The Project: Inside Corporate Location Decisions

Shindigz, one of the largest dealers of party supplies in the U.S., has been based in South Whitley in Northern Indiana for 92 years. With a growing need to hire creative and digital talent, the company considered moving its headquarters and manufacturing operations out of state to Austin, Texas or the Research Triangle in North Carolina. Ultimately, Shindigz was convinced that the talent they needed was right there in Indiana, and opted to move its headquarters to downtown Fort Wayne, keeping its manufacturing operations in South Whitley. To get to the bottom of the decision, we spoke with Shep Moyle, Chairman and Co-owner of Shindigz, and John Urbahns, Executive Vice President of Economic Development at Greater Fort Wayne Inc.

For this special episode, we brought together two leading thought leaders in the economic development space and put them on the phone together with "The Project" host Andy Levine in the middle. Greg LeRoy is the Executive Director/Founder of Good Jobs First. And Ron Kitchens is the CEO of Southwest Michigan First. And they both have strong opinions on the use of economic incentives past, present and future. Looking forward, we examined the question of "What role will incentives play in America's future?" The format involved a three-minute opening statement from Ron and Greg. This was followed with twenty minutes of discussion where we found our two participants often in agreement. And then each speaker had time for a one minute summary. Special thanks to Greg and Ron for their preparation and intelligent thinking/predictions on the direction which economic incentives will take in the years ahead.

This week, we bring you the story of biotech giant Amgen and their decision to establish a shared service in Tampa, Florida. To gain insight into how this world-class company makes and implements site selection decisions, we spoke with Michael Frankel, Amgen's Executive Director and Head of Global Business Services in Tampa. For the economic development perspective, we talked to Bea Bare, Senior Business Development Executive at the Tampa Hillsborough  Economic Development Corporation.

Last month, the Dallas-based Site Selector Group came out with a new report that really caught our eyes here at DCI. The report was titled "Megasite Selection Deals Winning Big Incentive Packages and Tightening Labor Markets Across the United States."  The report looked at 35 major projects – a mix of new location and expansions – that have taken place in recent years. These projects involved big job numbers (generally 1,000 or more new positions) and well-known companies (Facebook, State Farm, USAA, Adobe Systems, Apple, Liberty Mutual and Salesforce). We wanted to know more about the report so we invited the Site Selection Group's Executive Vice President Brett Bayduss to sit down with us in our New York City offices. 

This week we bring you the story of DXC Technology, one of the world's largest technology companies, which announced plans in November 2017 to open a Digital Transformation Center in New Orleans. It was reported that New Orleans beat out 30 other communities to win this latest project, which involves bringing 2,000 jobs to the city over the next six years. Key to the decision was collaboration with local higher education institutions, in particular an innovative apprenticeship program piloted by GE and the University of New Orleans. To get the full story, we talk to Terrell Boynton, Director & General Manager of the New Orleans Digital Transformation Center at DXC Technology, and Michael Hecht, President and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.

Imagine never having to file an expense report again. Sounds pretty good, right? This and other workplace efficiencies are the mission of LiveTiles, a fast-growth Australian company specialized in integrating automation technology and user experience to make companies and their employees more productive.

LiveTiles announced plans in May 2018 to open an Intelligent User Experience Hub – or IUX Hub – in Downtown Rochester New York, creating at least 500 new jobs. Rochester beat out locations in the Carolinas and others on the East Coast for the project. To get the full story, we talk to Dan Diefendorf, SVP of Americas at LiveTiles, and Matt Hurlbutt, President and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise.

According to Brookings Institution research, there are approximately 700 business incubators or accelerators in the United States. Accelerators and incubators offer entrepreneurs good opportunities early on. Company founders get help to quickly grow their business and they often better their chances of attracting a top venture capital firm to invest in their startup at a later point. Today's episode focuses on a company called Ceres Nanosciences which evolved out of George Mason University campus in Manassas, Virginia. In 2014, they were the first company to sign-on with the newly-created Prince William Science Accelerator. Four year later they have grown dramatically and they are the first company to graduate from the facility. We interview two key players in this episode. Ross Dunlap is a founding member and the CEO of Ceres Nanosciences. Jeff Kaczmarek is the Executive Director of the Prince William County Department of Economic Development which manages the Accelerator.

Jackson Healthcare, one of the nation's largest healthcare staffing firms, recently broke ground on a $100 million expansion for its corporate headquarters that will accommodate 1,400 new associates. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, the company frequently tops the list of "best places to work" in the Atlanta region. 

The new expansion adds an 267,000 square-foot headquarters building to its campus in Italian Renaissance-inspired architecture. But the most interesting aspect of the expansion is a 36,000 square foot "amenities building" that is modeled after the Roman Colosseum. 

We interview two key players in this episode. Leslie Day-Harrell is a Senior Vice President of Corporate Real Estate who has been with Jackson Healthcare since 2007. Peter Tokar is the Economic Development Director for Alpharetta, Georgia, a community that markets itself as the "Technology City of the South." 

Back in 2012, Larry Morrissey, the now-retired Mayor of Rockford, Illinois and Gary Gorman, Chairman of the development company, Gorman and Company, sat at a hotel bar in Shanghai, China over a glass of scotch. It was the beginning of a six-year project that is that has led to the construction of a $87.5 million Embassy Suites Hotel and conference center in downtown Rockford, Illinois. 

Now this is not any simple hotel. This is the renovation of a hulking, 13-story manufacturing plant that was formerly owned by a company called Amerock. It has been empty for 25-plus years and has served as a massive eyesore in Downtown, Rockford. 

It's been a long road with lots of detours and barriers. But after years of political battles (including a 7 to 6 City Council vote to approve the project) and financial challenges (the project has $30 million in EB-5 funding from international investors), the transformational project is now under construction.