Now more than ever before with projects, local economic development teams are asking consultants to wait until after the election. That is a sentence that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Here is what it means for how the job gets done.
Why Streamlined Environmental Review Is Now a Strategic Imperative.
Charlie Smith, managing director of geopolitical strategy at Newmark Global Strategy discusses the current trade tensions across North America and their implications with his colleagues, managing director Carlos Sanchez (based in Mexico) and senior managing director Gregg Wassmansdorf (based in Canada).
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.
Infrastructure can power your supply chain—but only when planned with foresight.
With supply chain pressures mounting, America’s logistics network is being rebuilt from the ground up and states are competing for the infrastructure edge by investing in ports, air cargo, and cold storage.
A discussion with JC Renshaw (Savills), Joe Dunlap (Legacy Investing) and Matt Powers (OnPace Partners), about the state of rail infrastructure for site selectors.
U.S. faces challenges in reducing reliance on China for rare earths.
Exceptional project experiences rarely happen by accident. The communities that stand out build systems that empower employees to create memorable moments when they matter most.
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.
Companies are changing how they forecast demand, manage inventory, and make location decisions — and that transformation is happening against a backdrop of tariff turbulence, nearshoring pressure, and relentless port volatility. Here's how to read the signals.
Biotech firms face delays in programming, permitting, and infrastructure as they scale from lab to production.
Why chasing the biggest package can derail site selection decisions before they begin.
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.
New challenges—from automation to federal fallout—are testing how companies manage risk in incentive-backed projects
States and cities have tied incentives to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals — such as subcontracting targets or workforce composition — but a new executive order from the Trump administration and related lawsuits are raising the legal stakes. That raises new questions about what’s lawful and what’s not when it comes to DEI, affirmative action, and the use of contracting targets — and how that may impact your next location decision.
Manufacturers and corporate real estate executives often talk about speed to market and clarity of process as deciding factors in site selection. Fort Worth is testing what happens when a city reorganizes itself around those principles.
How to plan manufacturing facilities with safety in mind.
Although records have been set for massive industrial spaces, the market has been shifting to smaller buildings.
To find out more about the current cyber threats companies are facing and their responses to such threats, Area Development’s staff writer, Lisa Bastian, interviewed Michael Morris, a managing director in Deloitte’s Cyber Detect & Respond practice.
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.
How a factory went from an idea to operational in about two years.
Legal risks and the rise of the AI clause in construction contracts.
The energy transition is reshaping real estate strategy as utilities and corporations compete for control of generation assets.
Why land constraints—not incentives or labor—are eliminating manufacturing sites before the process even begins.
In Elkhart, Indiana, a 171,000-square-foot “wood warehouse” built by Graycor may point the way toward a more sustainable model for industrial construction.
Georgia’s newest innovation district bets big on climate-ready infrastructure and long-term planning.
Faced with the prospect of building a massive $700 million surface reservoir, Greeley instead pursued something few communities have dared to try.
Introducing the Area Development State Talent Pipeline Ranking.
Salary transparency in job listings offers new insights into wages.
Could a prolonged strike have disrupted U.S. supply chains further?
The new year brings some significant changes that will impact employers who have entry-level workers, with 22 states raising their minimum wages effective January 1st.
Four conversations from SelectUSA and the field reveal what’s driving investment now — from Mississippi’s execution model and workforce pipelines to project delays and a surge in Korean manufacturing interest across the Southeast.
As investment surges, a thinning workforce forces companies to rethink where—and how—they build in America.
AI is freeing skilled tradespeople to focus on craftsmanship, safety, and growth as labor pressures intensify.
Employers must modernize their training programs if they want to attract and retain the next generation.
AI isn’t eliminating jobs—at least not yet. But it is quietly reshaping how companies hire, and where those jobs show up.
Reestablishing the value of the office has driven trends in workplace investment and location strategy
Workforce demographics are reshaping how and where companies design and locate their offices.
Companies nowadays must understand how people live, work, and connect to the workplace.
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.
An examination of how Mississippi is structuring large industrial projects: maintaining excess power capacity, pre serving sites with utilities in place, and coordinating workforce development through a single entity to reduce timing gaps across infrastructure, permitting, and hiring.
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.
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.
How Oklahoma landed the first new U.S. aluminum smelter in 45 years and why the investment structure matters most.
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.
Northern Workforce Training Center is opening two facilities this July that bet the region’s future on a gap most people haven’t noticed.
Some utilities are experimenting with flexible-load strategies that could help data centers and manufacturers access capacity faster without waiting years for new generation.
Smaller and mid-sized U.S. metros are outpacing big cities, leveraging workforce agility, affordability, and livability to redefine competitiveness and attract investment in 2025.
Simply put, companies want to locate and expand in places where people want to move to and live.
Area Development’s 2024 Leading Metro Locations report reveals shifting dynamics in America’s cities.
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.
Certain states just have the right ingredients for attracting and nurturing business growth. The 2024 Top States for Doing Business rankings are in, and guess what? The Southern states are shining bright once again.
Companies across industry sectors are having trouble finding all the talent they need, which makes workforce development programs even more vital as a location factor.
A roundup of programs—and the consultants who know what they’re worth.
With hybrid work now a constant, corporate real estate leaders are shifting from “wait-and-see” to execution. The result: less space, higher cost per square foot, and a growing premium on offices that deliver measurable value in collaboration, culture and talent outcomes.
Oil and gas industry consolidation will likely lead to increased demands for higher-quality offices in top locations.
Companies prioritize values and mission when choosing modern headquarters locations.
Why the real constraint isn’t always supply—and why the risk is still real.
What Alphabet’s century bond signals about the future of data center site selection.
The race to build AI infrastructure is no longer just a technology story — it’s a geopolitical one.
Area Development magazine caught up with its Q2 guest editors, Ford Graham and Steven Pearce from McGuireWoods consulting, to talk about their reporting on data center supply chains. We also invited Ermengarde Jabir Director of Economic Research at Moody’s to join the discussion.
Industrial real estate is entering a new phase as tariff policy, slowing e-commerce growth, and changing trade routes reshape where demand is strongest — and where vacancy is rising fastest.
With demand stabilizing, industrial occupiers are shifting from rapid expansion to disciplined execution. The result is fewer speculative projects, more build-to-suit activity, and a growing premium on facilities that deliver efficiency, automation capacity, and reliable access to labor and customers.
Embedding automation into leases may offer companies a smarter way to balance risk, cost and productivity.
Partnerships with local economic developers and other community stakeholders are key to a company getting approval to site a big-box distribution center.
Why infrastructure readiness and utility capacity now determine whether a project moves forward—or stalls before it begins.
Capital, infrastructure, power and workforce now define competitive manufacturing locations.
In an undersupplied NYC market, a historic multistory facility shows why what seemed obsolete is now indispensable for last-mile distribution.
A surge of new supply, aging legacy facilities, and shifting operator strategies are creating a widening divide between modern, efficient assets and obsolete space across the nation’s cold storage footprint.
With research strength, manufacturing depth, and a statewide workforce strategy, Wisconsin is positioning itself as a destination for biohealth and biopharma growth.
Tennessee's surging foreign direct investment numbers—record capital, landmark deals, and a strategic focus on critical industries—signal a state competing and winning on the global stage.
Middlesex County, New Jersey is rewriting the economic development playbook — one relationship at a time.
Virginia is pairing industry investment, academic partnerships and workforce development to build a resilient biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.
As site scarcity shifts corporate decisions from parcels to people, execution—not assets—is becoming the real differentiator.
The permanent extension of Opportunity Zones under the 2025 OBBBA creates a rare opening for business leaders to shape where federal investment flows — and rural America may hold the strongest opportunities for long-term strategic growth.
With federal action slowing and market forces accelerating, private firms are finding that the most effective policy responses—on issues like energy, housing, and workforce—are coming from state and local governments with the agility to act.
A return to American manufacturing demands more than factories — it requires coordinated, community-wide ecosystem development
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.
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.
AI is reshaping site strategy. This episode explores compressing “Time to First Token,” power-first location decisions, and the execution discipline executives need as data centers scale, faster than real estate cycles.
From advanced nuclear to mass-timber logistics facilities and Atlanta’s next growth chapter, this podcast episode connects the dots on energy, workforce, and infrastructure decisions shaping competitive locations nationwide.
As grid capacity tightens, manufacturers must treat energy as a core site selection filter.
The means by which information is delivered has, of course, changed over the last three decades, but Area Development will continue to provide our readers with what they require to make informed site and facility planning decisions.
The consumption of electricity is only predicted to increase as the digital transformation of industry continues and, consequently, access to electricity has become a dominant site selection factor.
With a worker shortage that seems destined to persist, employers are turning to AI/automation and upskilling, while also realizing that comprehensive immigration reform is necessary to fill gaps in the labor force.
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