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Site Selection Magazine_Dubuque Business Growth and Expansion ProjectsPage 1 of 1 Kevin Firnstahl - Site Selection Magazine NZLIMMEMMI From: "Rick Dickinson" <rickd@greaterdubuque.org> To: "Karen Kluesner" <KarenK@greaterdubuque.org> Date: 3/7/2014 1:22 PM Subject: Site Selection Magazine Great news, Dubuque has been recognized by the nation's leading publication for site -location and corporate real estate professionals, Site Selection Magazine, for business growth and expansion. Dubuque tied with two other communities for first place in the Top Metro ranking for cities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000. To develop the rankings, Site Selection Magazine (in conjunction with Conway Data, Inc.) measured the number of expansion projects for the 2013 calendar year. The magazine's analysis and subsequent rankings included those projects with at least $1M in capital investment; 50 new jobs; and/or at least 20,000 sf of new construction. In all, the Dubuque metro area was credited with fourteen projects within the criteria. In the publications, Dubuque's diverse projects, ranging from Hormel Foods to Bodine Electric, were featured. Hormel Foods represented the area's largest project in 2013 with their $36 Million capital investment in the community which will bring two new product lines to the Progressive Processing facility. To read the article on Dubuque, click here. If you would like to read the article in its entirety, click here. Rick Dickinson, President & CEO Greater Dubuque Development Corporation Schmid Innovation Center 900 Jackson St., Suite 109 Dubuque, Iowa 52001 563-557-9049 (phone) 563-580-0267 (cell) rickd@greaterdubuque.org www.greaterdubuque.org file :///C :/Users/kfimstalAppData/Local/Temp/XPgrpwise/5 31 EDF 6BDBQ_... 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online SATE SELECTION THE MAGAZINE OF CORPORATE REAL ESTATE STRATEGY & AREA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Vikb Exclusives Site Selection magazine Directories & Tools Red Hot Locations The Pont Group Page 1 of 8 Correct with us: ©®O About Us Main Story TOP METRES GF 2013 From Ste Selection magazine, March 2044 P`r...4n..4 hlr.r. Ln 4 ..- 1 SI-GintilnEMIrtiL s The Connected City From digital startups to behemoths of industry, Chicago fosters corporate facility growth better than any other metro area in the U.S. The Chicago metropolitan area registered 373 corporate facility investment deals in 2013, more than any other metro area in the U.S. Photo bl Patrick L Fyszka courtesy of Worki Business Chicago by RON STARNER ron.starner@siteselection.com Legendary Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks earned much admiration by saying, "It's a great day for aball game. Let's play two!" Banks' pure love of the game manifested itself in everything he did. He didn't considerbaseball to be work. He considered it life. The same could be said for Chicago. The metropolitan area of 9.56 million people may go by alot of nicknames — Chicagoland, the Windy City, Second City, Chi -Town, City ofthe Big Shoulders —but one thing virtually everyone agrees upon is that Chicago is a city that's alive. From diehard Cubs fans who have waited 106 years since the team last celebrated a World Series championship, to athriving business community that produces ahigh-tech startup every 24 hours, Chicago breathes with an energy that is unique to the Midwest capital on the banks of Lake Michigan. Related Articles CREATIVE & DIGITAL MEDIA: Let It Be (Jan 30, 2014) MIDWEST: A Tale of Two Locations (Jan 30, 2014) ILLINOIS: Feedback Loop (Mar 28, 2013) TOP METROS: 'Houston, We Have a Winner' (Ma 4, 2013) UPPER MIDWEST: Moving Through the Midwest (Oct 4, 2012) INVESTKL: A Capital City for Capital Investment (May 9, 2012) REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS: Divisional Headquarters' Rde Gans Focus (Mar 29, 2012) TOP METROS OF 2011: The Fast Track To No. 1 (Mar 1, 2012) Most Popular Articles TOP METROS OF 2013: The Connected Gty (Mar 3, 2014) TOP MICROS: The Ladder Effect (Mar 3, 2014) COVER STORY: Double Take (Ma 3, 2014) ENERGY MATTERS: News about a USGBC official getting snarky with a minor-league rival to LEED, and more! (Feb 7, 2014) http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Whether it's Mike Ditka staring down opponents with his resolute scowl on the sidelines of Bears' games in the 1980s, or Gogo setting up its in-flight Internet service headquarters in new digs downtown, Chicago is altisaiss m the move and being talked about. Add Site Selection to the growing list of media talking about Chicago. By securing more corporate facility investment projects than any other metro area in the U.S. last year, Chicago took home the trophy as the Top Metro in .America With 373 facility deals, Illinois' largest city easily outdistanced its closest competition — second -place Houston with 255 projects and third-place Dallas -Fort Worth with 178. Atlanta (164) and Detroit (129) rounded out the top five. Jeff Malehom, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, says it is easy to see why the Second City perennially finishes first in Site Selection's facilities race. Chicago connects people, he says. "Four primary factors explain Chicago's success, and they all deal with connectivity," Malehorn says. "We have a highly engaged business community, a very pro-business mayor, unmatched access to domestic and global markets, and an incredible talentpool." Malehom notes that "there is an expectation that when you are aleader in Chicago, you will select a community cause and back it. This is apurpose-driven business community. Secondly, we have avery pro-business mayor in Rahm Emanuel. He makes sure that Chicago is awelcoming city. He calls CEOs regularly and invites them to come here. He has been instrumental in helping us with our sales and opening the doors of CEOs. He is well connected globally. He recently signed a gateway agreement with eight Chinese cities." Dual Hubs Give Global Access Thirdly, says Malehom, "O'Hare is now the most connected airport in the country. Our continued investment in O'Hare — over $6 billion in improvements — makes Chicago one of the most connected cities on the planet. Our dual airport system really helps too, with both O'Hare and Midway airports. We benefit from being the dual hubs of United and American. Additional routes open up here constantly." The fourth and perhaps greatest edge Chicago has, adds Malehorn, is its talent. "We continue to have 140,000 -plus new college graduates each year. Itis an incredible talent pool. We have the University of Chicago, Northwestern, University of Illinois -Chicago, DePaul, Loyola and our community college system. Corporations around Chicago are adopting our community college system, which is training workers in awide variety of disciplines. And then there is our continued investment in K -12 education. We now have dedicated STEM [science, technology, engineering and 2013 Top Metros Projects by Regions 1+� NORTHEAST Metro 1 Philadelphia-Camden•Wilmington 2 New York -Newark -Jersey City 3 Pittsburgh T4 Allentown -Bethlehem -Easton T4 Boston -Cambridge -Newton EAST NORTH CENTRAL 1 Chicago -Naperville -Elgin 2 Detroit -Warren -Dearborn 3 Cincinnati 4 Columbus 5 Cleveland•Elyria WEST NORTH CENTRAL 1 Kansas City 2 St. Louis 3 Omaha -Council Bluffs 4 Minneapolis -St. Paul -Bloomington 5 Des Moines -West Des Moines SOUTH ATLANTIC 1 Atlanta -Sandy Springs -Roswell 2 Washington -Arlington -Alexandria 3 Charlotte -Concord -Gastonia 4 Baltimore -Columbia -Towson 5 Miami -Fort Lauderdale•West Palm Beach SOUTH CENTRAL 1 Houston The Woodlands -Sugar Land 2 NIV 3 Dallas -Fort Worth -Arington Nashville• Davidson •Murfreesboro• Franklin 4 Louisville/Jefferson County 5 Baton Rouge • ' TAIN 1 Phoenix -Mesa -Scottsdale 2 Las Vegas-Henderscn-Paradise 3 Salt Lake City 4 Denver -Aurora -Lakewood 5 Reno State Count Pa.-N.J.dlel.-61d. 97 N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. 91 Pa. 65 Pa.-N.J. 46 Mass.-N.H. 46 111: Ind: Wis 373 Mich. 129 Ohio-Ky.-Ind. 124 Ohio 102 Ohio 40 Mo. -Kan. 111 Mo. -III. 51 Neb:lowa 50 Minn.•Wis. 39 Iowa 31 Ga. 164 D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V. 83 N.C.-S.C. 45 Md. 43 Fla. 40 Texas 255 Texas 178 Tenn. 62 Ky.-Ind. 47 La. 46 Ariz. 54 Nev. 34 Utah 28 Colo. 27 Nev. 19 Page 2 of 8 WHAT DO FOREIGN COMPANIES KNOW THAT U.S. COMPANIES DON'T?: Lots of states have foreign-owned companies to thank for healthy capital investment flows and new jobs in 2012. (Nov 1, 2013) ARIZONA: Strategy Shift (Sep 30, 2010) THE RURAL ADVANTAGE: Middle of Somewhere (Sep 13, 2012) TAXATION: Re-evaluating Value (Feb 28, 2014) http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Page 3 of 8 math] high schools in Chicago." Combined, these factors make a compelling case for Greater Chicago as abusiness location, Malehorn says. "We are also the most diverse U.S. city by industry. No one industry takes up more than 13 percent of our workforce. We benefit from that diversity." t 1 2 3 . 4 . 5 PACIFIC San Francisco-Oaklaad-Hayward San Jose-SunnyvaleSanta Clara Seattle-Tacoma•Bellevue Riverside -San Bernardino•Ontario Porttond-Voncouvor-Hillsboro Calif. Calif. Wash. Calif. Ore. -Wash. 27 21 18 14 12 Source: Conway Data, InC:J New Plant Database A case in point is Chicago's emergence as a data center hub for the Midwest. Last year, the Chicago area won significant data center facility investments from Equinix, Latisys and others, as well as significant ITinfrastructure investments from Goo gle, Gogo, Groupon, Paylocity and Huron Consulting. And in February, Hyatt Hotels moved 60 IT jobs downtown from the suburbs. "We have basically two major locations in Chicago — one downtown and another one in Elk Grove Village near O'Hare," says Howard Horowitz, senior vice president of global real estate for Equinix, the world's largest data center colocation facility provider. "We have done several phases of buildout of 275,000 sq. ft. [25,547 sq. m.] over time. To date, we have invested over $200 million in the Elk Grove Village project. We have incrementally increased our presence in downtown Chicago, and we are currently involved in aproj ect for anew build in the McCormick Place area" Equinix opened its first Chicago data center in 2000. "Chicago is certainly one of our major markets in the US, especially with the focus on the financial customers that we have," Horowitz says. "Corporate headquarters are there for many firms. Geographic reach is there. If you want a Midwest location, Chicago is the first place you look." Physical telecommunications infrastructure gives Chicago a leg up on its competition, notes Horowitz. "Latency in the Chicago area is a factor. Itis critical for some companies like those in the financial industry," he adds. "Oftentimes, it is the most important issue for them. Latency is incredibly important for trading companies. Speed of execution oftrades is crucial for them" Pete Stevenson, CEO of Latisys, says that "we have been investing in Chicago since late 2008. We just announced a 3.5 -megawatt, 25,000 -sq. -ft. [2,322 -sq. -m.] data center expansion in Chicago." The buildout of the existing 148,000 -sq. -ft. (13,750 -sq. -m.) facility adds 3.5 megawatts ofretail colocation space, says Stevenson, noting that "our cloud platforms are in that site too." Latisys is located in the Oak Brook market in suburban Chicago. "That, for us, is areally strong market," Stevenson says. "We see customers growing in that market. Some customers are moving out ofthe downtown as it just gets too expensive for them to be there. The entire Chicagoland market is very strong right now." He notes that Latisys has "avery strong value proposition that mid-sized customers find really appealing. Customers want private managed clouds now. Customers are deploying into the Chicago market and they are coming to us" Stevenson says Latisys is constructing the new space in Oak Brook now. "It will be ready by the beginning of the fourth quarter or the end of the third quarter this year," he adds. "We are bringing in more power from the power company. Because it is a deregulated utility market, we can buy it on a fixed rate. We buy it on an exchange or with a broker. That gives us some of the best electric utility rates in the country. Itis currently in the nickel to nickel - plus range in Greater Chicago." Consultants Bullish on Chicago 2013 Top Metros by Number of Projects METROS WITH POPULATION OVER 1 MILLION Metro 1 Chicago -Naperville -Elgin 2 Houston -The Woodlands -Sugar Land 3 Dallas -Fort Worth•Arlington 4 Atlanta -Sandy Spings-Roswell 5 Detroit -Warren -Dearborn 6 Cincinnati 7 Kansas City 8 Columbus 9 Philadelphia -Camden -Wilmington 10 New York -Newark -Jersey City State IHrindrWis. Texas Texas Ga. Mich. Ohio-Ky.-Ind. Mo. -Kan. Ohio Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. MCTDflC WRn D41D111 AT)flm ')M flM TA t MII I IflW Count 373 255 178 164 129 122 111 102 97 91 Site selection consultants say that this is a very bullish time for businesses in Chicago. "The overall vibe is that there is still a lot of confidence in the Chicago economy," says Tracey Hyatt Bosman of BLS & Co. "There is new deployment of all kinds of industry in the market. This is the third largest city in the U.S. and by far the largest city in the Midwest. This is one of http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Page 4 of 8 MC rnvo torn rvruLMrivn LVvrVVU N 1 rnJLLIVf Metro State Neb.lowa Pa.-N.J. La. N.C. Okla. Iowa Ohio Ohio -Pa. Ky. Wis. 1 Omaha -Council Bluffs T2 Allentown -Bethlehem -Easton T2 Baton Rouge 4 Greensboro -High Point 5 Tulsa 6 Des Moines -West Des Moines 7 Dayton T8 Youngstown -Warren -Boardman T8 Lexington -Fayette T8 Madison METROS WITH POPULATION LESS THAN 200,000 Metro State Tl Sioux City Iowa-Neb.-S.D. T1 Altoona Pa. T1 Dubuque Iowa 4 Odessa Texas 5 Gainesville Ga. T6 Decatur Na. T6 Bowling Green Ky. T6 Battle Creek Mich. T9 Sheboygan Wis. T9 Auburn -Opelika Na. Count 48 be." 46 46 35 33 31 28 22 22 22 the places you just have to Count 14 14 14 12 11 9 9 9 8 8 Source: Conway Data. Inc.'s New Plant Database Bosman notes that while the fixndamentals have remained strong for the metro Chicago area, "there has been an expansion over the last 10 years or so in the city's entrepreneurial startup and tech activity. The 1871 incubator is such a cool place. Itis a very funky space; itis highly creative." The 50,000 -sq. -ft. (4,645 -sq. - m.) incub ator for digital startups, located in Chicago's famed Merchandise Mart, is churning out new digital firms at a startling rate. Malehorn says Chicago produces one new digital startup every single day. "All kinds of people are mixed in there," says Bosman. "Itis kind of loud, actually, for typical office space, but that is considered part of the ambiance of the facility. They bring in various resources to help businesses connect and grow. It is a different atmosphere from your typical class A office building. It is a leading indicator of anew way to work and anew way for businesses to grow." Malehom says that Chicago's best days are still ahead ofit. "The Economist Intelligence Unit Forecastlooked at which cities will be the most economically powerful in the world by 2025," he says. "Chicago moved up from number 12 to number nine on that list. Only two other North American cities were in the top 10 — New Yolk and Toronto. We look to be the most globally competitive U.S. city. There is arenewed spirit of investment and vitality here. People prefer to be back in the city now. It is compelling." Chicago, in short, has found its happy place, bringing to mind another classic quote of Ernie Banks: "You must try to generate happiness within yourself" he said. "If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace." Banks never left Chicago during his 19 -year career in Major League Baseball. Judging from the comments ofthose doing business in Chicago these days, he's going to have plenty of company. "Omaha! Omaha!" Peyton Manning discovers what many corporate executives already knew: Omaha is a hot market. mahamay not be the biggest city in America, but during January no city in the country generated more news coverage than Nebraska's largest metropolitan area. Media attention exploded when fans ofthe National Football League discovered that Denver Broncos All -Pro quarterback Payton Manning was rather fond of shouting "Omaha!" multiple times at the line of scrimmage before certain plays. During aplayoffvictory over the San Diego Chargers on Jan. 12, Manning yelled out"Omaha!" awhopping 44 times. "It has given us an unbelievable ability to pitch our city," says David G. Brown, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber. "We will keep those fires burning. We are doing some additional fun social media stuff around that" Fortunately for Brown and his colleagues at the chamber, Manning isn't the only public figure leading the charge to bring more attention to Omaha During 2013, the metro area of 900,000 people led all comparably sized communities in America bylanding 48 corporate facility investment projects. http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Page 5 of 8 Beating out Allentown, Pa, and Baton Rouge, La., which tied for second place with 46 facility projects each, Omaha secured its first -place ranking in the tier -two population category (all U.S. metros of between 200,000 and 1 million people). The positive publicity just keeps coming for Omaha, notes Brown. "We even have ourvery own Warren Buffet providing the insurance for the March Madness bracket contest," he says. "If you pick every single game of the NCAA college basketball toumament correctly, you could win abillion dollars." On top of that, Creighton is turning the college basketball world upside down with abreakthrough season, as even more fans of the new Big East Conference flock to Omaha to watch the ninth -ranked Bluejays take on Villanova, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier and other perennial basketball powers. The biggest wins that Brown is celebrating, however, are those occurring off the court — corporate facility investments that are bringing jobs and capital to the Omaha area Singing the Yahoo Tune Topping the list of those investments in 2013 was a $700 -million office expansion by Travelers Insurance in Omaha Other major Omaha projects included a $108 -million manufacturing expansion by Airlight Plastics Co, creating 117 newjobs; a $58 -million warehouse expansion by U.S. Cold Storage, adding 100 jobs; and a $54 -million expansion by Lazier Corp., generating 105 jobs. TD Ameritrade Parkin Omaha hosts the College World Series each summer. Photo courtesy of Greater Omaha Chamtur More big deals came from Yahoo Inc., Kellogg USA, MLB Advanced Media, Rotella's Italian Bakery and Northstar Wind Towers. The largest jobs announcement came from Neinet Inc, which committed to hiring 300 workers at its consumer lending operation in Omaha. Several factors contributed to Omaha's success in 2013, notes Brown. "We have a very strong, diverse economy, and we are located in the middle of the country," he says. "We have great air, rail and highway networks, and our fiber-optic networks are among the best found anywhere in the country." Brown also cites the Omaha area workforce. "The labor force here is very well educated and very productive," he says. "We have all of the infrastructure that businesses need, but most of all we have great people." One of the most active industries in the Omaha MSA is the data center sector. Google, Yahoo and Fidelity have all announced major expansions in the bi-state region. "We have been blessed with just the right combination of infrastructure, power costs and utilities. Our team knows exactly what data centers need," Brown says. "Our low power costs attract people initially, but I have to give alot of credit to our great team at the chamber. They have become experts at this" Generous incentives offered by both states — Nebraska and Iowa— help lure large data center investments to the region, Brown adds. "Both states have worked hard to make sure our public policies are reflective of our desire to have more data centers here. As aresult, the big brand names are here. If they have chosen you, chances are they have done their due diligence." Aplethora of workers experienced in providing technical support to mission -critical facilities bolsters the region's case. "Our economy here has ahigh requirement for IT support," says Brown. "Companies that support STRATCOM and the Fortune 500 firms that are located here —TD Ameritrade, Linkedln, PayPal — they all need very high-level technical support. We provide anice funnel of engineering talent here too." Joy to the Omaha World Omaha's abundance of amenities and high quality of life pay off too. "We host the College World Series every year at TD Ameritrade Park, the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials will be coming back in 2016, and we hosted the U.S. Senior Open golf tournament last year as well," notes Brown. "Plus, our city -owned Hilton Hotel is a five -diamond award - winner— an honor that is not given without alot of scrutiny. And Mannheim Steamroller, which has sold more Christmas albums than any other musical group in history, calls Omaha home." http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Page 6 of 8 After this string of success, what will Omaha do for an encore? Brown says the one thing Omaha won't do is rest on its laurels. "We have just completed our community strategy for the next five years," he says. "Prosper Omaha is aregional economic development strategy. We are raising $25 million to support that strategy. Our goal is to take Omaha to the next level. We have set some goals that are higher than the goals we have had for the last five years" Brown says the plan is to funnel more support to launching and growing startups in the region and increasing the regional GDP. "We are trying to get ahead of steam here," he says. "Many corporate executives from outside this region might not know too much about Omaha, but they can see by our companies — ConAgra, Union Pacific, Gallup, Omaha Steaks, Berkshire Hathaway, Mutual of Omaha and others — that this is aplace they ought to consider." He adds that "if they will just give us a l ook, we will do our best to make sure that Omaha is a place where their company can grow and prosper." Three's the Charm Pennsylvania metro ties with two Iowa communities atop 3rd -tier MSAs. hat do Altoona, Pa, Dubuque, Iowa, and Sioux City, Iowa-Neb.-S.D., all have in common? In 2013, they formed the first-ever three-way tie for Top Metropolitan Area in the tier -three population category, which includes all US MSAs of less than 200,000 people. Recording 14 corporate facility investment projects each, these three small metros beat out Odessa, Texas, which had 12 projects, and Gainesville, Ga, which registered 11. Also ranking in the top 10 were Decatur, Ala, Bowling Green, Ky., and Battle Creek, Mich, with nine each, followed by Sheboygan, Wis., and Auburn -Opelika, Ala., with eight. Chris McGowan, president of The Siouxland Initiative, is no stranger to the top o f the standings. This marks Sioux City's fourth win and sixth appearance in the top three. "This is a resilient community," McGowan says. "Our stockyards closed a generation ago. Gateway Computer, which was built here, employed 6,000 people at one time in this community and now they employ nobody. Alternating floods and droughts have ravaged our croplands and riverbank cities, and then we faced the BPI public relations crisis. Aleading employer and one of ourvery best community philanthropists, they were forced to close three plants as a result of one careless news story. By the same token, we have been very fortunate" Visitors to the Sioux City Art Center arent the only ones looking up in the Siouxland metro area these days. Photo Courtesy of the Cty of Sioux City A surging agribusiness economy has given a huge boost to many employers in the tri-state region of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota along the Missouri River. Two firms—Wells Enterprises and Bomgaars —have done exceptionally well. http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Page 7 of 8 Wells Enterprises is Altoona, Pa., tied with Sioux City and Dubuque, Iowa, as the No. 1 top metro in the tier -three expanding by $20 million population category. and 65,000 sq. ft. (6,038 sq. Photo courtesy ofAltoona Blair County Development Corp. m.) in Le Mars, Iowa, which thanks to Wells' Blue Bunny brand is now known as the"Ice Cream Capital of the World" Bomgaars, meanwhile, is investing $17 million into anew 150,000 -sq. -ft. (13,935 -sq. -m.) distribution warehouse that creates 64 new jobs. Mike Wells, CEO of Wells Enterprises, says that the Siouxland workforce is the driver of the company's growth. "We refer a lot to our culture that exists here in the heartland o f America," he says. "Hard-working people take pride in the work they do. Plus, being centrally located in the Midwest creates synergies across multiple production lines. Access to Interstates 29, 80 and 90 connect us to the East and West Coasts. It drives efficiencies and maintains a lot of quality in our pro ducts." Coming off its 100 -year anniversary, Wells operates the world's largest ice cream plant in Le Mars, atjust over 1 million sq. ft. (92,900 sq. m.). Bomgaars — a Sioux City -based retailer that operates 66 farm and garden supply stores and employs 1,500 people across the Midwest— is also growing. Its president, Roger Bomgaars, says that several factors make it easy for his company to keep expanding in Sioux City, its home base since 1952. "We like the stability o f the area and the fact that it is very closely linked with our customer base," he says. "The agribusiness industry floats alotofboats here. The farm and ranch fleet industry grew up right along Interstate 29 from Grand Forks, North Dakota, down to Kansas City." Across the state in Dubuque, companies as diverse as Hormel Foods and Rainbow Oil are leading an economic resurgence in eastern Iowa "We have asignificant amount of food processing, metal fabrication, insurance companies and financial services here," says Mark Seckman, vice president of national marketing for the Greater Dubuque Development Corp. "Within a five-hour radius, we have 322,000 college students at Iowa, Iowa State, University of Wisconsin -Platteville, University of Dubuque, Clarke University, Northeast Iowa Community College and others. That was abig factor in IBM's selection of Dubuque. They now employ more than 1,300 workers here in our community." The Port of Dubuque serves as one of the main transportation and logistics assets in the entire eastern Iowa region. Photo courtesy ofGreeter Dubuque Development Corp. Hormel represented Dubuque's biggest project win of 2013. "We were competing against other communities and other countries as well," Seckman says. "We were able to put together the best overall response to their request" The result was a $36 -million capital investment that adds 91 jobs in meat products processing in Dubuque, which earned accolades as atop 10 best -performing small city in America from the Milken Institute in 2013. Not to be outdone, .Altoona, Pa., climbed to the top ofthe corporate facility project charts in 2013 with its strongest showing in the history of the Conway New Plant Database. "Our 14 projects were almost all local, home-grown companies that are going through expansions," says Marty Marasco, president and CEO of the Altoona Blair County Development Corp. "We emphasize retention and expansion of existing companies. Relocations today are very difficult." Value Drug Co. is investing $30 million into 190,000 sq. ft. (17,651 sq. m.) that will be used for corporate offices and distribution space. The facility is slated to open this month. "It is a diversified economy here. We are home to the corporate headquarters of Sheetz Inc., a gas station and convenience store chain that employs 4,000 people in Blair County and 13,000 people in the six -state area We are also home to American Eagle Paper and Albemarle Corp., a chemicals company that just expanded by $30 million. It was started by two guys out of State College, Pa. They now employ more than 230 people here." http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros.cfm 3/11/2014 Top Metros of 2013: The Connected City Site Selection Online Page 8 of 8 0 Com m ents Site Selection Sort by Best • Q Login - Share L Favorite* Start the discussion... Be the first to comment. ALSO ON SITE SELECTION Food Processing: Where is Nestle Not Investing? .......:albs ago • Raven Cable Assembly— Most of the company's lift operations had just relocated to Minnesota from the Dallas area, so the addition of a production ... 60 Years of Excellence unt •2 months ag< Benjamin Yawn — Congratulations on 60 great CMI years! Et,ubscrlbe Aftpor Okui,5 rc v^.�r WHAT'S THIS? Logistics Hubs: Long -Term Value 1 comment•2 months ago • 1,,,ii, — you haven't told me what the logistics hub r is for!!! :@ Malaysia: How Did Malaysia Do That?! Site Selectio Online ommer • • NA— As an expatriate living in your country, — think you shouldresist "fluffing" your assessment here. I work fora private companyand have to ... Site Selection < The magazine of Corporate Real E state Strategy & Area Ecanonic Development. Top of P age 1 Site Selection Online 1 Web Exclusives Site Selection online is a worldwide service of Snnwwv Data Inn. 01983-2014, all rights reserved. Data is from many sources and not warranted to be accurate or current. For contact information visit our staff one or send general information queriesto Annie Munza. Send direct technical inquiries orcommentsto webmaster(&convay.com http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2014/mar/metros. cfm 3/11/2014