CEO, SchoolMint “Locating AxoSim in New Orleans also is an unconventional and winning strategy. Our core technology is licensed from Tulane, the region is a rich source of scientific talent, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center provides first-rate facilities, and the New Orleans Business Alliance helps fuel our drive to conquer devastating neurological diseases.” —Lowry Curley, CEO, AxoSim “We selected New Orleans specifically due to the strong talent pool and the compelling business case the city made. As a fast-growing fintech company, we had to weigh a number of factors when looking for places to grow our business. We couldn’t be more excited about our future in the strong fintech ecosystem that has evolved here over the last several years.”

—Dave Skirzenski, CEO, Raistone Capital

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Maine “Small businesses across Maine—the neighborhood corner store, the bed and breakfast, the independent bookstore—have faced unprecedented challenges caused by this pandemic, from the heartbreak of temporarily closing their doors to the herculean task of reopening in new and innovative ways. Many have risen to the task, but with the global economy still reeling from the virus and with people still wary of how and where to eat and shop, it is crucial that we provide what help we can to get businesses through.” —Gov. Janet Mills

TAXES

8.93% top corporate income tax rate

#33 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

87% of students

graduated high school in 2018

30.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

PROGRESS IN THE PINE TREE STATE

BIG DEALS

A five-year forecast by the University of Southern Maine’s Center for Business and Economic Research shows that while the state may have a long road to return to its 2019 economy, there’s new optimism and innovation in the state. Small businesses will use the time and funds to make improvements, and there’s the prospect for continued growth in forest products, the marine industry and the food economy.

• Nordic Aquafarms celebrated completion of its U.S. headquarters in Portland in December 2019.

KEY INCENTIVES Major Business Headquarters Expansion Program: Offers a tax credit of 2% of the qualified investment for a period of up to 20 years for businesses that locate or expand a major headquarters in the state and create high-quality jobs.

Technology Tax Credits: Offers tax credits and exemptions for everything from electricity cost to equipment purchases and other R&D expenses for companies involved in manufacturing and certain research-driven activities.

Small Enterprise Growth Fund: Offers initial matching investments from $100,000 to $300,000 to small businesses that demonstrate the potential for high growth and public benefit.

Maine Technology Institute (MTI): A non-profit that offers funding for private companies and research labs to promote R&D and assist innovative companies in getting products to market faster.

EDCs Department of Economic and Community Development maine.gov City of Augusta Economic Development augustamaine.gov

• L.L. Bean announced in January 2020 it would not leave Maine and would remain in Freeport and expand its corporate campus there.

• BerryDunn, the largest accounting and management consulting firm in northern New England, announced in July 2020 that it would expand its headquarters in Portland.

• Maine Community Bank broke ground in October 2020 on an operations center in Westbrook.

BIG COMPANIES L.L. Bean IDEXX Laboratories TD Bank, N.A. Cianbro Bath Iron Works

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “This is an exciting time for Sappi North America…

We are committed to bringing high-quality, innovative and sustainable products to the market that meet a variety of packaging needs.” —Deece Hannigan, Vice President of Packaging and Specialties Business, Sappi North America “We are proud to partner with MTI. Through this grant and our substantial investment, we will bring seafood products made to our uncompromising Maine standards to more consumers, create quality jobs for Mainers and bring new processing technologies and capabilities to the local waterfront.”

—Peter Handy, CEO, Bristol Seafood

Choose Bangor choosebangor.com Greater Portland Economic Development Corp. greaterportlandinc.com

5.4%

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No

The Working Communities Challenge was launched in October 2020 as a collaborative effort to build strong communities with a focus on economic opportunity for communities and residents with low incomes.

QUALITY OF LIFE

#32

POPULATION GROWTH

1.2% increase between 2010 and 2019

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Maryland “Our highly-educated workforce, proximity to many key federal agencies and labs, and critical mass of life sciences companies and resources makes our state the ideal place for a growing company like Aurinia to continue its life-saving work developing transformative therapies.”

—Gov. Larry Hogan

TAXES

8.25% top corporate income tax rate

#43 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 87% of students graduated high school in 2018

39.6% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

7.8%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#6

POPULATION GROWTH 4.7% increase between 2010 and 2019

LOOKING TO LIFE SCIENCES

BIG DEALS

As of September 2020, Maryland was outpacing many states in the economic recovery and had an unemployment rate that was approximately 25% lower than the national average. Maryland is also playing a big role in the fight against Covid-19 with more than 40 life sciences companies working on vaccines, therapeutics and improving testing. Maryland-based companies, such as Novavax, Emergent BioSolutions and Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics, secured more than $3 billion for the development of a vaccine.

• Stripe announced in January 2019 a new subsidiary and 200 new jobs in Baltimore.

KEY INCENTIVES Advantage Maryland: Key financing program offers a variety of grants, loans and investments to support economic development initiatives.

Job Creation Tax Credit: Offers an income tax credit of up to $3,000 per new job to businesses that create at least 60 full-time jobs. Credit increases to $5,000 for location in a revitalization area.

Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Account VLT (Video Lottery Terminal) Fund: Offers loans from the proceeds of video lottery terminals to assist small, minority and women-owned businesses across the state.

Biotech/Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit: Offers an income tax credit to investors who invest in a qualified Maryland biotechnology or cybersecurity company.

ExportMD Program: Offers up to $5,000 in reimbursement for expenses associated with international marketing projects for small and mid-sized businesses.

EDCs Maryland Economic Development Commission commerce.maryland.gov Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore greaterbaltimore.org Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation aaedc.org Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation thinkmoco.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Launched in July 2020, Innovation Uncovered is a multifaceted program that highlights the state’s innovators, entrepreneurs and small businesses in blog posts, videos and social media promotion. The centerpiece of the program will be Maryland's Future 20, a list of innovative Maryland startups with the potential to become the state’s next major business success story.

32 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Kroger Co./Ocado announced in January 2020 a $125 million fulfillment center and 400 new jobs in Frederick County.

• Oceaneering International announced in February 2020 a $7 million expansion and 135 new jobs in Anne Arundel County.

• Aphena Pharma Solutions announced in March 2020 a $26 million expansion and 100 new jobs in Talbot County.

• Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced in March 2020 a U.S. commercial operations facility and 500 new jobs in Rockville.

BIG COMPANIES Three Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Lockheed Martin Marriott International Discovery T. Rowe Price Host Hotels & Resorts McCormick Under Armour Colfax Sinclair Broadcast Group Laureate Education

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “The state’s commitment to attracting and supporting leading innovators played a key role in our decision to establish Aurinia’s U.S. presence here. We look forward to joining and contributing to the ecosystem of top-notch biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions in Montgomery County, while we build a global company.” —Peter Greenleaf, President and CEO, Aurinia “We considered a number of cities across the country for Helm’s inaugural location, and Baltimore stood out for its unique combination of world-class educational institutions, talented and diverse workforce and entrepreneurial spirit.” —Patrick Mahoney, President, Helm

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Massachusetts “This plan represents a comprehensive strategy to get people back to work and to support the small businesses hit the hardest by the pandemic, putting the Commonwealth on a path to recovery. By leveraging existing tools and programs and implementing new ones this plan will allow us to make critical resources and assistance to those who need it most available now.” —Gov. Charlie Baker

TAXES 8% top corporate income tax rate

#36 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

88% of students

graduated high school in 2018

42.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

7.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#8

POPULATION GROWTH

5.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

33 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

BUILDING BACK IN THE BAY STATE

BIG DEALS

The Bay State is so far showing a decent recovery, but it’s now looking to build upon that with more state funds. In late October 2020, Massachusetts announced a $774 million comprehensive plan to stabilize and grow the economy by focusing on getting people back to work, supporting small businesses, fostering innovation and revitalizing downtowns.

• DynamiCare Health announced in March 2020 it would add 36 employees over the next three years.

KEY INCENTIVES

Seventeen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including:

• Boston software startup Armored Things was granted a $2.25 million Emerging Technology Fund loan in September 2020 by MassDevelopment.

BIG COMPANIES Massachusetts Life Science Center (MLSC): Offers ten different tax incentives for each new job created in a calendar year and maintained for the following four years.

Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP): Offers state and local tax incentives in exchange for fulltime jobs creation, job retention and private investment commitments.

Research & Development Tax Credit: Offers a 10% tax credit for R&D activities with an increase in credits for collaboration with a local college or university.

Manufacturers Investment Tax Credit: Offers a 3% investment tax credit toward any state tax obligation for qualified equipment and facility improvements.

Workforce Training Fund Grant: Offers cash grants of up to $250,000 to train new employees or to upgrade the skills of existing employees.

EDCs MassDevelopment massdevelopment.com MassEcon massecon.com Metropolitan Area Planning Council mapc.org DevelopSpringfield developspringfield.com

General Electric Raytheon Technologies Liberty Mutual Insurance Group TJX Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Thermo Fisher Scientific Biogen BJ’s Wholesale Club State Street

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We are really pleased to partner with MassDevelopment. With their backing, we are able to substantially enhance our ability to support students in higher education with flexible and non-loan financing and through our career enhancement Talent Accelerator Program (TAP) platform. MassDevelopment’s ETF is a great example of how capital support can be leveraged sustainably to promote innovation in the state.”

—Karthik Krishnan, Co-founder and CEO, MentorWorks Education Capital “At DynamiCare, our goal is to help one million people overcome unhealthy drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

This financing from MassDevelopment brings us one step closer to that goal by helping us accelerate our hiring timeline.” —Eric Gastfriend, Co-founder and CEO, DynamiCare Health

Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce worcesterchamber.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE In October 2020, the state won a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Manufacturing Technology Program (DoD ManTech) to develop a manufacturing technician-training program to serve as a national model. The MassBridge program will boost training opportunities for technicians with the development of an integrated, statewide program in a model that can be replicated nationally.

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Michigan “Michigan is home to hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women who are dedicated to making the innovative products so many of us rely on every day.”

—Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

TAXES

6% top corporate income tax rate

#12 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

81% of students

graduated high school in 2018

28.6% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.5%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#33

POPULATION GROWTH 1% increase between 2010 and 2019

GROWTH IN THE GREAT LAKES

BIG DEALS

In September 2020, the Moody’s Back to Normal Index indicated Michigan was operating at 86% of its pre-pandemic performance, compared to 80% for the nation as a whole. Experts noted the success of bedrock industries like manufacturing in addition to extra stimulus funds being put to work. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Acrisure and Dakkota Integrated Systems have all made major announcements in the past year.

• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced in Feb 2019 a $4.5 billion expansion and 6,433 new jobs.

KEY INCENTIVES Michigan Business Development Program (MBDP): Provides performance-based grants, loans or other economic assistance to businesses for highly competitive projects that create jobs or provide investment in the state.

Jobs Ready Michigan: Offers incentives for employee recruitment expenses, customized training development plans, instructor and training materials and onthe-job training costs.

• Acrisure announced in September 2019 it would establish its world headquarters and create 400 jobs in Grand Rapids.

• Dakkota Integrated Systems announced in January 2020 a $45 million manufacturing facility and 400 new jobs in Detroit.

• Magna International announced in June 2020 a $35 million plant expansion project and 480 new jobs in Highland Park.

BIG COMPANIES Seventeen Fortune 500 companies are located in the state, including:

State Essential Services Assessment (SESA) Exemption and Alternative State Essential Services Incentive Programs: Offers an exemption or reduction in SESA for projects that create jobs or private investment in the state.

Ford Motor General Motors Dow Penske Automotive Group Whirlpool Lear Stryker Kellogg DTE Energy Ally Financial

EDCs

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS

Michigan Economic Development Corporation michiganbusiness.org

“What makes Detroit unique is the level of pride, about coming from this state and being from this state.

Whether you want to start a small business. Whether you want to get in on our technology and innovation.

People want to know what it is like to be part of this city.

And to me that’s amazing.” —KimArie Yowell, VP of Talent Development, Quicken Loans

Michigan Community Revitalization Program (MCRP): Provides gap financing in the form of performance-based grants, loans or other economic assistance for eligible investment projects.

Detroit Economic Growth Corporation degc.org Detroit Regional Chamber detroitchamber.com Grand Rapids Economic Development rightplace.org Lansing Economic Development Corporation lansingmi.gov

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE In September 2020, Governor Whitmer launched Futures for Frontliners. It’s the nation’s first program offering tuition-free college to Michiganders who provided essential, frontline services during the state’s Stay Safe orders between April and June 2020. In addition to those in the medical field, the funding is also available to essential workers in manufacturing, nursing homes, grocery stores, sanitation, delivery and retail.

34 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Vicksburg Paper Mill announced in July 2019 an $80 million mixed-use development and 221 new jobs.

“We have an absolutely huge competitive advantage by being based in Detroit. We have access to talent here that we wouldn’t have if we were based in Silicon Valley and competing with Facebook, Google and Twitter. We were able to be a big fish in a smaller pond at an earlier stage and attract a lot of amazing talent.”

—Greg Schwartz, Co-Founder, StockX

MICHIGAN

ENABLING RESILIENCE Whether pivoting during the pandemic or fueling expansions, businesses found a friend in Michigan.

Top: Perrigo was able to formulate, manufacture and donate over one million units of hand sanitizer to hospitals and first responders shortly after the pandemic started. Bottom: A grant from MEDC helped Tentcraft pivot to make drive-through screening structures for use by mobile medical teams during the pandemic.

very quick and even predated the federal governments Payroll Protection Program grants. Any glimmer of hope to keep going was important.”

The grants enabled manufacturers to retool nearly overnight and start making products that helped with the crisis, based on expertise they’d developed before. Trenton Forging relied on MEDC to help it achieve recognition as an essential manufacturer in the spring and connect the Tier 2 automotive supplier to marketing opportunities for its specialized metal components. “Other states tried to recruit us several years ago,” said Dane Moxlow, director of markets and innovation for the 52-year-old, family-owned outfit in Trenton, Michigan. “But we’ve got great people and great assets here in Michigan.”

The company plans production lines with new materials that could boost its sales by about half over the next two years.

MEDC also pointed Calumet Electronics to state programs that helped the maker of printed circuit boards in Calumet, Michigan, ramp up production of its products for medical ventilators by nearly 40 percent when demand skyrocketed.

“Suddenly we had to pull in orders as rapidly as possible, even from 2021, for these components that we had been building for years,” said Rob Cooke, director of engineering services at Calumet. The company ended up shipping 40,000 circuit boards related to Covid-19 on demand, he said, “all asking for delivery in the March-April time frame. It nearly overwhelmed our factory floor.”

Calumet is now planning to repurpose and expand its manufacturing capacity to meet rising demand for circuit boards.

“Michigan’s strengths in manufacturing, technology and the talent we have here positions us to be in CEOs’ decision-making for years to come,” says Burton.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTENT PROVIDED BY MICHIGAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION For more information on doing business in Michigan, visit michiganbusiness.org/pure-opportunity

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHIGAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

WHEN MURRAY KESSLER BECAME CEO and president of Perrigo Company plc in late 2018, there was no question that he was going to overhaul a company whose growth had stalled. But there was no guarantee Kessler would try to reinvigorate the maker of self-care products in Michigan, despite the fact that the operation had been located in the state for more than 130 years.

Why he chose to build Perrigo’s new North American corporate headquarters in Grand Rapids instead of Chicago or other places is a vibrant illustration of how the state is winning as companies, the country and American citizens continue to relaunch the economy in the wake of the pandemic. “I was reluctant,” says Kessler, who had been a successful business leader on both coasts and was living in semiretirement in Florida. “I had never been to Michigan. But I ended up falling in love with the state and the people. We could have built the headquarters anywhere, but our team concluded we had everything we needed in terms of talent, diversity and the business climate right here.

“And MEDC [Michigan Economic Development Corporation] was the right organization to work with us. In fact, they’re helping us find people of like minds in exploring the possibility of building a ‘Silicon Valley’ of self-care in Grand Rapids.”

Governor Gretchen Whitmer and MEDC put together a strategic plan in 2019 aimed at building a more resilient economy. The fiveyear plan leverages Michigan’s culture of innovation, extensive R&D facilities, manufacturing expertise and high-tech talent.

“We developed our plan around focused industries where Michigan has competitive advantages,” said Mark Burton, president and CEO of MEDC. “We also renewed our commitment to empower economic growth throughout the entire state, from rural areas to urban cores and everywhere in between.”

As its response to companies’ needs and opportunities amid Covid-19 illustrated, MEDC itself is another arrow in Michigan’s quiver, heading an ecosystem that transcends major industry pillars and offers a comprehensive suite of programs and services to help companies fuel growth and connect them to the state’s highly skilled workforce.

When TentCraft, a maker of event marketing tents based in Traverse City, Michigan, saw its revenues plunge to nearly zero once the pandemic hit, CEO Matt Bulloch quickly pivoted to making medical structures that would help healthcare workers isolate patients for diagnosis and treatment. “We call them ‘medical partitions’—tents without a roof,” he says. “Right away, we were able to supply mobile infirmaries with drive-through screening tents. And we got a $75,000 grant from MEDC to help us retool, which was important because that award was

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Minnesota

LOOKING UP IN THE LAND OF 10,000 LAKES

“Our approach to governance has always been to use creativity and innovation to find more efficient and more accessible ways to provide essential services. [The designation by the Center for Digital Government] is a recognition that Minnesota continues to lead the nation in data-driven decision-making.”

—Gov. Tim Walz

TAXES

9.8% top corporate income tax rate

While Minnesota’s economy took a big hit in the spring, employment and business activity was back on the rise by the fall of 2020. Economic development in the state hasn’t slowed, with companies like Eastman Kodak, SkyWater Technology and Maple Grove recently announcing new investments and expansions.

KEY INCENTIVES Minnesota Investment Fund: Offers up to $1 million per project to help add new workers and retain high-quality jobs, with a focus on industrial, manufacturing and technology-related industries.

Minnesota Job Creation Fund: Provides up to $1 million in financial incentives to new and expanding businesses that meet certain job creation and capital investment requirements.

Job Training Incentive Program: Offers grants of up to $200,000 to new or expanding businesses with the purpose of training workers quickly and efficiently.

#45 on the Tax

Launch Minnesota: A series of grants and initiatives designed to accelerate the growth of high-technology startups and foster a statewide network of education, resources and support for innovators.

EDUCATION

EDCs

graduated high school in 2018

Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development mn.gov

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

83% of students

35.4% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

Minneapolis St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership greatermsp.org

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Rochester Area Economic Development, Inc. raedi.com

4.6%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#3

POPULATION GROWTH 6.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

36 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

Duluth Economic Development Authority dulutheda.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership offers grants through a variety of programs to offset training-related expenses incurred by business, industry and educational institutions to meet workforce needs. The Partnership program provides up to $400,000 for training new workers and existing employees of participating businesses.

BIG DEALS • Puris Proteins announced a $90 million expansion and 75 new jobs in Lac qui Parle County.

• Medical machining company RMS announced in July 2019 a $59 million expansion and 80 new jobs in Coon Rapids.

• Bio-Techne announced in October 2019 a $50 million facility and 80 new jobs in St. Paul.

• Tuffy’s Pet Foods broke ground in August 2019 on a $70 million plant that would create 150 jobs in Delano.

• SkyWater Technology announced an $80 million expansion and 50 new jobs in Bloomington.

• Medtech company Maple Grove announced in March an expansion and 185 new jobs.

• Eastman Kodak unveiled in July 2020 a $765 million expansion of its operations and 60 new jobs in St. Paul.

BIG COMPANIES Sixteen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: UnitedHealth Group Target Best Buy 3M CHS U.S. Bancorp General Mills C.H. Robinson Ecolab Land O’Lakes

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Moving to downtown Minneapolis is an exciting next step, helping accelerate our transformation while deepening our community commitment. Our new headquarters will offer our employee-owners access to everything downtown offers including walkable amenities, robust public transportation, warm hospitality venues, engaging entertainment and a spirit of innovation and optimism.” —Barry McCarthy, CEO, Deluxe “These investments demonstrate our commitment to our presence in Minnesota, which is a major manufacturing hub and now a center for our global operations...

The state is a place that really works for us.”

—Scott Park, CEO, Doosan Bobcat

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Mississippi “Mississippi may get knocked down from time to time, but we get up. And we come back stronger.” —Gov. Tate Reeves

TAXES

5% top corporate income

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS

BIG DEALS

Partly propelled by NASA’s Artemis program and new missions to space, the Magnolia State’s aerospace sector is on the rise. Northrop Grumman, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Relativity and General Atomics have all made notable expansions in recent years. In addition, Mississippi is growing as a manufacturing hub for other military and defense contractors like Navistar Defense.

• Calgon Carbon announced in June 2020 a $185 million investment to increase its production capacity at its operations in Port Bienville.

KEY INCENTIVES Mississippi Data Center Incentives: Offers a sales tax exemption for all computing equipment and software used by companies certified as data centers by the Mississippi Development Authority.

#31 on the Tax

Capital Improvements Revolving Loan: Offers loans to counties or municipalities to finance public infrastructure improvements that support business expansion or location.

EDUCATION

Advantage Jobs Program: Offers a rebate as a percentage of Mississippi payroll to qualified employers for a period of up to 10 years for businesses that promote significant expansion of the economy through job creation.

tax rate

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

84% of students

graduated high school in 2018

21.8% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

7.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#48

POPULATION GROWTH

.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

Mississippi Aerospace Initiative Incentives Program: Offers corporate tax incentives to companies that manufacturer or assemble components for the aerospace industry.

EDCs Mississippi Development Authority mississippi.org Greater Jackson Alliance greaterjacksonms.com Area Development Partnership theadp.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Aspire Mississippi is an annual state program that aims to assist local leaders in implementing innovative programs that spur economic growth and enhance the quality of life in their communities. It offers support through a curriculum focus that includes project mapping, community development, economic development and workforce development.

• Associated Wholesale Grocers announced in June 2020, a $300 million expansion and 79 new jobs in DeSoto County.

• CITE Armored announced in August 2020 an expansion of its operations and 30 new jobs in Batesville.

• Vicksburg Forest Products announced in September 2020 a $40 million expansion of its lumber mill and 60 new jobs in Vicksburg.

• Military vehicle manufacturer Navistar Defense announced in September 2020 an additional $8 million investment and 500 new jobs at its facility in West Point.

• General Atomics announced in September 2020 a $40 million expansion of its manufacturing capacity and 125 new jobs in Shannon.

BIG COMPANIES One Fortune 500 company located in state: Sanderson Farms (Fortune 1000 headquarters) Boeing Milwaukee Tool Toshiba Northrop Grumman Lockheed Martin Amazon

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “This expansion signifies the commitment Northrop Grumman has to the employees, community and state of Mississippi to continue bringing high-quality manufacturing work into the area.” —John Kain, Director of Operations Iuka, Northrop Grumman “CITE is excited to be opening our second location in Batesville. We feel confident that Batesville will provide a strong strategic advantage in fulfilling our customer needs.” —Teresa Hubbard, CEO, CITE Armored “The Seemann Composites team would like to thank Gov. Tate Reeves, the Mississippi Development Authority and the Harrison County Development Commission for assisting in this important expansion of our facility. We are grateful for their support as we continue to grow our workforce and capabilities here in South Mississippi.”

—Sid Charbonnet, President, Seemann Composites

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Missouri “We’re proud to welcome Accenture Federal Services to Missouri, where we’re developing the next generation of tech talent. Missouri is already recognized as one of the most prepared states for the digital economy, and at a time when more Missourians are looking for work following the Covid-19 crisis, this move will create more opportunity for Missourians, grow our technology workforce and strengthen our standing as a technology hub in the U.S.”—Gov. Mike Parson

TAXES

SHOW ME STRONG

BIG DEALS

Missouri’s “Show Me Strong” recovery plan aims to balance public health and safety with getting the economy back on track. The economic initiatives and incentives include a small business grant program and an online business recovery platform. So far, businesses have showed no hesitation to invest in new projects in the state. Recent announcements include new projects and expansions by Accenture Federal Services, Tooling Tech Group, Kawasaki and Plumrose USA.

• Plumrose USA announced in February 2020 a $68 million expansion and 200 new jobs in Moberly.

KEY INCENTIVES Missouri Works: Offers access to capital through withholdings or tax credits to embark on facility expansions and create jobs.

Missouri One Start: A new tool to help businesses recruit, onboard and train large numbers of job applicants during major expansions through customized training solutions.

BUILD Missouri: Offers financial incentives, including low interest loans, for the location or expansion of large business projects through the issuance of tax-exempt revenue bonds.

#14 on the Tax

Missouri Works Deal Closing Fund: A negotiating tool to close deals by granting tax credits up front during a business expansion, rather than over a multi-year period.

EDUCATION

Missouri Department of Economic Development ded.mo.gov

4% top corporate income tax rate

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

89% of students

graduated high school in 2018

28.6% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.6%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No

EDCs

Missouri One Start missourionestart.com Missouri Partnership missouripartnership.com Springfield Regional Economic Partnership springfieldregion.com Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City edckc.com St. Louis Economic Development Partnership stlpartnership.com

QUALITY OF LIFE

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

POPULATION GROWTH

The Missouri Department of Economic Development and the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development announced in October 2020 plans to support new jobs training opportunities with more than $1 million in grants and tax credits.

#28

2.5% increase between 2010 and 2019

The initiative defines job training as a method of skill development derived from the practical application of work-related skills and prepares workers for specific job opportunities experiencing strong growth.

38 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Tooling Tech Group, one of the largest tooling providers in the U.S., announced in May 2020 a $4.5 million expansion and 25 new jobs in Washington.

• Accenture Federal Services announced in June 2020 it will open an Advanced Technology Center and create 1,400 jobs in St. Louis.

• Armstrong World Industries announced in July 2020 an $8 million expansion and 130 new jobs in Marshfield.

• Kawasaki announced in September 2020 an expansion of its operations and 110 new jobs in Maryville.

BIG COMPANIES Ten Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Centene Emerson Electric Reinsurance Group of America O’Reilly Automotive Edward Jones Graybar Electric Olin Ameren Cerner Post Holdings

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We have used Missouri One Start programs for close to 30 years. It has allowed Kawasaki’s employees to obtain enhanced skills and knowledge for the growth we have experienced in more advanced technology and automation.” —Anita Coulter, Vice President of Operations for Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing, USA “The region’s skilled talent, vibrant technology ecosystem and strong commitment to collaboration between government, civic, business, academic and community partners made St. Louis the ideal location for our new Advanced Technology Center. We are thrilled to provide our people and new hires a great place to do work that matters by expanding our operations in this area.”

—John Goodman, CEO, Accenture Federal Services

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Montana

BIG OPPORTUNITIES IN BIG SKY COUNTRY

Business owners are choosing to build their companies in Montana more than ever before. They’re finding ready access to extraordinary talent, an affordable cost of living and one of the top ranked business climates in the nation.

—Gov. Greg Gianforte's Office of Economic Development

TAXES

6.75% top corporate income tax rate

#5 on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 86% of students graduated high school in 2018

31.2% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

A September 2020 report from the Montana Department of Labor & Industry found the state was bouncing back quickly from the pandemic with more than 40,000 jobs added in May and June. As of August 2020, Montana’s unemployment was 4.9%, compared to the national average of 10.2%. The state is now aiming to double down on its innovation economy in Bozeman and nurturing its growing film industry.

KEY INCENTIVES New or Expanding Industry Tax Abatement: Offers a tax abatement of up to 75% for the first five years of operation to businesses that earn half or more of their annual gross income from out-of-state sales.

New Markets Tax Credit: Offers credits that can be used or sold for projects that have at least a $4 million investment.

Private Sector Workforce Training Grant: Offers up to $5,000 for training expenses per eligible job created.

Big Sky Trust Fund: Offers incentives of up to $7,500 per job for land, equipment, rehabilitation costs and employee training for projects in high-poverty areas.

EDCs Governor’s Office of Economic Development business.mt.gov Montana Business Assistance Connection mbac.biz Missoula Economic Partnership missoulapartnership.com

4.9%

Big Sky Economic Development bigskyeconomicdevelopment.org

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

QUALITY OF LIFE

#29

POPULATION GROWTH

8% increase between

The Montana Chamber of Commerce is currently partnering with Youth Entrepreneurs to install programming in schools across the state that teach student the skills that Montana businesses want as they recruit, hire, train and retain locally developed talent.

BIG DEALS • Billings Clinic announced in June 2019 a $40 million to $60 million investment in a medical campus in Bozeman that will create 200 jobs in the first phase of development.

• ROI Solutions announced in July 2019 a factory expansion in Billings that will create 200 jobs.

• Montana approved a 977-acre expansion of the Spring Creek Mine in March 2020, a project that is expected to produce almost $60 million in taxes and employ 340 workers.

• CACI International acquired Montana-based Ascent Vision Technologies in August 2020.

BIG COMPANIES Ascent Vision Technologies commonFont Energy 1 Foundant Technologies Golden Helix LumenAd Stone Glacier XY Planning Network

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We have 12 offices in some of Montana’s smallest and largest cities—and we consistently find strong talent, many educated right here in one of Montana’s public and private institutions. They want to stay in Montana for the strong quality of life and expanding opportunities.” —Kyle Lingscheit, CEO, PayneWest Insurance “In Missoula, we have overhead costs allowing for higher profits; what got us through six months of lean times in the beginning would have gotten us through one month in New York.” —Michael FitzGerald, Co-Founder, Submittable “We found a strategic advantage in building a company in rural Montana: amazing people. Our team works from a variety of small towns in Montana, including Harlowton. They bring problem-solving tenacity, solid work ethics and genuine friendliness to work every day.”

—Lance Trebesch, CEO, Eventgroove and TicketPrinting.com

2010 and 2019

2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION 39

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Nebraska “Nebraska continues to attract major investments from internationally renowned job creators, thanks to our hardworking people, welcoming communities and business-friendly climate.”

—Gov. Pete Ricketts

TAXES

7.81% top corporate income tax rate

RELYING ON RESILIENCY

BIG DEALS

The Cornhusker State is counting on its resiliency to carry it through the pandemic. As of September 2020, the state held one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and experienced the lowest rate of GDP contraction during the first quarter of 2020. Officials attribute the state’s resiliency to a diverse economy based on sectors like food production, manufacturing, tech and healthcare. Google, Merck, Hormel and Facebook all announced projects in the state in the past two years.

• Facebook opened a $400 million expansion of its data center in Papillion, bringing the total investment to more than $1 billion.

KEY INCENTIVES Nebraska Advantage Act: Businesses can earn investment credits and wage credits to be utilized against the company’s sales tax, income tax and employee withholding obligations. Companies may be eligible for a refund of sales tax on a project’s capital purchases and real and personal property tax benefits and exemptions.

#28 on the Tax

Customized Job Training Program: Provides employee-training assistance to businesses that expand and diversify the state’s economic base.

EDUCATION

Intern Nebraska Grant Program (InternNE): Provides financial assistance to businesses that create new internships. InternNE can reimburse up to 50% of an intern’s wages, up to $5,000 per internship, and up to 75% of wages or $7,500 per internship for those receiving a Pell Grant.

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

89% of students

graduated high school in 2018

31.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

3%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

EDCs Nebraska Department of Economic Development opportunity.nebraska.gov Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development selectlincoln.org Greater Omaha Chamber omahachamber.org

QUALITY OF LIFE

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

POPULATION GROWTH

Under the leadership of Gov. Pete Ricketts, the Grow Nebraska initiative aims to continually grow the state’s economy through four pillars of prosperity: developing the people, running government like a business, cutting taxes and promoting the state.

#9

5.9% increase between 2010 and 2019

40 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Merck announced in April 2019 a $103 million expansion of its manufacturing and warehousing facilities in Elkhorn.

• Google announced in October 2019 it would construct a $600 million data center in Papillion.

• Hormel announced in February 2020 an $85 million expansion of its operations in Omaha.

• Scoular opened in September 2020 its new $50 million facility in Seward.

BIG COMPANIES Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Berkshire Hathaway Union Pacific Mutual of Omaha Kiewit TD Ameritrade Holdings

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “With excellent schools, a highly educated and committed workforce and a great quality of life for raising families, we feel that Nebraska is the best of both worlds—it combines the strong community of a small town with the cutting-edge innovation of any coastal city. Plus, the state supports business growth through a variety of incentives and investments.” —Mike Dunlap, Executive Chairman, Nelnet “As a small biotech company, MatMaCorp greatly benefits from Nebraska’s business-friendly climate, educated workforce and the overall affordability of the state. This combination has proven successful in providing us with access to talent and to other resources critical to developing our company.” —Phil Kozera, CEO, MatMaCorp

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Nevada “Providing Nevadans with an opportunity to pursue high-wage jobs in high-growth sectors is a cornerstone of my agenda as Governor, and it's more important now than ever before.” —Gov. Steve Sisolak

TAXES No corporate income tax

#7 on the Tax Foundation’s

ECONOMIC SUCCESS IN THE SILVER STATE

BIG DEALS

The Silver State continues to experience a diverse mix of economic growth, fueled by advanced manufacturing and tech near Reno and a surge of investments in the Las Vegas area. Nevada now attracts thousands of new residents per month and has recently embarked on initiatives to elevate its economic development opportunities on the global stage. Google, Tesla, Lithium Nevada and theBalm have recently announced projects in the state.

• Lithium Nevada announced a $514 million mineral processing facility at 113 jobs in Humboldt County.

No corporate income tax, personal income tax, franchise tax, inventory tax, inheritance tax or estate tax.

Nevada Standard Abatement Package: Offers a reduction of sales and use tax to 2% for two years, reduction of modified business tax to 50% for four years and reduction of personal property tax to 50% for 10 years.

Four Fortune 500 headquarters are located in the state:

KEY INCENTIVES

Nevada Aviation Abatement: Offers a personal property tax abatement of up to 50% for 10 years for taxes due on tangible personal property.

83% of students

EDUCATION

Nevada Data Center Abatement: Offers partial abatements from personal property, sales and use taxes to companies that locate or expand in the state.

24.2% of adults age 25

EDCs

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

12%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#37

POPULATION GROWTH 14.1% increase between 2010 and 2019

• Discover Podium announced in August 2020 up to 300 new jobs over the next five years.

• Google announced in September 2020 a $600 million data center in Storey County that will create 50 jobs and 2,500 construction jobs during the peak of construction.

The company will also invest an additional $600 million in its Henderson data center.

State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

graduated high school in 2018

• Cosmetics company theBalm announced in August 2020 the relocation of its headquarters from California to Northern Nevada and up to 250 new jobs at its distribution center in Reno.

Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development goed.nv.gov Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada edawn.org Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance lvgea.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Nevada Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) helps companies simplify the process, cut through red tape and help Nevada business, connect with lucrative opportunities. Assistance includes education on government contracts, marketing expertise, procurement technical assistance, support documentation and networking assistance.

BIG COMPANIES Las Vegas Sands MGM Resorts Wynn Resorts Caesars Holdings

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “This is not just about incentives. [Nevada is a] really get-things-done state. That was a really important part of the decision.” —Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors “Reno plays an incredibly important role in the products and services that we provide our customers worldwide.

Without the data center here, none of this would be possible. We’ve invested $1.6 billion in the region today and over the course of the next six years, we intend to invest an additional $1 billion.” —Tim Cook, CEO, Apple “In February of 2017, the Las Vegas-based Switch has opened the largest data center in the world, next to Tesla’s battery factory in northern Nevada’s Tahoe Regional Industrial Center. Covering 1.3 million square feet, the facility fulfills the vision of Switch founder and CEO Rob Roy to create the largest data center ecosystem in the world for our customers’ mission-critical workloads.”

—Adam Kramer, EVP of Strategy, Switch

2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION 41

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

New Hampshire "Thanks to our measured approach, New Hampshire has been able to reopen safely and responsibly, ensuring that businesses across the Granite State can remain open. Today’s labor report shows that our approach has paid off and New Hampshire remains on track to returning to the historic economic highs we enjoyed prior to the onset of Covid-19."

—Gov. Chris Sununu

INNOVATION IN THE GRANITE STATE

BIG DEALS

New Hampshire recently ranked in the top 10 most innovative states in Bloomberg’s annual State Innovation Index, which ranks states on things like STEM concentration, intensity of R&D, productivity, number of patents and percentage of population holding engineering and science degrees. A large number of technology companies, business-friendly tax policies and high quality of living have also made the state a growing home for startups.

• LSNE Contract Manufacturing announced in April 2020 a $50 million expansion and 60 new jobs at its facility in Bedford.

KEY INCENTIVES No use tax, sales tax, inventory tax, capital gains tax, broad-based income tax or professional service tax.

Economic Revitalization Zone Tax Credit: Offers a credit of up to $40,000 per year for six years for projects that locate in an unused or underutilized industrial park, vacant land or previously unused structures.

R&D Tax Credit: Offers a credit of up to $50,000 in any one year for research and development costs.

TAXES

7.7% top corporate income tax rate

#6 on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

NH CDFA Tax Credits: Awards up to $5 million per year to nonprofit organizations who can then sell credits to businesses as a way to raise capital for community programs.

EDCs

EDUCATION

NH Economy nheconomy.com

graduated high school in 2018

Concord Economic Development investconcordnh.com

36.5% of adults age 25

Your Manchester NH yourmanchesternh.com

89% of students

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.2%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#2

POPULATION GROWTH

3.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

42 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

Manchester Development Corporation manchesterdevelopmentcorp.com

• Lydall announced in July 2020 a $25 million expansion and 30 new jobs at its production facility in Rochester.

• MuShield completed in July 2020 an expansion at its facility in Londonderry.

• Medical device manufacturer Smiths Medical announced in July 2020, it will use a $20 million federal investment to produce more than 78 million syringes at its facility in Keene.

BIG COMPANIES Sprague Resources PC Connection Infosys Universal Software Liberty Mutual Fidelity Investments Tata Consultancy Services

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “It’s all about The NH Advantage. New Hampshire has a great quality of life and is an excellent place to live and work. New Hampshire’s highly educated workforce, its low tax burden and culture that values personal choice and freedom creates a business and worker-friendly environment.” —Matthew Halvorsen, CEO, LSNE Contract Manufacturing “Once the new lines are operational in May 2021, Rochester will be the largest site for meltblow filtration media production in the United States.” —Sara Greenstein, President and CEO, Lydall

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

New Jersey

GROWING IN THE GARDEN STATE

“[The Hub] is a major step in helping New Jersey reclaim its spot at the top of the innovation economy. With its three core partners and first institutional tenant, The Hub will allow us to harness the collective experience of two of the country’s most prestigious research universities and two of its largest healthcare systems, which will serve to revolutionize research and development in our state.”

—Gov. Phil Murphy

As a leader in the life sciences industry, the Garden State is home to 13 of the world’s largest medical technology and pharmaceutical companies. Since the start of the pandemic, biotech and life sciences companies in the state have been playing a prominent role in addressing Covid-19. Evergreen Theragnostics, Showa Denko Materials and Slalom all announced projects here in the past year.

KEY INCENTIVES Net Operating Loss Program: Enables qualified New Jersey-based tech or biotech companies with less than 225 employees to sell net operating losses and R&D tax credits for cash.

NJ CoVest Fund: Offers funds to help emerging technology companies bridge the funding gap between product development and commercialization.

NJ Ignite: Offers rent support to startups moving into collaborative workspaces.

TAXES

10.5% top corporate income tax rate

#50 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 91% of students graduated high school in 2018

38.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

8.2%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#12

NJ Accelerate: Matches loan funding up to $250,000 for startup businesses with an additional 5% loan for minority and women-owned businesses.

EDCs New Jersey Economic Development Authority www.njeda.com Trenton Housing and Economic Development Department trentonnj.org Greater Trenton greatertrenton.org Newark Alliance newark-alliance.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Angel Investor Tax Credit Program offers a refundable tax credit against gross income tax for qualified investments (up to $500,000 per investor per financing round) in emerging technologies or life sciences businesses in the state. New legislation now offers investors a 20% tax credit on eligible investments.

POPULATION GROWTH

BIG DEALS

2010 and 2019

• Showa Denko Materials opened in January 2020 a new cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility in Allendale that will create up to 500 jobs.

1% increase between

• Consulting firm Slalom opened in February 2020 a location in Morristown and will create 350 jobs in the next several years.

• Infobip opened in May 2020 its first U.S. headquarters in Jersey City and hired 16 new employees.

• ResinTech announced in the summer of 2020 a $150 million expansion in Camden.

• Evergreen Theragnostics broke ground in September 2020 on a 14,000-square-foot radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Springfield.

BIG COMPANIES Seventeen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Johnson & Johnson Prudential Financial Merck PBF Energy Becton Dickinson Cognizant Technology Solutions Automatic Data Processing Bed Bath & Beyond Public Service Enterprise Group Campbell Soup

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Our objective in relocating to New Jersey was to be right in the middle of the action, where we could easily connect with and recruit top researchers and scientists and also provide an excellent location for our employees to raise their families. To us, moving here was an easy decision and one that has already proven beneficial.” —Marco Taglietti, CEO, SCYNEXIS “The Garden State’s unparalleled talent pipeline, which includes the best K-12 education system in the country and many of the world’s leading research institutions, has been critical to our success, and the easy access to New York, Boston and other centers of the medical innovation economy has also facilitated our growth.”

—Patrick Treacy, CEO, Onkos Surgical “We chose to base our operations in the Garden State because of its strategic location at the center of the Northeast Corridor, its proximity and easy access to ports throughout the region and the first-rate infrastructure and its dynamic workforce within the state.”

—Balram “Chris” Lall, Founder, Shawnee Trucking

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

New Mexico "Sceye's commitment to our state validates the hard work we've done to restore and rebuild New Mexico's business-friendly reputation.

This is the place to be if you're interested in breaking ground and new frontiers and in meaningful career development. My administration will continue doing everything we can to attract and retain the innovative 21st century businesses that will strengthen our economy and workforce."

—Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham

TAXES

5.9% top corporate income tax rate

#22 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

ENCHANTING OPPORTUNITIES

BIG DEALS

New Mexico remains a growing hub for aerospace, defense and cybersecurity sectors, which have been able to maintain many jobs in the wake of the pandemic.

Recent announcements by Fiore Industries, Faneuil and Sceye have added more than 1,000 quality jobs.

Home to Netflix’s new production hub, the state’s film industry continues to grow, and a program to cultivate the growing outdoor recreation industry is now offering opportunities for outdoor-related companies.

• Kairos Power announced in December 2019 a $125 million clean energy R&D project that will create 65 jobs.

KEY INCENTIVES Job Training Incentive Program: Offers reimbursement for 50% to 75% of employee wages for up to six months for training for newly created or expanding jobs.

Local Economic Development Act: Offers a discretionary, cash-grant incentive to reimburse the costs associated with land, building and infrastructure improvements.

High Wage Jobs Tax Credit: Offers a credit of 8.5% of the wages for each job paying $40,000 in rural areas or $60,000 in metro areas.

Rural Jobs Tax Credit: Offers a credit of up to $1,000 per year per employee for up to 4 years for jobs created in rural areas.

EDCs New Mexico Economic Development Department gonm.biz NM Partnership nmpartnership.com

graduated high school in 2018

Albuquerque Economic Development abq.org

27.1% of adults age 25

Santa Fe Office of Economic Development santafenm.gov

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

8.1%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#46

POPULATION GROWTH

1.8% increase between 2010 and 2019

44 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Big Dog Industries announced in February 2020 it will open a $15 million hemp production and create 125 jobs.

• SavantX announced in June 2020 it will open a quantum computing research and development facility and create 100 jobs.

• LaSen announced in August 2020 an $8.4 million investment and 79 new jobs in Las Cruces.

BIG COMPANIES Facebook Sceye Ideum 3D Glass Solutions Boeing Roses Southwest Papers Natural Releaf Medlin Ramps

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS

EDUCATION

74% of students

• Faneuil announced in December 2019 up to 700 new jobs at its business services center in Albuquerque.

The newly formed New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division aims to expand the outdoor recreation economy to every corner of the state. It runs a number of programs, including an outdoor infrastructure fund, the outdoor equity fund, incubator grants and assistance for outdoor rection companies seeking to locate or expand in the state.

“We feel like the move to New Mexico was the best move that Ideum could have made…Within the state, there is a pool of talent with a spectrum of skill sets that help us see projects from start to finish.”

—Jim Spadaccini, Founder and CEO, Ideum “The state of New Mexico has a pro-business climate and is aggressively attracting manufacturing companies like ours. Many of our key suppliers will also follow us, and we look forward to building a long-term relationship with the state of New Mexico.” —Howard Chen, Chairman and CEO, Xxentria “Our new facility in Albuquerque will allow us to expand our engineering research and development program in support of our mission to enable the world’s transition to clean energy.” —Mike Laufer, CEO, Kairos Power

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

New York “New York State has added tens of thousands of tech jobs over the last decade—and we are not slowing down anytime soon. Thanks to smart state investments in the tech-talent pipeline, we are continuing to grow our economy and generate opportunities for New Yorkers.”

—Gov. Andrew Cuomo

TAXES

6.5% top corporate income tax rate

#49 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

82% of students

graduated high school in 2018

35.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

9.6%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#25

POPULATION GROWTH

0.4% increase between 2010 and 2019

EYEING A COMEBACK

BIG DEALS

Hit hard by the pandemic, news media and analysts have frequently highlighted New York City’s economic decline. Yet, the large presence of Fortune 500 headquarters makes it difficult for the country’s business center to completely vanish anytime soon. Many experts believe the creation of a vaccine in 2021 could spur a quick repopulation of the city’s vacant office buildings.

Meanwhile, other parts of the state continue to see new investments—Li-Cycle, Curve and ProAmpac have all announced projects in the past year.

• Anchor Glass completed a $51 million expansion that will protect 240 jobs in Elmira.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Canadian firm Li-Cycle announced in September 2020 a $175 million battery recycling hub and 100 new jobs in Monroe County.

Excelsior Jobs Program: Offers a jobs tax credit of up 6.85% of wages per net new job, an investment tax credit of 2%, an R&D credit of up to 6% and a property tax credit for companies that meet established job and investment thresholds.

START-UP NY: Offers tax-based incentives, innovative academic partnerships and the opportunity to operate tax-free for up to 10 years on an eligible university or college campus.

Life Sciences Tax Credit Program: Offers a fully refundable credit of 15% for a company that employs 10 or more people for life sciences R&D performed in the state.

Employee Training Incentive Program: Offers a credit of 50% of eligible training costs, up to $10,000 per employee, for New York State employers seeking to upgrade skills or improve the productivity of their employees.

EDCs Empire State Development esd.ny.gov New York City Economic Development Corporation edc.nyc Capital Region Center for Economic Growth ceg.org Rochester Economic Development Corp. redcoroc.com Greater Rochester Enterprise rochesterbiz.com Buffalo Niagara Partnership thepartnership.org

• Squarespace announced in December 2019 an expansion of its global headquarter and 150 new jobs in New York City.

• Fintech company Curve announced in February 2020 it would invest $17 million to establish its first U.S. office and create 185 jobs in Brooklyn.

• ProAmpac broke ground in September 2020 on a new facility that will create 40 jobs in Ogden.

BIG COMPANIES Fifty-four Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: JPMorgan Chase Verizon Communications Citigroup IBM MetLife PepsiCo Goldman Sachs Group Morgan Stanley Pfizer American International Group

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Brooklyn is a fantastic location for Curve to launch its U.S expansion. In the race to own the consumer relationship, we believe Curve is the right product for the U.S. market at the right time. And to be able to start this adventure from the world’s premier financial hub, and recruit from a pool of the best tech talent in the world, is exciting.” —Amanda Orson, VP, Head of North America, Curve “As a tech company that has grown up in New York City over the past decade, I strongly believe the diversity of talent and industry in our great city has offered us unique advantages while inspiring our design-led approach." —Anthony Casalena, Founder and CEO, Squarespace

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE New York City Economic Development Corporation and venture capital firm Jerusalem Venture Partners announced in February 2020 the grand opening of its accelerator program in Soho. It will provide a strong base for startups, connecting to a cyber alliance of investors, multinational companies, leading executives, entrepreneurs and universities in the New York City ecosystem.

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

North Carolina “In hard times, North Carolinians have shown that we bounce back. But that’s not by chance. It’s because we are determined. Determined to tough it out. To help each other, and leave no one behind. Determined to turn our obstacles into opportunities.” —Gov. Roy Cooper

TAXES

2.5% top corporate income tax rate

#15 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

86% of students

graduated high school in 2018

30.5% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.3%

BOOMING IN BIOTECH

BIG DEALS

The Tar Heel State continues to rank as one of the best places to do business, due to its strong economy, talent base, quality of life, moderate costs and business-favorable regulatory environment. Since the start of the pandemic, several healthcare and biotech companies have announced new projects. Centene Corporation, Grifols Therapeutics and cancer detection firm GRAILhave announced more than $1 billion in investments that will create nearly 4,000 jobs.

• Microsoft announced in December 2019 a $47.5 million expansion in Morrisville that will create 500 new jobs.

KEY INCENTIVES Job Development Investment Grant: Offers cash grants to new and expanding companies, based on a percentage of the personal income tax withholdings associated with newly created jobs.

JDIG for a High-Yield Project: Offers a grant worth up to 90% of personal income withholdings for up to 20 years for a company that invests $500 million and creates 1,750 jobs.

One North Carolina Fund: Discretionary cash-grant program that enables the governor to make quick decisions for job-creating projects considering locations outside of North Carolina.

Manufacturing Tax Exemptions: Offers sales and use tax exemptions for machinery, equipment, electrical, fuel, raw materials and property tax exclusions for inventory.

EDCs Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina edpnc.com North Carolina Department of Commerce nccommerce.com

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

Raleigh Office of Economic Development raleighnc.gov/business

QUALITY OF LIFE

Charlotte Regional Business Alliance charlotteregion.com

#18

POPULATION GROWTH 10% increase between 2010 and 2019

46 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The myFutureNC initiative is committed to the goal of having two million North Carolinians achieve a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by the year 2030. The initiative engages stakeholders, aligns and coordinates systems, identifies best practices and annually monitors progress to improve efforts.

• Eli Lilly announced in January 2020 a $470 million investment and more than 460 jobs at a manufacturing facility in Durham.

• Bandwidth announced in April 2020 a $103 million investment and 1,165 new jobs at its Raleigh headquarters.

• Global healthcare company Grifols Therapeutics announced in June 2020 a $352 million expansion and 300 new jobs at its Clayton campus.

• Cancer detection firm GRAIL also announced in June 2020 it will build a $100 million lab and create nearly 400 new jobs in Durham.

• Centene announced in July 2020 it will invest more than $1 billion and create more than 3,200 jobs at an East Coast headquarters in Charlotte.

BIG COMPANIES Thirteen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Bank of America Lowe’s Honeywell International Duke Energy Nucor Truist Financial Laboratory Corp. of America IQVIA Holdings Sonic Automotive Advance Auto Parts

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “The interest in bringing the project here was very high compared to other states. The various organizations worked hand-in-hand in North Carolina to support us.

That is a comfort, especially to a company on an aggressive timeline and bringing in new technology.”

—Ravi Nagarkar, President, Bharat Forge Aluminum “I definitely see Charlotte and North Carolina as the tech hub of the future. If we had to sum it up into one word that makes us super excited about the state of North Carolina, it’s the word growth.” —Michael Praeger, CEO and Co-Founder, AvidXchange “This is a great place because of the universities. I mean we’ve got some really, really top universities. It’s a chance to not only bring in students as workforce but also to actually partner with the universities to really do research.” —Ajit Sivadasan, Vice President and General Manager of Global E-Commerce, Lenovo

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

North Dakota PUSHING FORWARD IN THE PEACE GARDEN STATE

“By reinventing education, we will create a skilled workforce that matches the high-paying jobs of today and tomorrow. Utilizing our current infrastructure to its fullest potential, we can reduce the cost of local government and create vibrant, healthy cities.” —Gov. Doug Burgum

TAXES

4.31% top corporate income tax rate

#16 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 88% of students graduated high school in 2018

29.5% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.8%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#15

POPULATION GROWTH 13.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

With a low population density, North Dakota was one of the few states that opted not to shut down during the pandemic. Health officials may have debated the decision, but that move did help keep the state economy afloat at a time when most state economies were in rapid decline. The Peace Garden State is now taking the opportunity to build a “next-gen economy” with new growth in life sciences and tech. Microsoft, Amazon and Aldevron have made investments in the state in the past year.

KEY INCENTIVES PACE Program: Offers loans as low as 1% for primary sector businesses to purchase real property, equipment or certain working capital requirements.

New/Expanding Business Income Tax Exemption: Offers an exemption from state income taxes for up to five years for any primary sector business that adds value to a product, process or service that produces new wealth in North Dakota.

New Jobs Training Program: Offers grants and loans to help offset the cost of training new employees for business expansions and startups.

CDBG/CDLF: Offers loan and grant funds to assist primary sector and retail sector businesses seeking to expand or relocate operations in the state.

Automation Tax Credit: Offers an income tax credit of up to 20% of the purchase cost of machinery and equipment for the purpose of automating a manufacturing process.

EDCs North Dakota Economic Development & Finance business.nd.gov Bismarck-Mandan Development Association bmda.org Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development gfmedc.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Operation Intern offers grant funds of up to $40,000 per biennium per North Dakota company designed to encourage apprenticeships, work-studies and internships in industries like energy, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and technology.

BIG DEALS • Aldevron announced in June 2019 a major 14-acre expansion for its campus in Fargo.

• Cloverdale Foods announced in April 2020 an expansion of its operations in Bismarck.

• Amazon announced in September 2020 a one millionsquare-foot distribution center and 1,000 new jobs in Fargo.

BIG COMPANIES One Fortune 500 company is located in the state: MDU Resources Microsoft Bobcat John Deere Case Hess Northrop Grumman Aldevron Amazon Cloverdale Foods

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “North Dakota’s relatively small population has allowed us to form great relationships with government agencies, such as the North Dakota Department of Commerce and the Bank of North Dakota, which have each been beneficial in allowing Baker Boy to gain knowledge of incentive and grant programs that have helped us grow our business.” —Guy Moos, President, Baker Boy

Williston Economic Development Office willistondevelopment.com

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Ohio "We are practical. We are problem solvers. We are inventors, laborers and exceedingly hard workers, with a special kind of grit, resolve and determination.

Show Ohioans a problem–and we will show you a solution!”

—Gov. Mike DeWine

BUILDING BACK IN THE BUCKEYE STATE

BIG DEALS

As one of the top 10 state economies in the country, Ohio remains a leader in manufacturing, a sector that employs more than 700,000 workers in the state.

Under the “Ohio Safe, Ohio Working” initiative, the state invested $250 million in 10 new specialized programs to help businesses and workers. Recent announcements include a $1.5 billion battery cell manufacturing facility, a new Amazon fulfillment center and a $500 million expansion of Sherwin Williams’ headquarters.

• Sherwin Williams Company announced in September 2020 a $600 million investment and 400 jobs at its headquarters in Cleveland and R&D center in Brecksville.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Ultium Cells announced a $2.3 billion investment and 1,000 new jobs at a battery cell production facility in Lordstown.

• Ensemble Health Partners announced a $14.5 million expansion and 1,600 new jobs in Springdale.

• Amazon Fulfillment Services announced a $100 million investment and 1,500 new jobs in Akron.

The State of Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit: Offers a performance-based tax credit calculated as a percentage of created payroll and applied toward the company’s commercial activity tax liability.

• Total Quality Logistics announced a $13 million expansion and 594 new jobs in its Union headquarters.

Twenty-seven Fortune 500 Companies are headquartered in the state, including:

#38 on the Tax

The JobsOhio Economic Development Grant: Created to promote economic development, business expansion and job creation by providing funding for eligible projects.

EDUCATION

The JobsOhio Workforce Grant: Promotes economic development, business expansion and job creation with funding for employee development and training programs.

graduated high school in 2018

The JobsOhio Revitalization Program: Provides loans and grants to revitalize sites for end-users that support future job creation.

TAXES No corporate income tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

82% of students

27.8% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.6%

EDCs JobsOhio jobsohio.com City of Columbus Economic Development columbus.gov

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No

City of Cleveland Economic Development makeitincleveland.org

QUALITY OF LIFE

ChooseCincy choosecincy.com

#39

POPULATION GROWTH 1.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

The Columbus Region columbusregion.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The SiteOhio initiative puts properties within industrial zoning through a more stringent and comprehensive review and analysis than any other state site certification process in the U.S. Authenticated sites are a step above certified sites and are construction-ready and prepared for immediate development.

48 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

BIG COMPANIES

Cardinal Health Kroger Procter & Gamble Marathon Petroleum Nationwide Sherwin-Williams Progressive Parker-Hannifin American Electric Power Goodyear Tire & Rubber

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “After an accurate analysis, we chose Ohio and particularly the Cincinnati area because of the excellent position, the great industrial presence and the high professionalism of JobsOhio and REDI Cincinnati, who helped us in the whole process.” —Antonio Pagano, CEO, Modula USA “This larger, brand-new facility provides access to enhanced capacity, greater automation and a vibrant talent pool, allowing us to support business growth and increase our speed-to-market capability.”

—Andrew Rees, CEO, Crocs

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Oklahoma “Our state’s commitment to aviation and aerospace makes Oklahoma City an ideal choice for a cutting-edge company with a commitment to advancing the industry.

At a time when job creation and economic growth are so vital, we are excited that Skydweller will be hiring our bright engineers and helping to enrich our state’s economy.” —Gov. Kevin Stitt

TAXES 6% top corporate income tax rate

#27 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

82% of students

graduated high school in 2018

25.2% of adults age 25

ADVANCING IN AEROSPACE

BIG DEALS

The Sooner State remains a leader in the aerospace and defense sector. There are currently more than 1,100 aerospace companies operating in the state, employing more than 120,000 workers. Companies like Boeing, GE Aviation, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have a major presence in the state’s aerospace clusters.

Ferra Aerospace, Skydweller and Pratt & Whitney announced expansions in the past year and a half.

• Pratt & Whitney announced in June 2019 an expansion of its operations and the creation of more than 100 jobs in Oklahoma City.

KEY INCENTIVES

• PAS MRO announced in July 2020 it would relocate its operations from Irvine, California, to Bristow and create 37 jobs.

21st Century Quality Jobs: Offers cash back of up to 10% of new taxable payroll, for up to 10 years for the creation of at least 10 jobs with an average wage of $101,000 or more.

Business Expansion Incentive Program: The $200 million program offers competitive cash incentives for business expansion projects that create jobs or make significant investment in facilities.

Cyber Security/Software Engineer Workforce Tax Credit: Offers a tax credit of up to $2,200 annually to software engineers who have a degree from an accredited institution.

Aerospace and Automotive Engineer Workforce Tax Credits: Offers a tax credit equal to 5% of the compensation paid to an engineer and 10% if the engineer graduated from a state college or university. Offers another credit of up to 50% of the tuition reimbursed to an employee and a credit of $5,000 per year to the hired engineer.

EDCs

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

Oklahoma Department of Commerce Economic Development Services okcommerce.gov

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development oklahomaworks.gov

6.1%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#43

POPULATION GROWTH

5.5% increase between 2010 and 2019

Greater Oklahoma City Economic Development greateroklahomacity.com Tulsa’s Future tulsasfuture.com

• Ferra Aerospace broke ground in September 2019 on an expansion that will create 25 jobs in Grove.

• Skydweller Aero announced in June 2020 Oklahoma City as its new U.S. corporate headquarters. It will create 120 aerospace engineering jobs in the city by 2024.

BIG COMPANIES Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: NGL Energy Partners ONEOK Chesapeake Energy Williams Devon Energy

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Its business-friendly policies and climate, availability of highly trained workers with the specific MRO-related technical skills sought by our company, the proximity to our customer base and the lower costs of doing business and living in Oklahoma were all factors that lead to our decision.” —Jim Agee, President, PAS MRO “Pratt & Whitney has a long-standing partnership with Oklahoma City and the State of Oklahoma. This expansion gives us access to a talented workforce that will help us to continue to deliver on customer commitments. Oklahoma City has been a great municipal partner, and we are pleased to grow our operations here.” —Kevin Kirkpatrick, Vice President for Military Engines Sustainment Operations, Pratt & Whitney “We are honored to be moving our corporate headquarters to Oklahoma, following in the footsteps of Oklahoma aviation titans like Wiley Post. Oklahoma’s inspired and dedicated engineering talent will help make our vision a reality.” —Robert Miller, CEO, Skydweller Aero

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Oklahoma Department of Commerce announced the creation of the Oklahoma Automotive Accelerator Program in August 2020. The program will work to target companies that will need operations in the region to supply Tesla’s new facility in Austin. It will utilize the state’s quick action closing fund to accelerate growth of the industry, market the automotive engineer workforce tax credit and expedite permitting.

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Oregon "Oregon workers and business owners have risen to the challenge, by following health and safety guidelines and continuing to go to work, helping our economy to begin recovering from the impacts of this pandemic while preventing large-scale outbreaks. By working together to keep major sectors of the economy open, including construction and manufacturing, we have kept Oregonians working and businesses operating, all while keeping people safe at the same time.”—Gov. Kate Brown

TAXES 7.6% top corporate income tax rate

#8 on the Tax Foundation’s

BOUNCING BACK IN THE BEAVER STATE

BIG DEALS

Despite its struggles in Portland, the Beaver State still holds great economic potential, and the deals continue to happen. Adidas is nearing completion of its newly expanded headquarters, Apple is expanding its office, and Swiss footwear company On recently relocated its headquarters here from Florida.

• Edwards Vacuum opened its new high-tech innovation and manufacturing center in Hillsboro in August 2019.

KEY INCENTIVES Oregon Investment Advantage: Offers up to a 10-year income tax holiday for companies setting up operations in an eligible county that create at least five new full-time jobs averaging 100% or more than the current county wage.

Small Manufacturing Business Expansion Program: Offers forgivable loans of up to $50,000 for small manufacturing business expansion projects Strategic Investment Program: Offers a 15-year property tax exemption on a portion of projects of at least $25 million in a rural area or $100 million in other areas.

Oregon Business Expansion Program: Offers a cashbased incentive equivalent to the estimated increase in income tax revenue from new hiring for companies that hire 50 or more full-time employees and already have at least 150 employees in the area.

EDCs

State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

Business Oregon oregon4biz.com

EDUCATION 79% of students graduated high school in 2018

Oregon’s Economic Development Districts oedd.org

32.9% of adults age 25

Strategic Economic Development Corporation sedcor.com

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.9%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#27

POPULATION GROWTH

10.1% increase between 2010 and 2019

50 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

Prosper Portland prosperportland.us

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Business Oregon announced in August 2020 a Futures Commission that will design a 10-year Innovation Plan to guide policy as part of the state’s economic development strategy. The commission’s 31 members representing industry, academic, philanthropy and government will focus on areas of competitive advantage to drive sustained economic growth.

• Healthcare tech company GrowthPlug announced in December 2019 it would relocate its headquarters from the Bay Area to Beaverton.

• Apple announced in January 2020 it would expand its presence in Portland with a new office and 30 new jobs.

• Portland Pet Food Company, a recipient of GPI’s Growing Small Businesses Globally export assistance scholarship, announced in August 2020 it would soon be selling its products in Japan.

• Adidas announced in September 2020 it was nearing completion of its newly expanded headquarters in North Portland.

• Swiss footwear company On relocated its North American headquarters from Clearwater, Florida, to Portland.

BIG COMPANIES Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Nike Lithia Motors Columbia Sportswear Greenbrier Schnitzer Steel Industries Portland General Electric

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We are excited about opening our innovation center in Hillsboro. Edwards is fully committed to the Northwest Region, creating jobs and participating in the local growth as environmentally conscious corporate stewards in the neighborhood.” —Scott Balaguer, General Manager, Semiconductor Division North America, Edwards Vacuum “We are delighted to open our new office here in the Greater Portland area. We chose this region over other startup hubs due to its several strategic advantages, including an active startup community, a great talent pool and a vibrant city culture.” —Sudhir Bhatti, CEO, GrowthPlug

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Pennsylvania DIVERSITY KEY TO GROWTH IN THE KEYSTONE STATE

“Globus Medical has an established presence in our state and has worked with the Commonwealth for years in their growth and expansion—starting with only four employees in 2003. With this manufacturing operation expansion, their workforce will grow substantially and will build upon their continued commitment to bringing new jobs and opportunities to southeast Pennsylvania.”—Gov. Tom Wolf

Ranked as one of the top 10 state economies in the country, the Keystone State is driven by sectors like life sciences, manufacturing, agribusiness, steel and healthcare. Last year, Bloomberg’s inaugural Economic Diversity Index ranked the state as the most economically diverse in the nation. Nestlé Purina PetCare, Hershey and Ball Corporation announced projects in the state in the past year.

KEY INCENTIVES Job Creation Tax Credits: Offers a tax credit of $1,000 per job for projects that create jobs within three years.

Keystone Innovation Zone Tax Credit Program: Offers a tax credit as a percentage of increase in revenues attributed to activities in the innovation zone, up to $100,000 annually per company.

Research and Development Tax Credit: Offers a state income tax credit to businesses and individuals that perform qualified R&D activities in the state.

TAXES

9.99% top corporate income tax rate

#29 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

Pennsylvania Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit (PRM): Offers a PRM tax credit of up to five cents per gallon for ethane purchased and used in manufacturing ethylene for companies that invest at least $1 billion and create the equivalent of 2,500 full-time jobs while constructing a manufacturing facility.

EDCs

EDUCATION 86% of students graduated high school in 2018

Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development dced.pa.gov

30.8% of adults age 25

Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC harrisburgregionalchamber.org

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

7.3%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#41

POPULATION GROWTH

0.8% increase between 2010 and 2019

PIDC Philadelphia pidcphila.com Pittsburgh: Next is Now pittsburghregion.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Manufacturing PA Initiative helps support the state’s manufacturing community through strategic partnerships while emphasizing job training to career pathways. It features several components including training-to-career grants, an innovation program in conjunction with higher education and Industrial Resource Centers that expand outreach to small and medium-sized businesses.

BIG DEALS • A.P. Deauville announced in July 2020 it would relocate its New Jersey headquarters and manufacturing operations to Forks Township and create 105 jobs.

• Nestlé Purina PetCare announced in July 2020 it will expand operations in Cumberland County and add 94 jobs.

• The Hershey Company announced in July 2020 a new fulfillment center and 270 new jobs in Annville.

• Poland-based CANPACK Group announced in July 2020 it will establish a facility and center of excellence in Lackawanna County and create 400 jobs.

• Ball Corporation announced in September 2020 a $360 million investment and 230 new jobs at its plant in Pittston.

• Globus Medical announced in September 2020 an expansion of its operations and 243 new jobs in Montgomery County.

BIG COMPANIES Twenty-two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: AmerisourceBergen Comcast Rite Aid PNC Financial Services Group Lincoln National Aramark PPG Industries Howmet Aerospace United States Steel Crown Holdings

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Ball is excited to expand into Pennsylvania to build a state-of-the art manufacturing plant to support the growth of our customers in infinitely recyclable aluminum beverage packaging.” —Colin J. Gillis, President, Beverage Packaging North and Central America, Ball “A.P. Deauville is excited to start the next phase of growth in Pennsylvania and could not have made this move without the help of the Governor’s Action Team, which helped us secure significant statewide tax incentives and grants that made it a very easy decision for us to relocate to Pennsylvania.” —Frederick Horowitz, CEO, A.P. Deauville

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Rhode Island “Rhode Island’s first-of-itskind job training program is all about lifting up workers and giving Rhode Islanders the skills to compete in the new economy. I’m excited to announced a partnership with Google Cloud and Research Improving People’s Lives that uses AI to connect people with job opportunities."

—Gov. Gina Raimondo

TAXES

7% top corporate income tax rate

#39 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

84% of students

graduated high school in 2018

33.3% of adults age 25

INSPIRING INNOVATION

BIG DEALS

Prior to the pandemic, the Ocean State hit an all-time high in job creation. More companies are capitalizing on the state’s proximity to New York and Boston with its more favorable cost of living and high quality of life. One promising area is innovation. In addition to the Wexford Innovation Center and Innovate Newport center, which opened in 2019, there are five other new innovation campuses under development. In September 2020, Infosys announced plans to create more than 500 tech jobs.

• Officials announced in December 2019 Tidewater Landing, a $400 million project to transform the Pawtucket waterfront with new development and a professional soccer stadium. It is the largest economic development project in the city’s history.

KEY INCENTIVES

Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state:

Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit: Fills financing gaps with redeemable tax credits covering up to 30% of project costs for commercial office, industrial, residential, mixed-use development, ground up construction or historic rehab for projects of at least $5 million.

CVS Health United Natural Foods Textron Citizens Financial Group FM Global

Innovation Voucher Program: Offers up to $50,000 for companies with 500 employees or less to support R&D projects that commercialize a new product, process or service, support scale-to-market development or access to expertise.

EDCs Rhode Island Commerce commerceri.com Division of Statewide Planning planning.ri.gov

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

City of Providence Business Portal providenceeconomicdevelopment.net

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#26

POPULATION GROWTH

0.6% increase between 2010 and 2019

52 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Infosys announced in September 2020 plans to create more than 500 tech jobs in the state by 2023.

Qualified Jobs Incentive Tax Credit: Offers up to $7,500 per job per year for up to 10 years for companies that expand the workforce in or relocate jobs from out of state.

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

7%

• Officials announced in January 2020 that RESH, smartShift Technologies and Response Technologies would create more than 120 jobs under the Qualified Jobs tax credit program

Providence Economic Development pvdbusiness.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE SupplyRI connects local suppliers to the needs of larger institutions in the state (including Infosys, Amica Mutual Insurance, LifeSpan and CVS Health) and helps local businesses better understand their processes and needs. Participating organizations get access to prescreened local suppliers across purchasing categories, along with matchmaking services through a concierge service.

BIG COMPANIES

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS "We could not have found a better location for our business, thanks to the targeted incentives offered

by Rhode Island Commerce. Our new A-grade office space in the heart of Providence offers us a modern environment that is conveniently located, reasonably priced and that will help us grow our business and keep pace with our customers' needs, while deepening our company culture in a meaningful way."

—Sebastiaan Foppema, CEO, smartShift Technologies "The state's strong commitment to fostering the development of startups, coupled with proven university partnerships and grant programs, has allowed us to grow into a DLA and Navy-sponsored manufacturer." —David Pettey, CEO & Co-founder, Response Technologies "Rhode Island's strong leadership, positive business climate and innovative spirit are exactly what Infosys looks for in a host community.” —Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

South Carolina “Today’s news shows that South Carolina’s economic recovery is well underway.

We still have a lot of work to do to get our people back to work and get our economy back to full strength, but this is clear evidence that we’re on the right track and that should be encouraging news for every South Carolinian.”

—Gov. Henry McMaster

TAXES

5% top corporate income tax rate

#30 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

81% of students

graduated high school in 2018

27.4% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

EXPANDING EXPORTS

BIG DEALS

With a favorable business environment, strong manufacturing sector and a growing logistics industry, the Palmetto State has a decent economic outlook in the post-pandemic world. In 2019, the state recorded its 10th consecutive year of record export sales, totaling $41.5 billion and up nearly 20% over 2018. The state now has an 18% share of all passenger vehicles manufactured in the United States, a rate that has doubled in the past decade.

• GE Appliances announced in September 2019 a $60 million Manufacturing Center of Excellence at its plant in Kershaw County.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced in July 2020 a $215 million expansion and 380 new jobs in Columbia.

Corporate Headquarters Tax Credit: Offers a 20% tax credit based on the value of the portion of the facility or lease costs dedicated to the headquarters operation for the first five years of operation.

Jobs Tax Credit: Offers state income tax credits of up to $3,750 per job for companies that create a certain number of jobs in designated sectors.

Research and Development Tax Credit: Offers a credit equal to 5% of the taxpayer’s qualified research and development expenses.

Corporate Income Tax Moratorium: Offers a corporate income tax moratorium for a period of up to 15 years for companies that create new jobs in some economically distressed counties. To qualify, 90% of the company’s total investment in the state must be in a county where the unemployment rate is twice the state average.

Columbia Economic Development choosecolumbiasc.com Charleston Regional Development Alliance crda.org

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

Central SC Alliance centralsc.org

QUALITY OF LIFE POPULATION GROWTH

11.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

• Walmart announced in July 2020 it will establish a $220 million distribution center and create more than 1,000 jobs in Ridgeville.

• Agriculture Technology Campus announced in September 2020 a $314 million agriculture technology campus that will create more than 1,500 jobs in Hampton County.

BIG COMPANIES Bank of America Lowe’s Duke Energy Nucor Reynolds American VS BB&T Sonic Automotive Laboratory Corp. of America IQVIA

EDCs South Carolina Department of Commerce sccommerce.com

4.2%

#42

• Ross Stores announced in June 2020 a $68 million expansion of its distribution operations and 700 new jobs in York County.

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The South Carolina Department of Commerce’s Office of Innovation, in collaboration with Build Carolina, announced in April 2019 SC Codes, a program designed to offer free access to coding education for all residents.

It provides a free online coding curriculum in addition to mentoring services to all residents through a web platform.

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “York County and the state of South Carolina have been a good place to do business for Ross for many years.

We look forward to expanding and improving our distribution and packaging capabilities as we increase our presence in York County.” —Eric Johnson, Senior Vice President, Ross Stores “The Nephron family is extraordinarily grateful for the opportunity to grow in South Carolina. Thanks to our partnerships with state and local officials and the trust they have placed in us, we have been able to provide life-saving medications to patients around the world and establish ourselves as the global leader in what we do.” —Lou Kennedy, Owner & CEO, Nephron Pharmaceuticals “We found a great partner in the state of South Carolina and we’re grateful for the support we received from Dorchester County, the South Carolina Ports Authority, the Department of Commerce and so many others who helped make this project a reality.” —Greg Smith, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain, Walmart

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

South Dakota “We’re hearing from lots of folks interested in not only visiting South Dakota, but moving here full-time. If business owners are sick and tired of the lockdowns in other states, I want them to know that they have another option. They can come to South Dakota. We respect our people’s rights, and we won’t shut businesses down.

We’re open for opportunity, and on my watch, we always will be.” —Gov. Kristi Noem

TAXES No corporate income tax

#2 on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

BIG DEALS

When many other states were shutting down in the spring of 2020, South Dakota made the bold decision to remain open for business. In a new ad campaign, Gov. Kristi Noem has since reached out to businesses in other states that feel burdened by government overreach and expanding regulations.

• Watertown Development Company announced in July 2019 a $95 million development that will create more than 800 jobs.

KEY INCENTIVES No corporate income tax, personal income tax, personal property tax, business inventory tax or death tax.

Revolving Economic Development & Initiative (REDI) Fund: Available to startups, businesses expanding and/or relocating to South Dakota, as well as local economic development corporations. Approved funds can be used for purchase of land, buildings and machinery and equipment.

Local Infrastructure Improvement Program (LIIP): Provides communities with funds that aim to improve the quality of life for residents of the community. Projects include execution and completion of roads, storm sewers or community buildings.

The Reinvestment Payment Program and the South Dakota Jobs Program: Leverages sales and use tax rebates that are funded back to the project, many of which can be then turned over to the city and put to use on various projects.

EDUCATION

81% of students

graduated high school in 2018

28.5% of adults age 25

EDCs Governor’s Office of Economic Development sdgoed.com

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

Sioux Falls Development Foundation siouxfallsdevelopment.com

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Elevate Rapid City elevaterapidcity.com

4.2%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#20

POPULATION GROWTH

8.7% increase between 2010 and 2019

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Rushmore Region rushmoreregion.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE South Dakota remained “Open for Business” during the global coronavirus pandemic, a bold decision by Governor Noem that helped the state’s economic activity thrive during the pandemic. Remaining open also made South Dakota’s recovery stronger than any state in America.

• Pacer Minerals underwent an expansion in Custer with the help of a $27,000 SD Jobs Grant from GOED. • In June 2020, Wytec was approved for a $3 million REDI Fund Loan for new operations in South Dakota.

BIG COMPANIES Terex Comprehensive Logistics Farmers Business Network Walmart Shaw Industries Hy-Vee Tyson Fresh Meats Citibank South Dakota NA Larson Manufacturing

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “It’s not even a question about our ability to succeed in South Dakota compared to Illinois. Sure, we could’ve started our business back home, but in South Dakota we’re not getting knocked on taxes, the people here have a genuine involvement and shared success of our business, and for that we couldn’t be more grateful.”

—Keegan Batson, Owner, Turbulent Games “South Dakota is a best-kept secret, pairing lifestyle and business opportunities. It starts with the people, their work ethic and the proactive local and state economic development initiatives to support all phases of business growth.” —Carol Rae, CEO, ImmutriX Therapeutics “Our relationship with the Governor’s office and GOED have been major enablers of our success this far. We are now raising capital and preparing to enter our next major growth phase, with customized additive manufacturing solutions fully in the spotlight following the global Covid disruption. As we take that next step, I’m thankful for South Dakota’s pro-business mindset and GOED’s ongoing partnership.” —Shon Anderson, CEO, B9Creations

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Tennessee

ECONOMIC VELOCITY IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE

“It is a testament to the quality of our business environment and the competitive spirit of our state that in this economy we are able to attract one of the world’s largest companies to our state. We welcome Facebook to Tennessee, and we are excited about the investment, quality jobs and economic opportunity they will bring to Gallatin.” —Gov. Bill Lee

TAXES 6.5% top corporate income tax rate

#18 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

The Volunteer State has maintained economic momentum with a steady flow of new expansions and announcements since the start of the pandemic. Amazon, Facebook, Ramsey Solutions and McKee Foods all made significant announcements in recent months. An increased focus on investment and job creation in rural areas has also led to continuous reduction in distressed counties in the state, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission.

KEY INCENTIVES FastTrack Infrastructure Program: Offers grants to local government bodies for infrastructure upgrades to be made for projects that create new jobs.

Job Tax Credit: Offers up $4,500 per job to offset up to 50% of franchise and excise taxes for companies that invest $500,000 and create 25 new jobs.

Industrial Machinery Tax Credit: Offers a credit of 1 to 10% for the purchase, third-party installation and repair of qualified industrial machinery.

Sales and Use Tax Exemptions: Offers sales tax exemptions for several industries, including manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, call centers, data centers and headquarters relocations.

EDUCATION

EDCs

graduated high school in 2018

Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development tnecd.com

90% of students

26.6% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

7.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#30

POPULATION GROWTH 7.6% increase between 2010 and 2019

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce nashvillechamber.com The Memphis Economy thememphiseconomy.com Greater Chattanooga Economic Partnership greaterchatt.com Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Economic Development knoxvillechamber.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund is rapidly expanding broadband access across the state in the wake of Covid-19. In August 2020, the state announced an additional $61 million in grants. Tennessee currently has 58 Broadband Ready Communities, a designation earned by political subdivisions for streamlining the local administrative processes that impact broadband deployment.

BIG DEALS • Automotive seating manufacturer Adient announced in January 2020 a $23 million expansion and 330 new jobs at its facility in Lexington.

• McKee Foods announced in March 2020 a $500 million investment and 480 new jobs at its production operations in Hamilton County.

• Ramsey Solutions announced in June 2020 it will invest $52 million and create 600 new jobs at its headquarters in Franklin.

• Amazon announced in July 2020 it will create 1,000 new jobs at its 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Wilson County set to open in late 2021. The company has invested nearly $7 billion in the state since 2010.

• Facebook announced in August 2020 it will construct an $800 million data center and create 100 new jobs in Gallatin.

BIG COMPANIES Ten Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state: FedEx HCA Healthcare Dollar General International Paper Community Health Systems Unum Group AutoZone Delek US Holdings Eastman Chemical Tractor Supply

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We appreciate our partnership with Gov. Lee and TNECD in helping us create another 600 jobs for our state.

Tennessee’s low-tax environment is causing healthy business growth and migration. It’s helping boost our economy, and we’re honored to be a part of that.”

—Dave Ramsey, CEO, Ramsey Solutions “We chose Gallatin because of its terrific infrastructure, talented workforce and the spirit of partnership the community offered. This technically is actually what makes Facebook work, allowing people around the world to connect to each other. We are thrilled to be joining the Gallatin community.” —Rachel Peterson, Director of Data Center Strategy, Facebook “We are honored to be a valued community partner in Dayton and Rhea County. The state and local government and economic development leaders have an obvious passion for this community. The Rhea County High School technical program does great work in providing technical training to their students.” —Eric Griesemer, President, MMG

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Texas "The Texas model of low taxes, reasonable regulations and workforce investment continues to attract exceptional companies like Ariat that will ensure the Lone Star State remains a global economic powerhouse.” —Gov. Greg Abbott

TAXES No corporate income tax

#13 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 90% of students graduated high school in 2018

29.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.9%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

LIVING LARGE

BIG DEALS

The Lone Star State has ranked #1 as the best place to do business for 16 years straight in Chief Executive’s Best & Worst States for Business survey. Respondents note the state for its business-friendly environment, thriving economy and its diverse, talented workforce. Cities such as Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio also rank reasonably in quality of life metrics, with median home prices less than half of that found in coastal states. The trend of people moving from California to Texas has only increased since the pandemic.

• Microsoft announced in October 2019 an expansion of its operations in Las Colinas as a strategic hub in the region.

KEY INCENTIVES

• Tesla announced in July 2020 a $1 billion electric vehicle manufacturing facility that will create at least 5,000 jobs.

Texas Enterprise Fund: The largest deal closing fund of its kind in the nation offers cash grants for projects that create at least 75 full-time jobs that meet or exceed the county average wages.

Skills Development Fund: Offers up to $1,800 per trainee to assist Texas public community and technical colleges to finance customized job training for local businesses.

Texas Enterprise Zone Program: Offers various state sales and use tax refunds ranging from $2,500 to $7,500 per job for state-approved projects in designated communities.

Texas Capital Fund Infrastructure Program: Offers from $100,000 to $1 million toward public infrastructure upgrades needed to assist a business that commits to create and retain permanent jobs, primarily for low- and moderate-income persons.

EDCs Texas Economic Development gov.texas.gov/business Texas Economic Development Corporation businessintexas.com

#38

Austin Chamber of Commerce austinchamber.com/economic-development

POPULATION GROWTH

Greater Houston Partnership houston.org

2010 and 2019

San Antonio Economic Development Foundation sanantonioedf.com

15.3% increase between

City of Dallas Office of Economic Development dallasecodev.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Supported by the Texas Association of Business, Texas Economic Development Council, Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives and North Texas Commission, the Texas Return to Work Initiative surveys businesses to better understand the economic effects of Covid-19.

Officials will use the data to support decisions and as benchmarks moving forward.

56 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Charles Schwab announced a merger with TDAmeritrade in December 2019. Part of the deal includes the combined company relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas.

• Altisource Portfolio Solutions’ U.S. subsidiary announced in March 2020 an expansion and 250 new jobs in El Paso.

• Ariat International announced in September 2020 that it will establish a distribution hub and corporate office with 75 new jobs in Fort Worth.

BIG COMPANIES Fifty Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Exxon Mobil McKesson AT&T Phillips 66 Valero Energy Dell Technologies Sysco Energy Transfer Equity American Airlines Group ConocoPhillips

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “The workforce, culture and attitude in El Paso can’t be beaten. We are fortunate to have partners like the Borderplex Alliance and the City and County of El Paso to help us grow and expand our business.”

—Kandy White, Senior Vice President of Global Operations, Altisource “Microsoft has been in Texas for more than two decades.

We have a robust workforce here already, and we are excited to continue growing that—expanding our talent base and opportunities in North Texas.”

—Raamel Mitchell, Campus Director, Microsoft Las Colinas

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Utah

BIG OPPORTUNITIES IN THE BEEHIVE STATE

"I’m grateful today for all the business people in Utah helping to lead us into recovery. Despite economic uncertainty, you have continued to innovate and adapt. This industrial spirit is astounding to witness and is why I’m so excited and optimistic about our future."

—Gov. Gary Herbert

TAXES

In addition to its aerospace industry, tech remains a big economic driver in the Silicon Slopes, fueled by the growing cluster and presence of a large talent base. Last year, SAP completed the acquisition of Provo-headquartered Qualtrics, the largest SaaS purchase in history. Online education company Pluralsight also went public on the NASDAQ. In August 2020, Talent Ready Utah Center and Amazon Web Services announced a new initiative to provide AWS cloud computing courses and resources to more than 5,000 students in the state by June 2022.

KEY INCENTIVES Economic Development Tax Increment Financing: Offers a refundable tax credit of up to 30% of new state revenues paid over the life of the project for companies that create at least 50 jobs paying wages of 110% of the county average.

#9 on the Tax Foundation’s

Rural Fast Track (RFT): Offers up to $50,000 in grant and incremental funding for projects creating new jobs in rural areas that pay greater than the county average wage.

EDUCATION

Life Science and Technology Tax Credit: Offers post-performance tax credit for up to 35% of the investment over a period of three years.

4.95% top corporate income tax rate

State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

87% of students

graduated high school in 2018

33.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.1%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#4

POPULATION GROWTH

16% increase between 2010 and 2019

EDCs Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development business.utah.gov EDCUtah edcutah.org Salt Lake City Economic Development slc.gov City of Provo, UT Economic Development provo.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and the Talent Ready Utah team announced in August “Learn and Work” programs for short-term workforce training. The tuition-free programs help residents land high-demand jobs and include curriculum in healthcare, information technology, finance, manufacturing and technical training.

BIG DEALS • Waystar announced in August 2020 it would open an operations center in Utah and create up to 70 jobs.

• Williams International announced in September 2020 an expansion of its operations and 300 new jobs in Ogden.

• Private equity firm L Catterton announced in October 2020 a $200 million investment in Logan-based ICON Health & Fitness.

• Quotient Technology announced in October 2020 it will open an office and create up to 520 jobs in Utah.

BIG COMPANIES One hundred and fifteen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Zions Bancorporation SkyWest Nu Skin Enterprises Alsco eBay Goldman Sachs JetBlue Delta Airlines C.R. England Adobe Vivint

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We are thrilled to continue our expansion, and after evaluating several possible locations, Utah was the clear winner by a wide margin…Thank you to the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development for their assistance in making the selection of Utah a reality.”

—Steven Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology “Waystar is grateful for the opportunity to join the Utah business community, and we greatly appreciate Gov. Herbert’s support and growth-oriented mindset…We look forward to tapping into the Utah talent pool to find talented, tech-focused people ready to help us advance our mission of simplifying and unifying healthcare payments.” —Matt Hawkins, CEO, Waystar “Utah’s strong local workforce combined with GOED’s innovative and collaborative policies make Weber County an excellent place to manufacture jet engines, and we’re very pleased to be able to strengthen the U.S. industrial base while creating high-quality jobs in Ogden.” —Gregg Williams, Chairman, President and CEO, Williams International

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Vermont

GROWTH IN THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE

“Businesses of all sizes are doing everything they can to survive under the difficult circumstances caused by this pandemic, and it’s our responsibility to step up and support them in the recovery.” —Gov. Phil Scott

TAXES 8.5% top corporate income tax rate

#44 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

85% of students

graduated high school in 2018

37.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

3.2%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No

As a small state with dispersed rural populations, the Green Mountain State managed to escape many of the surging numbers seen in other parts of the North East. The state is now focusing on economic recovery through additional resources such as the Vermont Emergency Economic Recovery Grants. Fab-Tech, Aviatron and Peck Company Holdings all announced new projects here in recent months.

KEY INCENTIVES Vermont Employment Growth Incentive: Offers cash payments to companies that meet milestones for job creation, payroll and capital investments. Enhancements available for green businesses and those that create jobs in specific labor markets.

Vermont Training Program: Offers grants to cover up to half of the cost of training for new hires and incumbent workers.

R&D Credit: Offers a state tax credit of up to 27% of the federal tax credit for research and development expenses.

Vermont Brownfield Revitalization Funds: Offers loans and grants to private developers, non-profits and municipalities for the remediation of brownfield sites.

EDCs Vermont Economic Development Authority veda.org Think Vermont thinkvermont.com Montpelier Development Corporation mdc-vermont.com

BIG DEALS • NuHarbor Security announced in June 2019 it would add new employees at its headquarters in Vermont and received a total of nearly $325,000 from the Vermont Training Program and the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive.

• Benchmark Space Systems announced in August 2019 an agreement with Firefly Aerospace in Austin to demonstrate new space technology in 2020.

• Canadian company MITI Manufacturing opened a new facility in St. Johnsbury in October 2019.

• Aviation component repair company Aviatron was awarded $8,000 from the Vermont Training Program to train employees.

• Freedom Foods announced in July 2020 a 16,000-square-foot expansion of its facility and operations in Randolph.

• Peck Company Holdings announced in October 2020 six new projects totaling $7.6 million.

BIG COMPANIES Logic Supply Dealer.com Revision Military MyWebGrocer Keurig Dr Pepper

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “It’s a great support from VTP to get our technicians exposed to these aircraft systems. You can only get so much experience from books and manuals. Seeing the final result and how all the components work and operate together is amazing and very helpful.”

—Zlatan Valjevac, VP of Operations, Aviatron

QUALITY OF LIFE

Business Resources & Development, City of Burlington, VT burlingtonvt.gov

“These [VTP] programs deliver return on investment in the form of employee skills, satisfaction and productivity, which is a value-add for the company.” —Scott Fine, EVP, Fab-Tech

POPULATION GROWTH

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

2010 and 2019

Launched in April 2020, FourScienceVT is a new consortium to provide critical support to science education needs during the pandemic. The goal is to provide STEM educational content, programs and resources from four trusted science museums to residents across the state.

“We have always been proud of our roots, and Vermont has been a very supportive state to grow our business in over the past 50 years. As we diversify into other states as part of our strategic growth plan, we bring the craftsmanship and relationships that have helped us thrive.” —Jeffrey Peck, Chairman and CEO, Peck Company Holdings

#5

0.3% decrease between

58 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Virginia

KNOWLEDGE-BASED OPPORTUNITIES IN THE OLD DOMINION STATE

“Virginia, like the rest of the nation, is facing unprecedented job loss due to Covid-19, so this announcement couldn’t come at a better time…Virginia is a leader in the information technology industry, and Microsoft’s continued investment here is a testament to our top-ranked business climate, infrastructure and world-class workforce.” —Gov. Ralph Northam

TAXES

6% top corporate income tax rate

#25 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

88% of students

graduated high school in 2018

Like most states in the nation, Virginia’s economy was hit hard during the pandemic with significant job losses in service-based industries. However, the knowledge-based and technology-driven sector did attract notable projects and expansions in the second half of 2020. Microsoft’s new R&D hub is expected to create 1,500 new jobs while announcements by T-Mobile, Torc Robotics, ASGN and S23 Holdings will create nearly 2,000 more.

KEY INCENTIVES Virginia Jobs Investment Program: Offers discretionary services and funding to companies to create new jobs or implement technological change to reduce human resource development costs for new or expanding companies.

Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund (COF): Offers “deal-closing” funds at the governor’s discretion to secure expansions or locations in Virginia when there is serious competition from other states.

Major Eligible Employer Grant Program (MEE): Offers cash grants of up to $25 million for projects with at least $100 million in capital investment that create a minimum of 1,000 new jobs.

Virginia Economic Development Incentive Grant (VEDIG): Variable grant determined by the Secretary of Commerce and Trade and on the recommendation of VEDP for companies that locate significant headquarters, administrators or service sector operations in the state.

38.2% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.3%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

EDCs Virginia Economic Development Partnership vedp.org Richmond VA Economic and Community Development yesrichmondva.com Greater Richmond Partnership grpva.com

#7

Virginia Beach Economic Development yesvirginiabeach.com

POPULATION GROWTH

Norfolk Department of Economic Development norfolkdevelopment.com

6.7% increase between 2010 and 2019

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The Virginia Leader in Export Trade (VALET) program is a two-year international business accelerator program that helps Virginia companies explore international markets. VALET offers participating companies international sales plan development, assistance, meeting with potential partners, market research and educational events.

BIG DEALS • Microsoft announced in May 2020 a $64 million software development and R&D hub that will create 1,500 jobs in Fairfax County.

• S23 Holdings announced in June 2020 a $64.4 million investment and 332 new jobs at a corporate and industrial campus for ship repair in Newport News.

• The Hershey Company announced in June 2020 an $135 million expansion of its manufacturing operations and 100 new jobs in Augusta County.

• ASGN announced in June 2020 it will relocate its headquarters from Calabasas, California, to Henrico county and create 700 jobs.

• Torc Robotics announced in August 2020 it will expand software development operations and create 350 jobs in in Montgomery County.

• T-Mobile US announced in August 2020 the relocation of a Customer Experience Center and the creation of 500 jobs in Henrico County.

BIG COMPANIES Twenty-two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state, including: Freddie Mac General Dynamics Northrop Grumman Capital One Financial Dollar Tree DXC Technology Altria Group Performance Food Group CarMax Dominion Energy

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “S23 Holdings and its affiliates selected Newport News for its expansion after considering a number of locational advantages. The Newport News facility is strategically located on the James River, has the water depth to accommodate deep draft vessels, offers unrestricted navigational access and, most importantly, has access to an underutilized workforce.”

—Jorge Rivera, CEO and Chairman, S23 Holdings “Virginia’s strong pipeline of information technology talent for both the commercial and government sectors make it an ideal place for us to have our headquarters and continue to grow.” —Ted Hanson, CEO and President, ASGN “We selected the Commonwealth for its workforce culture and regulatory climate…Virginia policy enables us to test our vehicles on public roads, which is critical to bringing this technology to market.” — Michael Fleming. CEO, Torc Robotics

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Washington

ELEVATING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE EVERGREEN STATE

“The diversity of Washington’s economy and cross-collaboration among key growth sectors are tremendous strengths rarely matched in any other state, or most global centers of business innovation.

Nowhere in the world can you find such amazing clusters of historical excellence and iconic organizations in such close proximity—Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, T-Mobile, The Gates Foundation, Allen Institute, to name just a few and more coming in all the time.” —Gov. Jay Inslee

While the Evergreen State’s unemployment rate nearly tripled at the start of the pandemic, that tide is starting to reverse. Several major companies, including Amazon, Violet Power and Vigor Industrial announced large projects, adding thousands more jobs to the state. Gov. Jay Inslee also announced in October 2020 the creation of the Washington Recovery Group, which will help spur economy recovery through social services, education, childcare, jobs and social justice.

KEY INCENTIVES B&O Credits: Offers tax credits of up to $4,000 per position for jobs in rural counties that pay wages of $40,000.

Committed Private Partner Program (CERB): Offers grants of up to $150,000 and loans of up to $2 million for the construction of public infrastructure to support business expansion.

Reduced B&O Rate for Aerospace Business: Offers a reduction in B&O tax liability for manufacturers and processors for hire in the aerospace sector.

#19 on the Tax

B&O Tax Credit for Washington Customized Training Program: Offers a tax credit of up to 50% of the full cost of a training program with up to $500,000 in training allowances per year.

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

EDCs

EDUCATION

Washington State Department of Commerce choosewashingtonstate.com

TAXES No corporate income tax

87% of students

graduated high school in 2018

35.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE

#1

POPULATION GROWTH

13.2% increase between 2010 and 2019

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Seattle Office of Economic Development seattle.ecdev.org Thurston Economic Development Council thurstonedc.com Advantage Spokane advantagespokane.com Make it Tacoma makeittacoma.com

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE Supporting Washington’s commitment to deep decarbonization, innovation and workforce development, Maritime Blue brings together stakeholders to forge a collaborative strategy to create the most sustainable maritime industry in the United States by 2050.

BIG DEALS • Industrial shipbuilder Vigor Industrial announced in February 2019 it will build a new landing craft for the U.S. Army. The 10-year, $1 billion project will create up to 300 jobs in Vancouver.

• Lyell Immunopharma announced in August 2020 it will construct a $50 million manufacturing facility and create 100 jobs north of Seattle.

• Amazon announced in September 2020 it will hire 10,000 employees in Bellevue over the next few years, on top of the 15,000 other jobs it is already creating in the state.

• Solar tech startup Violet Power announced in September 2020 it will build a solar panel factor and create 1,000 new jobs in Moses Lake.

BIG COMPANIES Eleven Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Amazon Costco Microsoft Starbucks PACCAR Nordstrom Expedia Alaska Air Group Expeditors International Fortive Weyerhaeuser

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Violet Power is poised to re-establish world-class solar manufacturing leadership here in the United States where the technology was first born…We are deeply grateful to the state of Washington and the U.S. Department of Commerce for their leadership, support and focus on American manufacturing, which was critical in making Moses Lake the ideal location for our home.”

—Desari Strader, President and Founder, Violet Power “As a Washington company, LAVLE looks forward to expanding its operations in Skagit County. Our new fabrication facility is an important step towards commercialization and deployment of LAVLE’s SEB energy storage system. We are excited to be developing our technology solutions and building these products right here in Washington.” —Jason Nye, CEO, LAVLE

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

West Virginia MAKING NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MOUNTAIN STATE

“[Virgin Hyperloop] is such a big, big thing. It is truly cutting-edge technology. It is truly about way more than just West Virginia or our nation. It is about transforming transportation. It is an idea, it is America at its best for the entire world. So, I can’t possibly be more proud. And if any of you are wondering, 'West Virginia? How could it be West Virginia?' I would tell you this, if you don’t know West Virginia, West Virginia is changing, and West Virginia is on the move.” —Gov. Jim Justice

TAXES

6.5% top corporate

After years of trying to escape its economic dependence on the coal industry, the Mountain State is turning a big corner to new opportunities. Aerospace is now one of the fastest-growing industries in the state, with new investments by companies like Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Mitsubishi.

Another potential game-changer happened in October 2020 when Virgin Hyperloop announced it would locate its certification facility in Tucker County.

KEY INCENTIVES West Virginia Economic Development Authority Direct Loan Program: Offers financial assistance in the form of loans, direct financing and operating leases to industrial development agencies and enterprises.

Special Property Valuation: Reduces property taxes by up to 95% for certain sectors, including chemicals, polymer metals, data centers and aviation.

Manufacturing Investment Credit: Offers a tax credit of up to 60% of the corporate net income tax base on qualified investments in an eligible manufacturing facility.

#23 on the Tax

Governor’s Guaranteed Work Force Program: Offers up to $2,000 per employee for companies for training and technical assistance to perform training strategies.

EDUCATION

West Virginia Development Office westvirginia.gov

income tax rate

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking

90% of students

graduated high school in 2018

20.3% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

6.4%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes

EDCs

Charleston Area Alliance charlestonareaalliance.org Huntington Area Development Council hadco.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE The new Apprenticeship in Motion program promotes and expands registered, nontraditional apprenticeship activity by identifying, standardizing and developing courses needed.

BIG DEALS • Software company Sparksoft marked the opening of its new facility in Fairmont in October 2019.

• The Clorox Company announced in June 2020 a $190 million manufacturing plant and 100 new jobs in Berkeley County.

• Amsted Industries became in June 2020 the majority owners of Advanced Graphite Materials in Clarksburg and announced an expansion of production at the site.

• West Virginia Methanol announced in October 2020 a $350 million methanol production plant and 30 new jobs in Pleasants County.

• Virgin Hyperloop announced in October 2020 it would build its $500 million Virgin Hyperloop Certification Center and create 200 engineering jobs in Tucker County.

• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced in October 2020 it will create more than 200 jobs at its facility in Bridgeport.

BIG COMPANIES Hino Motors Manufacturing Proctor & Gamble Toyota Mylan Pharmaceuticals Murray American Energy Amazon TTEC ResCare

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “Today is one of the most exciting days in Virgin Hyperloop's history. The Hyperloop Certification Center is the start of the hyperloop journey for West Virginia, for the United States and for the world. We’re one step closer to making hyperloop travel a reality for people everywhere.” —Richard Branson, Founder, The Virgin Group “We are delighted to be part of AGM’s West Virginia success story and the role it will play in building a domestic supply chain for this important material used to support our national economic security.” —Steve Smith, Chairman and CEO, Amsted Industries

QUALITY OF LIFE

#47

POPULATION GROWTH

3.3% decrease between 2010 and 2019

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Wisconsin

BETTING ON NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN THE BADGER STATE

“I believe, as I’ve often said, that there’s more to an economy than just counting job creation. Ask job creators across our state, and they’ll tell you that investing in the foundation of a good quality of life and a diverse workforce is critical to a growing economy. We have to connect the dots and focus on the fundamentals of economic development.” —Gov. Tony Evers

TAXES

7.9% top corporate income tax rate

#26 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

90% of students

graduated high school in 2018

The Badger State is capitalizing on its culture of innovation to support new industries in response to the pandemic. Exact Sciences, a cancer diagnostics company based in Dane County, collaborated with the state in March to produce Covid-19 tests and in August it was granted approval from the FDA for home collection kits.

The paper industry, which contributes $18.2 billion to the state economy has also shifted to producing masks, while breweries and other companies started making sanitizer. Kroger, Matalco and Nouryon Pulp and Performance Chemicals also announced new expansions in the past year.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.7%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#11

POPULATION GROWTH

2.4% increase between 2010 and 2019

62 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

• Kroger announced a $67 million customer fulfillment center and up to 400 new jobs in Pleasant Prairie.

• Badger Solutions announced a $49 million facility and 88 new jobs in Sturtevant.

• Matalco announced a $70 million manufacturing operation and 80 new jobs in Wisconsin Rapids.

• Salm Partners announced a $38 million facility and 55 new full-time jobs in Denmark.

KEY INCENTIVES

BIG COMPANIES

Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit: Offers a tax credit of 7.5% of income from qualified production activities for manufacturing and agricultural companies.

Nine Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state:

Enterprise Zone Program: Offers a refundable tax credit to help companies reduce state income tax liability and enhance cash flow.

Qualified New Business Venture Program: Offers a tax credit of up to 25% of the value of the investment for investors who make cash equity payments in a qualified early-stage business.

Community Development Programs: Wisconsin’s Brownfields Grant Program, Idle Sites Redevelopment Program, Site Assessment Grant Program and Community Development Investment Grant Program combine to help companies and communities revitalize underused commercial properties.

29.5% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher

BIG DEALS • Nouryon Pulp and Performance Chemicals announced in December 2019 a $99 million expansion and 56 new jobs in Howard.

EDCs Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation wedc.org Madison Region Economic Partnership madisonregion.org Milwaukee 7 mke7.com Greater Green Bay Chamber greatergbc.org

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation submitted to the Wisconsin State Legislature the “Wisconsin Tomorrow— An Economy for All” report. It lays out a comprehensive plan to get the state economy back on track by focusing on the three key areas of: getting people back to work, fixing broadband and supporting innovation.

Johnson Controls Manpower Kohl’s Oshkosh American Family Insurance Harley-Davidson Rockwell Automation Manitowoc Fiserv Northwestern Mutual

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “We are extremely grateful for the support of WEDC and the State of Wisconsin. These strategic investments not only create 27 new positions, but also preserve the jobs of our existing workforce of well over 300 hardworking employees. Our vision is to transform the Biron division into a world-class facility that is sustainable for the next 100 years.” —Ken Liu, Deputy Chairman and CEO, ND Paper Group “Through our expansion, we are thrilled to partner with the state to bring more high-tech jobs to the highly skilled people of Wisconsin and help make better treatments to positively impact patients around the world.”—Graham Brearley, General Manager, Catalent Biologics

A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Wyoming “Restarting our economy is not a race to be won but a cooperative effort.

Our approach has created a model for success that can be applied throughout the country.”

—Gov. Mark Gordon

FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE COWBOYS

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE

The Cowboy State may be noted for its natural wonders, but its fiscal responsibility is also attracting businesses and residents. Gov. Mark Gordon was one of four governors who received a “A” rating from the Cato Institute for his fiscal responsibility. The report used statistical data on tax and spending records to determine which ones were cutting taxes and spending the most. Cato noted that even before the nationwide recession, Gordon began trimming state spending as revenues from the energy department fell. Cato notes it is all helping to build Wyoming’s economy by attracting people and businesses as a haven free from income taxation.

The Wyoming Business Council, Wyoming Department of Workforce Services and the Wyoming Office of Tourism collaborated on a remote/gig worker and business recruitment campaign that launched in October 2020. #WYrelocate promotes the state’s open spaces, abundant recreational opportunities and business-friendly environment to those seeking a sense of security and adventure in a rapidly changing world.

KEY INCENTIVES TAXES No corporate income tax

#1 on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION 82% of students graduated high school in 2018

26.9% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.5%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE Yes QUALITY OF LIFE

#31

No Taxes: No corporate or personal income tax. No inventory, franchise, occupation or value-added taxes.

Business Ready Community Infrastructure Program: Offers financing of up to $3 million in grants or low-interest loans for publicly owned infrastructure that serves the needs of business and promote economic development.

Workforce Development Training Fund: Offers grants up to $4,000 per trainee per fiscal year to upgrade skills, train for new positions or provide industry-specific training programs.

Data Center Incentives: Offers cost reduction grants of up to $2.25 million to reimburse utility expenses for up to three years. Data centers are also exempt from Industrial Siting Permit, which can represent savings of $500,000 and 18 months off new projects.

Cryptocurrencies: Legislation passed in 2018 created a financial “sandbox” by allowing companies to apply for a two-year exemption from certain state statutes.

EDCs

POPULATION GROWTH

Wyoming Business Council wyomingbusiness.org

2010 and 2019

Cheyenne LEADS cheyenneleads.org

2.7% increase between

Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce cheyennechamber.org Advance Casper advancecasper.com

BIG DEALS • Kennon Products broke ground in April 2020 a corporate and manufacturing building in the Sheridan Hi-Tech Business Park.

• Tool and dice company TBC Manufacturing broke ground in June 2020 on a facility in Cheyenne to relocate its headquarters and operations from Colorado.

• Wyoming Division of Banking approved in September 2020 Kraken’s application to create the world’s first Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI).

• Multinational rubber dipping factory USA announced it is relocating from Oregon to Evanston and will hire 100 workers over the next five years.

• Yeezy, Kanye West’s clothing line, is expanding manufacturing in Cody.

BIG COMPANIES J.R. Simplot Rocky Mountain Power

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “As owners, we appreciate the independent, friendly, family-oriented culture we’ve experienced in Cheyenne, for both ourselves and for future generations of our family and our employees.” —Jeff and Karri Siebert, Owners, TBC Manufacturing “Here in Sheridan, it’s almost like Pleasantville. We at Kennon were able to continue to operate (during the Covid-19 pandemic) because our community took it seriously and we’re rural by nature…It’s not a stretch to think that the Covid-19 shutdowns and upheaval may cause people and businesses to start seriously thinking about the value of Wyoming’s open spaces.”

—Joe Wright, CEO, Kennon Products

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A CEO’S GUIDE TO SITE SELEC TION

Washington, D.C. “We are all in this together, we will get through it together, and when we get to the other side, we will recover. Starting now, this team will ensure that we are pursuing every local and federal program, leveraging data and resources and engaging with our business community to recover and bring prosperity back to our residents and businesses.”

—Mayor Muriel Bowser

TAXES

8.25% top corporate income tax rate

#47 on the Tax

Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index ranking EDUCATION

BUILDING THE CAPITAL

BIG DEALS

An October 2020 report by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce revealed the region has taken a significant hit from the pandemic, with 80 percent of businesses in the region saying they were negatively impacted. Yet, the region still has much going for it as a thriving tech hub.

Several projects have been announced since the start of the pandemic, including a Microsoft R&D hub in Fairfax County that is expected to create 1,500 jobs.

• Software firm Macedon Technologies announced in January 2020 an expansion of its corporate headquarters and 147 new jobs in Fairfax County.

KEY INCENTIVES Qualified High-Tech Companies (QHTC): Offers tax credits to high-tech companies for training and wages paid to disadvantaged employees. Also offers sales and use tax exemptions and a reduced corporate franchise tax rate.

Creative and Open Space Modernization Grant (DC): Offers a tax rebate of up to the lesser of 10% of the total value of qualified improvements or $1 million for QHTCs that renovate or improve their offices.

Business/Professional/Occupational Licenses (BPOL) Tax Exemption (Fairfax County, Virginia): Offers exclusions and adjustments to BPOL taxes for software development companies and government computer hardware and software sellers.

Virginia Jobs Investment Program: Offers variable incentives for job creation for manufacturers, distribution centers, headquarters, inbound call centers, business IT and R&D.

69% of students

graduated high school in 2018

57.6% of adults age 25

and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

8.2%

RIGHT TO WORK STATE No QUALITY OF LIFE N/A POPULATION GROWTH

17.3% increase between 2010 and 2019

64 2021 CEO GUIDE TO SITE SELECTION

EDCs Washington D.C. Economic Partnership wdcep.com D.C. Economic Strategy dceconomicstrategy.com Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development dmped.dc.gov

HIGHLIGHTED PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE It remains to be seen how the pandemic will impact the plans, but the city released the D.C. Economic Strategy in 2017 as a roadmap for how it will grow its economy and ensure all Washingtonians have an opportunity in it. Mayor Bowser’s vision is to use it to guide the district to become a global model for inclusive prosperity and resilience, showcasing how diversity and innovation can drive economic growth.

• Microsoft announced in May 2020 a $64 million software development and R&D hub in Fairfax County that will create 1,500 new jobs.

• Global law firm King & Spalding announced in June 2020 it would locate a new worldwide office in Tysons.

BIG COMPANIES Four Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the district: Fannie Mae Danaher Carlyle Group FTI Consulting

C-SUITE TESTIMONIALS “After extensive evaluation of several locations across the United States, Macedon decided that Virginia is the optimal location for our expansion for many reasons.

The high quality of living in Northern Virginia and its proximity to Washington, D.C. helps us to attract and retain top talent. Reston has excellent public transportation, including metro and two nearby major airports.

As a consulting company, easy access to airports is a must. Reston is also rapidly expanding, providing ample housing options for our staff. Another important reason is that we can tap into a great local talent pool from several renowned Virginia universities.”

—Austin Rosenfeld, Founder and CEO, Macedon Technologies

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