Commentary: Metros With Solid Prime Workforces Garner Significant Investment
Small and medium-sized metros with a pipeline of educated workers at a competitive cost are attracting companies looking for long-term growth.
Q4 2023
The process for evaluating potential new locations typically seeks to optimize between three areas: talent supply and quality, talent cost, and the local competitive environment. Metrics in each of these categories are evaluated to understand not just today’s market conditions but also its historical performance and likely future trajectory to ensure long-term sustainability for our clients.
The U.S. locations that tend to perform best are small to medium metros with robust university talent pipelines and above-average population growth driven by in-migration. Markets with a balanced competitive environment as measured by turnover rates, job posting volume, and wage inflation also perform best in that they pose less talent attraction and retention risk for our clients over the longer term.
Some of the top-ranked metros in Area Development’s report that we also see appearing frequently on the shortlist for office clients include places such as Salt Lake City-Provo, UT; Missoula, MT; Tampa, FL; Jacksonville, FL; Phoenix, AZ; and Charleston, SC (among others). While these locations have many differences, they’re similar in that they are all growing geographies with an educated workforce that is generally not oversaturated by competition, and they present talent cost savings opportunities, especially versus gateway coastal markets. On top of these factors, these locations also boast high quality of place and unique local character, which is attractive for clients looking to promote the relocation of employees from existing offices to their newly opened locations.
Project Announcements
PEAK Precision Manufacturing Plans Bowling Green, Kentucky, Operations
07/26/2024
Italy-Based Sipcam Agro USA Upgrades Wayne County, Mississippi, Operations
07/26/2024
Cleveland-Cliffs Plans Weirton, West Virginia, Operations
07/26/2024
IDEXX Laboratories Plans Wilson, North Carolina, Production Operations
07/26/2024
Germany-Based Ritz Instrument Transformers Plans Waynesboro, Georgia, Operations
07/26/2024
AirJoule Plans Newark-Wilmington, Delaware, Operations
07/26/2024
Most Read
-
19th Annual Area Development Gold and Silver Shovel Awards
Q2 2024
-
2023's Leading Metro Locations: Hotspots of Economic Growth
Q4 2023
-
2023 Top States for Doing Business Meet the Needs of Site Selectors
Q3 2023
-
The CHIPS and Science Act will bring jobs back to the United States
Q2 2024
-
The Bring Your Own Energy (BYOE) Party Is Starting
Q2 2024
-
2023 Top States Commentary: Top-Ranked States Have What It Takes to Win Mega Projects
Q3 2023
-
How to Overcome NIMBYism in Data Centers
Q2 2024