Skilled Labor / STEM
Recent Features
Workforce Still Matters—But It's No Longer the First Filter
Why labor hasn't disappeared from site selection—but is now competing with power, land, and execution risk.
Why America's Largest Companies Are Investing in Skilled Trades
The biggest workforce challenge facing AI, advanced manufacturing and infrastructure projects isn't operating new facilities—it's finding enough skilled workers to build them.
Training for an Economy That Isn’t Fully Here Yet
Northland Workforce Training Center is opening two facilities this July that bet the region’s future on a gap most people haven’t noticed.
Contributed Content
Wisconsin is a Rising Force in Biohealth and Biopharma Manufacturing
With research strength, manufacturing depth, and a statewide workforce strategy, Wisconsin is positioning itself as a destination for biohealth and biopharma growth.
Editor's Note: A Higher Bar for Winning Projects
Projects are still advancing—but fewer are clearing internal hurdles. As assumptions around cost, timing, and delivery get tested, only the deals that stand up to full internal scrutiny are moving forward.
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.
21st Annual Shovel Awards: The Projects of the Year
The investments that stood apart for their scale, strategic significance, and economic impact — from advanced manufacturing and life sciences to headquarters expansions and AI-powered data centers.
21st Annual Shovel Awards: The American Industrial Economy Remade in Real Time
The competition for transformative projects is intensifying. From $10 billion data centers to next-generation manufacturing, this year’s Shovel Awards show which states are winning—and how they’re building durable industrial ecosystems.
First Person: UCB's $2 Billion Bet on Gwinnett County
For Philippe Mantelet, a $2 billion biologics facility represents more than a capital investment. In this interview, he outlines how UCB approaches site selection — balancing speed, infrastructure, talent, and long-term certainty — to make decisions that hold up well beyond the initial buildout.
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.
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.
Contributed Content
How Ohio Is Powering America’s Next Industrial Wave
With surging demand, business-friendly legislation and billions in investment, Ohio is building the energy infrastructure that factories, data centers and advanced manufacturers need to grow.
AI Isn’t Killing Jobs—It’s Reshaping Hiring
AI isn’t eliminating jobs—at least not yet. But it is quietly reshaping how companies hire, and where those jobs show up.
How AI Is Reshaping the Way Communities Compete for Investment
Why earned media—not websites—is becoming the front door to site selection.
Where Workforce Capacity Is Being Built — and Where It’s Being Deployed
Introducing the Area Development State Talent Pipeline Ranking.
40th Annual Corporate and 22nd Annual Consultant Site Selection Survey Results
For decades, the bedrock question of corporate site selection was some version of the same calculation: where can we do this most cheaply? That era is not simply fading. According to the results of Area Development's 2026 Annual Survey of Site Selection Consultants, it has ended. Welcome to the new era of operational certainty.
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
Contributed Content
Montgomery County, Maryland: A Global Hub for Growth and Innovation
Just outside Washington, D.C., Montgomery County pairs one of the nation’s most educated workforces with federal research assets, transit-connected development, and a deep life sciences cluster poised for its next phase of expansion.
What Companies Need from Modern Manufacturing Sites
Capital, infrastructure, power and workforce now define competitive manufacturing locations.
Advanced Manufacturing Isn’t a Buzzword—It’s a Different Location Strategy
Why companies expanding today must rethink labor, sites, and operational resilience.
Contributed Content
How Georgia Power’s Proprietary Tools and Data Analytics Are Reshaping Site Selection in Georgia
In today’s fast-moving business environment, site decisions increasingly hinge on the ability to turn complex data into actionable insights. Companies demand sites that can quickly meet operational, workforce, and infrastructure needs.
Contributed Content
Life Sciences Successes Validate Virginia’s Partnership-Focused Economic Development Model
Virginia’s life sciences surge in 2025 reflected years of coordinated workforce, education, and site readiness, attracting major investments from Lilly, AstraZeneca, and Merck through fast permitting and partnership-driven economic development.
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.
Editor's Note: The Year Site Selection Grew Up
Energy availability takes center stage as companies compete for grid capacity and rethink growth strategies
Contributed Content
Strategy Driven Location Decisions
How aligning operations with regional strengths drives better long-term performance than cost-focused site selection.
The Skilled Trades Are Ready for a Digital Future
AI is freeing skilled tradespeople to focus on craftsmanship, safety, and growth as labor pressures intensify.
Contributed Content
Montgomery County, Maryland: A Launchpad for Innovation and Development
A top-tier workforce and major developments position the county as a leading destination for modern industry.
Navigating Generational Differences in Location and Workplace Strategy
Workforce demographics are reshaping how and where companies design and locate their offices.
Why People Now Drive Place Strategy
Companies nowadays must understand how people live, work, and connect to the workplace.
The Office Is Back but Is the Portfolio Strategy Aligned?
Reestablishing the value of the office has driven trends in workplace investment and location strategy
If a Site Sounds Too Good to Be True…
Learn how to separate marketing spin from real-world readiness when evaluating community proposals.
America’s Aerospace Reboot
Once dominated by legacy clusters, aerospace site selection is evolving rapidly as companies prioritize speed, workforce specialization, and strategic proximity.
Scoring the Site
How site selectors score locations — and what executives should know about the process.
What We’re Getting Wrong About Gen Z’s Future in the Skilled Trades
Employers must modernize their training programs if they want to attract and retain the next generation.
