Top 10 2010 Projects | Silver Shovel Winners
Kansas Population: 2.8 Million
-
- Company
- City/County
- N/E
- #Jobs
- Inv. Amt.
- Industry
-
- 1.
- Allen Foods
- Topeka
- N
- 85
- $55 million
- Food Products
-
- 2.
- Bombardier/
LearJet - Wichita
- E
- 300
- $50 million
- Aviation
-
- 3.
- Cerner
- Kansas City
- N
- 4,500
- $170 million
- IT/
Software
-
- 4.
- Zeolyst International
- Kansas City
- E
- 33
- $83 million
- Chemicals
-
- 5.
- Regent
Asset Management - Overland Park
- N
- 1,250
- $2 million
- Customer Service
-
- 6.
- KeyCorp
Real Estate
Services - Overland Park
- N
- 600
- $10 million
- RE/Financial Services
-
- 7.
- Apria
Healthcare - Overland Park
- E
- 300
- $8 million
- Healthcare Services
-
- 8.
- Redbarn Pet Products
- Great Bend
- N
- 200
- $2 million
- Pet Food Products
-
- 9.
- Earp
Distribution - Kansas City
- E
- 252
- $24.5 million
- Distribution
-
- 10.
- Client
Services - Lenexa
- N
- 224
- $3.5 million
- Customer Service
- * Top 10 projects as supplied by state's economic development agency.
Top 10 2010 Projects | Silver Shovel Winner
Mississippi Population: 2.9 Million
-
- Company
- City/County
- N/E
- #Jobs
- Inv. Amt.
- Industry
-
- 1.
- Wilh. Schulz GMBH
- Tunica Cty.
- N
- 500
- $300 million
- Steel Pipe Fabrication
-
- 2.
- Twin Creeks Technologies
- Senatobia
- N
- 512
- $175 million
- Solar Panels
-
- 3.
- Southern
Motion - Pontotoc
- E
- 200
- $7 million
- Furniture
-
- 4.
- McKesson
- Olive Branch
- N
- 306
- $115 million
- Distribution
-
- 5.
- Soladigm
- Olive Branch
- N
- 300
- $130 million
- Dynamic Glass
-
- 6.
- KiOR
- Columbus/
Newton/S.W. MS - N
- 1,000
- $500 million
- Renewable Energy
-
- 7.
- AlphaGen
- Philadelphia
- N
- 200
- $10 million
- Ceramic Coatings
-
- 8.
- Scotts Miracle-Gro
- Pearl
- N
- 95
- $17 million
- Lawn & Garden Products
-
- 9.
- BorgWarner
- Water Valley
- E
- 120
- $18 million
- Automotive Supplies
-
- 10.
- Mississippi Power Co.
- Kemper Cty.
- N
- 260
- $2.4 billion
- Clean Coal Plant
- * Top 10 projects as supplied by state's economic development agency.
Kansas
This is fifth time Kansas has received a Silver Shovel Award, being previously recognized in 2006-2008 and 2010 as well. Kansas' exports rose to $9.93 billion in 2010, an increase of about 11 percent from a 2009 decline. The largest gains were seen in pharmaceutical products and vehicle manufacturing. Although slower to rebound, the aviation sector remained the state's largest export industry, with $2.14 billion in exports. In 2010 Kansas ranked tenth on Forbes' "Best States for Business" list, up from 2009's rank of 15th. Sectors with strong activity in 2010 were healthcare, logistics, aviation, food processing, and call centers. Allen Foods will construct a $30 million bakery facility in Topeka's Central Crossing Commerce Park, creating more than 50 new jobs. Incentives include work force training, sales tax exemptions, and corporate income tax credits for job creation and capital investment. In Lenexa, Client Services, a collection and receivables agency, will invest $3.43 million in a new call center that will employ over 200 workers. The Lenexa site was selected after a nationwide search that included cities in New York, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. "Our location in Lenexa is well-designed and a good overall fit for our business," indicates Michael Van Horn, director of human resources for Client Services. "The strong Midwest work ethic also played a part in our decision-making process."
Mississippi
This is the first time Mississippi has been recognized with a Shovel Award - partly secured by its emerging high-tech sectors. For example, four new projects have committed to manufacturing clean energy and clean energy- related products in the state. These projects represent total corporate investments of over $3.2 billion and the creation of nearly 2,100 jobs. KiOR Inc. is building a first-ofits- kind biomass-to-renewable crude facility in Columbus. The plant will process approximately 500 tons per day of wood biomass and produce more than 11 million gallons of fuel per year. Twin Creeks Technologies, a venture- backed solar technology company, plans to construct a $175 million solar panel manufacturing facility in Senatobia, which will be the first renewable solar technology production plant in the state. "The State of Mississippi has been extremely helpful in driving the agreement to closure in record time," says Siva Sivaram, chairman and chief executive officer of Twin Creeks. "We look forward to breaking ground on our first manufacturing site and becoming an active member of the local community."
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Methodology
Area Development's annual Gold and Silver Shovel Awards recognize states for their achievements in attracting high-value investment projects
that will create a significant number of new jobs in their communities. We collected information from all 50 states about their top-10
job-creation and investment projects initiated in 2010 (only those projects that actually had monies invested, "broke ground," began an expansion,
started new hiring, etc. were considered). Based on a combination of weighted factors - including the number of new jobs to be created
in relation to the state's population, the combined dollar amount of the investments, the number of new facilities, the diversity of industry
represented - three states achieving the highest weighted overall score are awarded Area Development's 2011 Gold Shovels. Runner-ups
in three population categories - over 9 million, between 4 and 9 million, and under 4 million - are awarded 2011 Silver Shovels..