It’s vitally important work to the prosperity and quality of life in a community or across a state. It’s a pursuit that can be frustrating one day and highly satisfying on another, with rewards that come from headlines, feathers in a cap and, most importantly, the satisfaction of building stronger communities. Who is succeeding at this work? The states honored in this year’s Shovel Awards. They’re compiling healthy and impressive rosters of projects and announcements, expansions and new facilities. They’re successfully surfing the waves of what is hot in terms of industries and growth, discerning what potential clients want and need, and acting quickly. They’re pulling together the winning combination of perfect site, attractive incentives, and collaborative attitudes.
Read on to find out who is staying a step or two ahead of the competition. We’ve analyzed high-impact economic development projects from 2016 to arrive at the accompanying lists. We’re honoring 21 states for their wins in job creation and business investment. Some are frequent honorees on these annual lists, an indication that they’ve found the right recipe for success.
2017 Gold Shovel Awards: The Winning States
- Illinois
- Georgia
- Arizona
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
2017 Silver Shovel Awards
12+ Million Population Category
- California
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
8 to 12 Million Population Category
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
5 to 8 Million Population Category
- Colorado
- Indiana
- Tennessee
3 to 5 Million Population Category
- Alabama
- Iowa
- South Carolina
- Utah
Under 3 Million Population Category
- Kansas
- Nevada
2017 Gold & Silver Shovel Awards: Billion Dollar(s) Projects Of The Year (2016)
Project | Location | Jobs | Investment |
---|---|---|---|
Shandong Sun Paper | Arkadelphia, AR | 250 | $1B |
Tellurian Investments | Calcasieu Parish, LA | 551 | $11.8Bb |
Venture Global LNG | Plaquemines Parish | 250 | $8.5B |
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles LLC | Sterling Heights, MI | 700 | $1.5B |
Ford Motor Co. Expansion | Livonia, MI | 500 | $1.4B |
Continental Tire | Hinds County, MS | 2,500 | $1.5B |
Royal Dutch Shell | Potter, PA | 600 | $6B |
General Motors | Spring Hill, TN | 1,431 | $1B |
ALSAC St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital |
Memphis, TN | 1,800 | $1B |
Lockheed Martin | Fort Worth, TX | 1,000 | $1.2B |
ExxonMobil | Beaumont, TX | 40 | $1.2B |
Samsung | Austin, TX | 250 | $1B |
2017 Gold & Silver Shovel Awards: Large Job-Creating Projects Of The Year (2016)*
Project | Location | Jobs | Investment |
---|---|---|---|
Cognizant Technology Solutions | Des Moines, IA | 1,014 | $9M |
Under Armour | Sparrows, MD | 1,000 | $174M |
Continental Tire | Hinds County, MS | 2,500 | $1.5M |
Topship LLC | Gulfport, MS | 1,000 | $68M |
JPMorgan Chase | Jersey City, NJ | 2,150 | $68.3M |
ALSAC St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital |
Memphis, TN | 1,800 | $1B |
General Motors | Spring Hill, TN | 1,431 | $1B |
GM Financial | Arlington, TX | 1,300 | $35M |
Lockheed Martin | Fort Worth, TX | 1,000 | $1.2B |
McKesson Corp. | Irving, TX | 1,000 | $157M |
ADP | Norfolk, VA | 1,800 | $32.3M |
CIOX Health | Phoenix, AZ | 2,820 | $15M |
Lucid Motors | Casa Grande, AZ | 2,213 | $735M |
Raytheon Missile Systems | Tucson, AZ | 1,975 | $352.3M |
ADP | Tempe, AZ | 1,500 | $33.8M |
Oscar | Tempe, AZ | 1,250 | $5M |
Wells Fargo | Chandler, AZ | 1,200 | $25M |
Farmers Insurance | Phoenix, AZ | 1,188 | $41.3M |
Snapchat | Venice Beach, CA | 1,194 | $32M |
Google, Inc. | Boulder, CO | 1,000 | $150M |
ADP, LLC | Maitland, FL | 1,600 | $28.4M |
NCR | Atlanta, GA | 1,800 | $145M |
Anthem | Atlanta, GA | 1,800 | $20M |
UPS | Atlanta, GA | 1,250 | $400M |
Home Chef | Dekalb, GA | 1,200 | $3.4M |
Sentury Tire | Troup, GA | 1,000 | $150M |
Rivian Automotive | Normal, IL | 1,000 | $175M |
* See e-Commerce Projects of the Year chart for other large job-creating projects. |
2017 Gold & Silver Shovel Awards: E-Commerce* Projects Of The Year (2016)
Project | Location | Jobs | Investment |
---|---|---|---|
Amazon | Aurora, CO | 250 | $27M |
Amazon | Jacksonville, FL | 1,500 | $198M |
Amazon | Jackson County, GA | 500 | N/A** |
Amazon | Edwardsville, Romeoville, Monee, Joliet, IL |
4,500 | $355M |
Amazon | Edgerton & Kansas City | 2,000 | $292.6M |
Amazon | Livonia, MI | 1,000 | $90M |
Amazon | Shakopee, MN | 1,000 | $250M |
Amazon | North Las Vegas, NV | 1,000 | $18M |
Amazon | Carteret & Florence, NJ | 2,000 | N/A** |
Amazon | Charlotte, NC | 1,500 | $50M |
Amazon | Palmer & Pittston, PA | 850 | N/A** |
Amazon | Houston, TX | 1,000 | $136M |
* Projects represent Amazon fulfillment centers **Investment confidential |
MethodologyArea 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 2016 (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 — five states achieving the highest weighted overall scores were awarded Area Development’s 2017 Gold Shovels in five population categories: 12+ million, 8+ to 12 million, 5+ to 8 million, 3+ to 5 million, and fewer than 3 million. Runners-up in each of these population categories were awarded 2017 Silver Shovels.