California — 12+ Million Population Category Companies are expanding all over the Golden State, at a rate worthy of a Silver Shovel honor. The biggest project, and one of the most futuristic, involves General Motors in San Francisco. The company is beefing up its Cruise Automation operation, which is focused on self-driving vehicle design, and the expansion is projected to add approximately 1,100 new jobs. Also, on the topic of forward-thinking automotive, Proterra is expanding its electric bus operations in Burlingame.

Other traditionally prominent California industries were well represented on the list of last year’s expansions, too. Two deals were in the aerospace sector, composite engine component maker Meggitt in San Diego and component maker Schlosser Forge Co. in Rancho Cucamonga. The state’s massive food-related industry grabbed some of the headlines, including expansion at baby-food-maker Initiative Foods in Sanger, which has been rebuilding after a fire, and growth in Richmond at Food Service Partners, which runs central production kitchens for healthcare providers. The state also boasted projects in biotech, medical devices, and software. And not to leave out entertainment, streaming service Hulu is growing at its Santa Monica base.

Florida — 12+ Million Population Category Florida’s Silver Shovel performance was driven by a solid series of expansions and a few new location decisions. Leading the way was Modernizing Medicine, a medical records company whose expansion will bring more than 800 new jobs to Boca Raton. A trio of projects promised 600 jobs each: Chewy.com’s new pet products fulfillment center in Ocala, Gartner’s expanding IT consulting presence in Fort Myers, and Brown & Brown’s new insurance headquarters facility in Daytona Beach.

The state added more headquarters projects in Fort Lauderdale (Sixt Rent a Car) and Coral Gables (Cosentino, which serves the architecture and design industry). KPMG will add jobs in professional services, and MetLife in insurance. And it wouldn’t be Florida without a boat-related project — the expansion at Maverick Boat Group’s manufacturing operation in Fort Pierce.

Illinois — 12+ Million Population Category As in many states, Amazon led the way in Illinois’ route to a Silver Shovel, with separate projects in Waukegan and Crest Hill. Best Buy, meanwhile, also had a distribution announcement in Bolingbrook, while General Mills announced plans to distribute its cereals and other products from a distribution center in Wilmington.

The state enjoyed a diversity of development covering a number of other industries, too. Communications Test Design — which tests and repairs electronics — is growing in Joliet. In paper products, Georgia Pacific will create 400 jobs in University Park. In the food processing sector, Koch Foods is growing its Franklin Park presence. Fresenius Kabi announced plans to significantly grow its pharmaceutical manufacturing operation in Melrose Park. Other projects ranged from steel to automotive components to electric parts.

New York — 12+ Million Population Category Keeping up with the expanding and evolving shopping needs of New Yorkers puts Amazon into a near-constant growth mode, which helped contribute to the state’s Silver Shovel accomplishments. Two Amazon projects announced in 2017 led the list with 2,000 or more jobs each, including a Staten Island fulfillment center and a major office on West 33rd Street in Manhattan.

Several other projects also carried four-figure job projections. Spotify’s headquarters’ move to the World Trade Center makes room for more hires, as does the move of Ernst & Young’s U.S. headquarters from Times Square to Manhattan’s west side. At Strategic Financial Solutions’ Amherst office in the Buffalo area, more than 1,500 company reps will help consumers get a handle on their debt.

Also, in the Buffalo area, Tesla’s SolarCity is now producing its solar roof tiles. Other significant manufacturing announcements last year involved lithium ion batteries, nutritional supplements and dairy products.

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 2017 (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 2018 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 2018 Silver Shovels.