Government Policy / Business Climate
Recent Features
If the Site Doesn't Work on Paper, It Won't Work in Reality
Why land constraints—not incentives or labor—are eliminating manufacturing sites before the process even begins.
Community Risk Can Kill a Project Before It Breaks Ground
Why NIMBYism, political scrutiny, and local opposition are now core site selection risks—not afterthoughts
Avoid These Red Flags, Deal Killers, and Blunders in Site Selection
Industry experts from site selection, construction, law, and supply chain consulting weigh in on what's derailing projects in 2026 — and what it takes to keep deals alive.
What Korean Manufacturers Underestimate About Building in America
U.S. expansion decisions are increasingly won—or lost—before site selection begins. For Korean manufacturers, aligning capital strategy with infrastructure realities has become the defining challenge in executing successful investments.
Rethinking Environmental Review
Why Streamlined Environmental Review Is Now a Strategic Imperative.
The Infrastructure Bet: Three Stories About Where American Industry Is Being Rebuilt
Episode 13 of The Site & Facility Planning Podcast explores Oklahoma’s $4B aluminum smelter bet, active infrastructure for grid constraints, and workforce training for clean energy facilities.
Where Early-Stage Life Sciences Companies Get Stuck Scaling Their Real Estate—and How to Move Forward
Biotech firms face delays in programming, permitting, and infrastructure as they scale from lab to production.
Navigating Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign-Trade Zones and Manufacturing in a Volatile Market
As tariff uncertainty and industrial policy shifts reshape investment strategies, manufacturers are leaning on tools such as foreign-trade zones, accelerated workforce partnerships and vertically integrated facilities to manage risk and maintain momentum in U.S. site selection decisions.
The AI Arms Race Comes to Your Backyard
The race to build AI infrastructure is no longer just a technology story — it’s a geopolitical one.
Tariffs After the Supreme Court: A Detour, Not a Dead End
The Court blocks the administration’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs, but alternative legal pathways — and political will — suggest trade duties will remain embedded in the operating environment.
Last Word: When Incentives Lead, Projects Follow—Often in the Wrong Direction
Why chasing the biggest package can derail site selection decisions before they begin.
Editor's Note: Raising the Bar on Readiness
Capitalizing on the OBBBA Before the 2026 Cliff
Discover how the OBBBA creates a short-lived opportunity for modular developers to accelerate deductions, leverage restored bonus depreciation, and meet tight 2026 energy-incentive deadlines.
Why Uncertainty — Not Demand — Is Slowing Foreign Investment in the U.S.
For first-time foreign investors, confidence — not incentives — has become the gating factor.
Speed Built In—The Real Differentiator for 2026 Site Selection Projects
After a year where “shovel ready” often unraveled under scrutiny, the forward play is fewer unknowns and faster paths to operation—because constraints decide the field before incentives do.
Strategic Industries at the Crossroads: Defense, Aerospace, and Maritime Enter 2026
As industrial policy accelerated, the gap between ambition and execution widened: supply chain security, workforce clearance, and infrastructure bottlenecks revealed the unforgiving realities of building strategic industries at home.
The Workforce Bottleneck in America’s Manufacturing Revival
As investment surges, a thinning workforce forces companies to rethink where—and how—they build in America.
Preparing for the Next USMCA Shake-Up
Business leaders should brace for potential costs and disruptions as North America’s free trade deal heads for review.
The New Industrial Revolution in Biotech
Domestic drug production is becoming a matter of national security, not just market strategy.
Tariff Shockwaves Hit the Industrial Sector
How rising tariffs, weak sentiment, and slowing e-commerce are shifting warehouse vacancy rates across major U.S. markets.
How to Spot a Community That’s Ready for Your Investment
A Site Selector’s Guide for Separating the Real Partners From Pretenders.
Who’s Liable When AI Builds?
Legal risks and the rise of the AI clause in construction contracts.
Why Utilities Are Becoming Developers
The energy transition is reshaping real estate strategy as utilities and corporations compete for control of generation assets.
Rethinking Auto Site Strategy in the Age of Tariffs and Powertrain Shifts
As EV momentum slows and tariffs rise, automotive companies are reworking supply chains, production plans, and location strategies to adapt to a rapidly changing market.
Rethinking Local Governments Through Consolidation and Choice
Voluntary regional consolidation can deliver what corporate project teams value most: predictability, speed and scale. Indiana’s experience and international models show how optional, capacity-building frameworks make regions more investable.
Where MedTech Grows Best
How data, labor, and logistics drive location decisions for next-gen MedTech manufacturing.
A New Course for U.S. Shipbuilding
Maritime Prosperity Zones could reshape shipbuilding and repair across the U.S. — if defined and used wisely.
The Permit Puzzle and the Path to Groundbreaking
Why the most successful projects build permitting strategy into their earliest site and construction decisions.
The Compliance Reckoning Is Here
New challenges—from automation to federal fallout—are testing how companies manage risk in incentive-backed projects
2025’s Top States for Business: How the Winners Are Outpacing the Rest
Speed, workforce alignment, and energy infrastructure now define the best states for doing business — not just incentives or tax breaks. Our exclusive rankings break down how the top performers are staying ahead in a tightening market.
Investors Seek Shelter in Food-Focused Real Estate
Cold storage and grocery-anchored retail are proving to be safe havens as consumer behavior shifts and CRE volatility grows.
A New Era in Conservation and Economic Opportunity
MABA reframes conservation policy by emphasizing incentives, partnerships, and business-friendly opportunities across sectors.
Supply Chain Whiplash Reshapes CRE
Power, ports, and unpredictability are pushing manufacturers to rethink their entire real estate approach.
How Canada Stays Competitive
As trade tensions mount, Canada’s supply chain reboot aims to retain foreign investment and reduce risk exposure.
How to Manage the Surge in Building Costs
Construction firms are navigating supply shocks, labor shortages and policy pressures with smarter, early-stage coordination.
U.S. Textile Manufacturers are Building for the Future
Automation and policy incentives could reshape the future of American textile production.
