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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

2023 Top States Commentary: Top-Ranked States Have What It Takes to Win Mega Projects

Training programs, water and real estate availability, and competitive utility rates are among the factors helping the top states to land billion dollar EV and semiconductor projects.

Q3 2023
Area Development’s Top States for Doing Business 2023 survey results place mainly South/Southeastern States on top. The top three — Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee — have landed major project investments in the electric vehicle and battery industry (Hyundai EV plant/$5.5 billion and Rivian EV plant/$5 billion in Georgia, VW Scout plant/$2 billion in South Carolina, and Ford Blue Oval City/$5.6 billion in Tennessee). The automotive industry is booming due to the transitioning to EVs, and also lots of supplier projects are happening.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is also helping to bring new manufacturing projects to the U.S. In addition, the CHIPS and Science Act supports the semiconductor industry, and several large projects were announced — for example, Intel in Ohio and Samsung in Austin, Texas. All of these top states offer competitive utility rates, a green energy mix, a business-friendly environment, excellent training programs, and fast permitting procedures. Project timelines have become much faster; therefore, an easy regulatory process is very important.

Availability of skilled labor is a problem across all states at the moment. A well thought-out training program is essential, and Georgia leads this category with their Quick Start program followed by Virginia, South Carolina, and Louisiana.

Water availability is becoming an important topic especially for the semiconductor and battery industries. Ohio and Michigan lead this category in the survey, ahead of the Southeast States, as well as New York and Wisconsin. Indiana and Ohio join the Top 10 States with top scores in logistics/infrastructure as well as available real estate. To have real estate available is crucial. The top-ranked states had mega sites developed over the last couple of years. California, New York, and Massachusetts only score high on access to capital and funding, but of these three states, only New York made the top 20.

Florida, Arizona, and Mississippi did make the top 20, as they are getting more and more popular for manufacturing projects in addition to their corporate, aviation, and life science clients.

TOP STATES FOR DOING BUSINESS 2023

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. South Carolina
  3. 3. Tennessee
  4. 4. North Carolina
  5. 5. Ohio
  6. 6. Alabama
  7. 7. Indiana
  8. 8. Texas
  9. 9. Virginia
  10. 10. Mississippi
  11. 11. Louisiana
  12. 12. Arizona
  13. 13. Michigan
  14. 14. Kentucky
  15. 15. Florida
  16. 16. New York
  17. 17. Iowa
  18. 18. Arkansas
  19. 19. Kansas
  20. 20. Illinois

Individual Categories

Overall Cost of Doing Business

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Alabama
  3. 3. Tennessee
  4. 4. South Carolina
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Indiana
  7. 7. Mississippi
  8. 8. Ohio
  9. 9. Texas
  10. 10. Louisiana

Business Incentives Programs

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. South Carolina
  3. 3. Ohio
  4. 4. Indiana
  5. 5. Tennessee
  6. 6. North Carolina
  7. 7. Alabama
  8. 8. Virginia
  9. 9. Arkansas
  10. 10. Mississippi

Access to Capital & Funding

  1. 1. California
  2. 2. New York
  4. 3. Texas
  5. 4. Massachusetts
  6. 5. Georgia
  7. 6. Virginia
  8. 7. Illinois
  9. 8. North Carolina
  10. 9.Arizona
  11. 10. Maryland

Competitive Labor Environment

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. North Carolina
  3. 3. Ohio
  4. 4. South Carolina
  5. 5. Indiana
  6. 6. Texas
  7. 7. Virginia
  8. 8. Tennessee
  9. 9. Arizona
  10. 10. Alabama

Energy Availability & Costs

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Tennessee
  3. 3. South Carolina
  4. 4. Alabama
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Texas
  7. 7.
  8. 8. Oregon
  9. 9. Indiana
  10. 10. Iowa

Water Availability

  1. 1. Ohio
  2. 2. Michigan
  3. 3. Tennessee
  4. 4. South Carolina
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Georgia
  7. 7. New York
  8. 8. Wisconsin
  9. 9.
  10. 10. Virginia

Logistics & Infrastructure

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Texas
  3. 3. Indiana
  4. 4. Ohio
  5. 5. South Carolina
  6. 6. Virginia
  7. 7. Tennessee
  8. 8. Kentucky
  9. 9. North Carolina
  10. 10. Illinois

Available Real Estate

  1. 1. South Carolina
  2. 2. Texas
  3. 3. Ohio
  4. 4. Georgia
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Indiana
  7. 7. Tennessee
  8. 8. Virginia
  9. 9. Alabama
  10. 10. Arizona

Cooperative & Responsive State Government

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Tennessee
  3. 3. North Carolina
  4. 4. South Carolina
  5. 5. Ohio
  6. 6. Indiana
  7. 7. Virginia
  8. 8. Alabama
  9. 9. Arizona
  10. 10. Michigan

Corporate Tax Structure

  1. 1. Florida
  2. 2. North Carolina
  3. 3. Texas
  4. 4. Tennessee
  5. 5. Indiana
  6. 6. Georgia
  7. 7. Nevada
  8. 8. South Dakota
  9. 9. Ohio
  10. 10. Arizona

Site-Readiness Programs

  1. 1. South Carolina
  2. 2. Georgia
  3. 3. Ohio
  4. 4. Tennessee
  5. 5. Indiana
  6. 6. North Carolina
  7. 7. Virginia
  8. 8. Alabama
  9. 9. Kentucky
  10. 10. Iowa

Favorable Regulatory Environment

  1. 1. Alabama
  2. 2. South Carolina
  3. 3. Georgia
  4. 4. Tennessee
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Indiana
  7. 7. Ohio
  8. 8. Texas
  9. 9. Louisiana
  10. 10. Mississippi

Speed of Project Permitting

  1. 1. South Carolina
  2. 2. Alabama
  3. 3. Georgia
  4. 4. Mississippi
  5. 5. Tennessee
  6. 6. Indiana
  7. 7. Virginia
  8. 8. Ohio
  9. 9. Iowa
  10. 10. North Carolina

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