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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Frontline

Front Line: Reverse Logistics Opportunities, Challenges

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2021)

As online sales have surged so have purchase returns, resulting in reverse logistics challenges for shippers. More

Front Line: Vocational Training Alliances in Tough Times

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2020)

Companies and communities must continue to invest in and destigmatize vocational training in order to bridge the manufacturing skills gap. More

Front Line: Climate Change Concerns Begin to Take Center Stage

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2020)

Locations that invest in resilience measures against climate change and catastrophic weather may be more attractive to investors. More

Front Line: COVID-19 Spurs More Automated Manufacturing

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2020)

The global pandemic has presented manufacturers with new labor challenges, which are being addressed by new technologies and automation. More

Front Line: Visa Ban Upends Companies and Competitiveness

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2020)

The administration’s freeze and restrictions on visas for foreign workers may only exacerbate the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19. More

Front Line: Inland Ports Spur Distribution Growth

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2020)

Locations in the middle part of the country provide an alternative to coastal seaports while providing quick intermodal connections to the nation’s interior. More

Front Line: NEPA Rule Changes on the Horizon

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2020)

Proposed changes to the environmental review have been welcomed by NAM and others. More

Front Line: Trend Toward Microfactories Continues

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2019)

By utilizing microfactories, manufacturers can respond quickly to changes in product design and demand. More

Front Line: Manufacturers Look to Nontraditional Locations

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2019)

As the labor supply tightens, nontraditional manufacturing hubs are upping their game by investing in workforce training programs. More

Front Line: Feeling the Effects of New Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2019)

Both manufacturers and consumers are paying the price for these new tariffs, with many in the former group asking for exclusions. More

Front Line: Ensuring a “Pipeline” of Qualified Workers

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2019)

Pipeline AZ was developed to match job-seekers with industry openings as well as academic institutions and local job training resources. More

Front Line: Attracting Companies in Emerging Industries

Donald F. Smith, Jr., RIDC of Southwestern Pennsylvania (Q2 2018)

Companies in emerging industries need to feel they are working in partnership with the developers/landlords who are trying to attract them to their properties. More

Front Line: Construction Industry Faces a Labor Shortage

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2018)

As construction labor market tightens, will project deadlines slip? More

Front Line: A New Age for Trucking

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2018)

High driver turnover, the new mandate limiting drivers’ hours on the road, and the boom in e-commerce are spurring the adoption of driverless trucks. More

Front Line: Amazon’s HQ2 Finalists Reflect a Growing Shift in Geographical Clout

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2018)

The 20 finalist locations for Amazon’s second headquarters location include several smaller cities that are not typically thought of as technology centers. More

Front Line: The Competition for Amazon’s HQ2

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2017)

Like contestants at a beauty pageant, cities across the U.S. and Canada are eagerly awaiting the announcement: where will Amazon decide to build its new $5 billion second headquarters, which will create 50,000 jobs? More

Front Line: A Federal Attempt to Streamline the Permitting Process

Tom Ewing, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2017)

With the realization that major infrastructure projects are critical to economic development, the federal government is attempting to streamline the environmental permitting process. More

Front Line: A New Focus on Apprenticeship Programs

Tom Gresham (Q3 2017)

Apprenticeships have entered the spotlight as a promising solution to the shortage of skilled workers, especially for manufacturers. More

Frontline: Apple’s $1 Billion Fund to Support U.S. Manufacturing

Mark Crawford, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2017)

Among the goals of Apple’s $1billion fund is the creation of thousands of new manufacturing jobs, especially in the computers and electronics fields. More

Frontline: Regulatory Reform Taking Center Stage

Tom Ewing, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2017)

Comments in response to the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning’s request-for-information about federal permitting and regulatory challenges will identify some of the specific obstacles businesses face when trying to achieve growth. More

Frontline: Fourth Industrial Revolution Takes Off, “Localizing” Site Selection Requirements

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2017)

The adoption of new technology — in what’s been called “the fourth industrial revolution” — will benefit the entire manufacturing ecosystem. More

Frontline: 21st Century Cures Act May Spur Pharma/ Medical Device Expansions in U.S.

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2017)

Funding provided by the 21st Century Cures Act, as well changes in FDA approval procedures, may lead pharma and medical device companies to expand their operations, with an eye on U.S. locations to accommodate the new administration’s interventions. More

Frontline: One-Year Update on the Revised Ozone Standard

Tom Ewing, Staff Editor, Area Development (Directory 2017)

September 30th marked an important clean air deadline. That’s when governors had to send EPA a list of in-state regions judged to comply, or not, with the revised ozone (O3) standard, changed one year earlier, October 1, 2015. More

Frontline: Defend Trade Secrets Act Gives Added Protection for Tech Companies

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Directory 2017)

The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), signed into law in May, 2016 by President Obama, has received wide industry praise from manufacturers as well as industry trade organizations. More

Frontline: Women Will Help Fill the Manufacturing Skills Gap

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2016)

Realizing that women are an untapped labor pool for manufacturers, several companies are undertaking initiatives to recruit and develop the best female talent. More

Trucking Industry Challenges Impact Costs, Productivity

Mark Crawford, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2016)

Trucking companies are facing numerous regulations, an aging workforce and tightening conditions for hauling capacity, all of which will have a significant impact on corporate supply chains. More

Frontline: Cities Pledge to Reduce and Track Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Tom Ewing, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2016)

With the formation of the Compact of Mayors, cities worldwide are preparing GHG inventories for buildings and transport and hope to link this data to development priorities. More

Frontline: Forward-Thinking Companies Leveraging Additive Manufacturing

Mark Crawford, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2016)

Companies with visionary leaders who are proactive and invest in emerging technologies now will reap the payoffs in the future. More

Frontline: New Tech Havens Bloom as Digitization Transforms U.S. Economy

Dale D. Buss, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2016)

The fluidity of digital innovation - and its lack of dependence on a traditional industrial infrastructure - means that tech havens are blooming in newer magnets where tech-savvy workers are prevalent, ranging from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Richmond, Virginia. More

Frontline: Sale-Leasebacks Allow Companies to Redeploy Capital

Dan Emerson, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2016)

When companies decide to invest in new, custom-built manufacturing or distribution center facilities, they typically do so because of a lack of existing buildings that would meet their needs. But investing in a new facility doesn’t always mean long-term ownership. Sometimes companies opt to sell the facility and then lease it back. More

Frontline: Incubators Help Startups to Grow and Succeed

Dale D. Buss, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2016)

Startup fever is exploding across America, as a slow-growth economy, corporate job cutbacks, and the work ethos and expectations of the burgeoning millennial generation reshape the business landscape. More

Beyond Silicon Valley: Promising New Tech Boomtowns

Steffen Kammerer, Senior Vice President, Technology Practice Group, JLL (Q1 2016)

In its quest for lower costs, modern facilities, and access to talent, the booming tech sector is finding it can strike gold outside California. More

Frontline: Implementing the New Ozone Standard - First Steps

Tom Ewing, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q1 2016)

Many urban industrial facility managers are familiar with working in nonattainment areas. But a new lower standard will sweep in new territory. More

Frontline: IQ Orlando Brings High-Tech Life Science Innovation to Central Florida

Mark Crawford, Staff Editor, Area Development (Directory 2016)

Established in 2014, IQ Orlando looks to identify, recruit, and invest in a capital network for life sciences and healthcare companies. More

Frontline: Drones Redefine the Use of Commercial Airspace

Mark Crawford, Staff Editor, Area Development (Directory 2016)

The FAA is in the process of establishing regulations for the commercial use of drones, the use of which is also supposed to be a boon to the telecommunications industry. More

Frontline: Part-Timers (By Choice) Diversify the Workforce

Mark Crawford, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2015)

There is a growing population of workers who, by choice, prefer to work part-time hours. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figure cited by Bloomberg, six million Americans are choosing to work part time — an increase of about 12 percent since 2007. More

Frontline: Walmart’s “Made in USA” Program Encourages Reshoring

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q4 2015)

This year Walmart partnered with the Reshoring Initiative to help companies manufacture more consumer products in the U.S. The mission of the Reshoring Initiative is to bring good, well-paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States by assisting companies to more accurately assess their total cost of offshoring, and shift collective thinking from “offshoring is cheaper” to “local reduces the total cost of ownership.” More

Frontline: West Coast Ports Unite to Solve Challenges

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q3 2015)

Manufacturers of imported and exported goods between the United States and Asia let out a huge sigh of relief in late May when a five-year contract that governs pay and work rules at 29 West Coast ports was finally ratified. Despite the ratified agreement, manufacturers are certain that strikes and delays will continue at West Coast ports. More

Frontline: NIH Expands Its REACH

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2015)

Bioresearch got a shot in the arm when the National Institutes of Health announced that three proof-of-concept hubs would join three already existing Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs: The Long Island Bioscience Hub, The University of Louisville and The University of Minnesota. More

Frontline: Metro Areas Join in Export Initiatives

Karen Thuermer, Staff Editor, Area Development (Q2 2015)

To date, 28 cities across the country have come together under a pilot program called the Global Cities Initiative (GCI) to develop their foreign direct investment plans and volume of exports. More

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