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2007 Gold & Silver Shovel Awards

Area Development's annual Gold and Silver Shovel awards honor states that have generated top job-creation and investment projects across the nation. These states are highly active in business development, from conducting foreign trade missions to crafting innovative incentive packages and work-force development programs - all of which attract new companies, stimulate investment, create jobs, and strengthen tax bases.

Jun/Jul 07
Gold & Silver Shovel Award Winners
Gold Shovel Awards

Gold Shovel Award Winner:

Georgia

Silver Shovel Award Winners:

Over 10 Million Population

Michigan
Pennsylvania
Texas

Silver Shovel Award Winners:

3 to 10 Million Population

Alabama
Kentucky
Missouri
Wisconsin

Silver Shovel Award Winners:

Under 3 Million Population

Kansas
Nebraska
Utah
We are pleased to recognize the successes of these states with our 2nd Annual Gold and Silver Shovel awards. Area Development contacted all 50 states and requested verifiable information about the top-10 job-creation and investment projects initiated in 200. Only those projects that actually got under way, i.e., broke ground or expanded and initiated new hiring were considered.

Each state was then rated based on five weighted factors: projects' direct job-creation numbers; the number of new jobs per capita; amount of companies' investment; number of new facilities (either new to the state or new locations within the state); and the number of projects creating high value-added jobs. Georgia received the highest weighted overall score to take home the 2007 Gold Shovel award.

The remaining states were then ranked in three population categories: less than 3 million, 3 to 10 million, and greater than 10 million population. The three states with the highest scores in each category received runner-up Silver Shovel awards. In the "under 3 million" category, the award recipients were Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah (Kansas also won last year). The top finishers in the "3 to 10 million" category were Alabama (last year's Gold Shovel recipient), Kentucky and Wisconsin (tied), and Missouri. Michigan and Texas repeated as winners in the "greater than 10 million" category, with the third Silver Shovel award in this population category going to Pennsylvania.




2007 Gold & Silver Shovel Award Sponsors

The following organizations can provide more information about the projects mentioned in this report.

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