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Record-setting investments and trillions in projected economic impact have placed AI on virtually every company’s agenda. Firms need speed for competitive advantage, but their futures are also determined by how confidently they can foster the adoption, experimentation, and scaling of AI.Industry forecasts suggest most companies will be AI-driven either directly...Continue Reading

Three months ago, a Series B SaaS founder told me his organic traffic was down 40% year-over-year, but he couldn’t figure out why. His content was performing well. His domain authority hadn’t changed. His rankings were stable. Everything looked fine in Google Search Console.Then we looked at what was actually...Continue Reading

In today’s rapidly evolving world, commercial buildings play a pivotal role in our daily lives and the broader economy. From hotels, shops, supermarkets and even financial hubs and office blocks, these buildings are not just places where business transactions occur; they are environments that shape the experiences, productivity, and wellbeing...Continue Reading

It’s official — manufacturing projects are the hottest ticket in town. Manufacturing projects are among the most competitive investments in today’s site selection landscape. For companies evaluating expansion or relocation, a single manufacturing facility can represent a multiyear commitment of capital, labor and operational risk. Construction costs, supplier contracts, salaries...Continue Reading

You're in a meeting about childcare.Not business attraction, not incentives, not site selection. Childcare. Three employers told you the same thing last quarter: they can't fill the second shift because parents can't find care after 6:00 p.m. So now you're at a table with the United Way, a hospital HR...Continue Reading

As CEO of OpenAI, the 40-year-old billionaire unleashed ChatGPT, mainstreaming artificial intelligence and creating a $500 billion behemoth. As a new father—with another baby on the way—he’s building the world his kids will live in one day.Sam Altman says the stick of uranium in his office is nothing to worry...Continue Reading

The data center conversation heading into 2026 looks familiar on the surface, and yet, things are very different underneath. It’s true that demand is still overwhelming supply. Capital is still available. Everyone still wants to talk about AI. What’s changed is where projects break, how long they take, and which...Continue Reading

For years, “industries of the future” was a phrase that lived comfortably in pitch decks and conference panels. Today, it is showing up in real site searches, real capital stacks, and real pressure on communities to deliver something beyond incentives. What has changed is not just technology, but the alignment...Continue Reading

For site selectors, that means the South.If you think sunshine made John Denver happy, just wait until you see what national site selection consultants had to say in the 2026 Site Selectors Survey.When legendary folk singer Denver wrote the classic song “Sunshine On My Shoulders” in 1971, he said he...Continue Reading

Refreshed report card gives North Carolina outstanding marks.If you’re ready to graduate your company’s operations to the next level on a foundation of skills and talent, North Carolina is a good place to enroll.So say the results of Site Selection’s 2026 Workforce Development Rankings, based on an updated index of...Continue Reading

Most entrepreneurs assume the podcasts that make them better are the ones in which founders talk about scaling, fundraising, leadership or strategy.That assumption is wrong.The podcasts quietly shaping the best entrepreneurs today do not focus on business tactics. They focus on biology, decision making, stress, sleep, longevity and cognitive performance...Continue Reading

We’ve opened legislative documents. We’ve scrolled through pages of gubernatorial newsrooms. We’ve searched summaries of legislative sessions in capital cities from Bismarck to Tallahassee, all in order to present Site Selection’s annual State of the States report.This report was compiled, edited and designed by Mark Arend, Kelly Barraza, Adam Bruns,...Continue Reading

Your economic development website is more than a brochure — it’s your digital front door for site selectors, corporate location advisors, and potential investors. When consultants evaluate communities, the first impression often comes from your online presence. A strong digital marketing strategy for economic development begins with a website that...Continue Reading

With a global network of nearly 500 facilities and more being added all the time, Lineage, Inc., knows where to place new links in the cold chain.In September 2025 the team at public radio program Planet Money reported a story called “How Refrigeration Took Over the World” that documented the...Continue Reading

At the start of 2025, the mood around industrial investment was unmistakably confident. Capital was available. Incentives were abundant. Projects were being announced across nearly every sector of the economy. On paper, companies appeared to have more location options than ever.By the end of the year, that sense of abundance...Continue Reading

For much of the past decade, defense, aerospace, and maritime manufacturing were discussed as strategic priorities more often than they were treated as operational ones. In 2025, that changed.Federal funding accelerated. Reshoring efforts gained urgency. Supply-chain security moved from talking point to mandate. Across the country, communities competed to position...Continue Reading

Glance at the energy news these days and there’s no getting around the fact that the U.S. is going all in in another nuclear energy wave. The federal government has also swung back from renewables, backing other routes to energy diversification.On December 1, the Trump administration and U.S. Department of...Continue Reading

Business Facilities is pleased to announce its 2025 Deal of the Year Award winners — corporate relocation and expansion investment projects that will have a significant positive impact on the economic development of a community. Each year, the entries for Business Facilities’ Deal of the Year Awards reflect developments and...Continue Reading

In 2025, data centers ran into the same reality confronting manufacturers, defense contractors, and logistics operators: infrastructure that could no longer stretch to meet ambition.What made data centers different was not the presence of constraint, but the speed at which it arrived — and the scale at which it reshaped...Continue Reading

Recent data from the Latino Donor Collaborative shows that nearly 80% of Gen Z Latinas strongly identify with their heritage, and they expect the businesses they support to reflect that same cultural fluency. For a rising wave of Latina women founders, this isn’t just a consumer shift. It’s confirmation that...Continue Reading

The warning signs are everywhere. Ford CEO Jim Farley, recently said the company can’t fill five thousand mechanic jobs even at $120,000 per year.“A bay with a lift and tools and no one to work in it — are you kidding me?” he said.The automotive giant’s struggle is a snapshot...Continue Reading

Each year, Area Development partners with Chmura Economics & Analytics to evaluate the performance of U.S. metropolitan areas based on the fundamentals that matter most to business expansion: workforce, economic strength, and adaptability. Using Chmura’s data-driven model — which equally weights Prime Workforce and Economic Strength — the Leading Metro...Continue Reading

Geopolitics today are fast-changing and affecting development everywhere. I addressed some of these impacts in a recent webinar for Golden Shovel Agency, and the high number of questions from participants showed just how engaged developers are right now. Since I was not able to get to all of the questions,...Continue Reading

From cultivation to final processing, the U.S. food industry is seeing a wave of new technologies that are revolutionizing the way in which products are grown, sourced, and distributed.The driving force of those technologies is the application of artificial intelligence to every phase of food production from ʽfarm to fork.ʼMuch...Continue Reading