Sloss Incentive's Newsletter 9th Edition

Welcome back! Wherever you live I hope Spring has finally arrived. Here in South Dakota, Mother Nature has decided we aren't worthy of Spring and insists on allowing it to continue to snow into April. Not a fan. I digress. This is the 9th Edition of the Sloss Incentive Newsletter and I am excited to bring this one to you along with some especially significant news for me and my family. As always, please like, comment, and share this newsletter as it really helps me out a lot. As of this writing, I have 600 subscribers to the newsletter and I am so grateful to each and every one of you! I hope you enjoy this edition!

1. Roneshia Thomas recently wrote an article for Business Facilities magazine about the important role business and industrial parks play in economic development and site selection. The article includes information on several parks across the country. If you or a client are looking for new sites this article is worth the read! #businesspark #industrialparks

2. Six Lehigh Valley businesses were awarded $1.1 million to spur economic growth in the region. #pennsylvania

3. Five companies could potentially bring nearly 1,300 new jobs across Colorado with economic development incentives to entice them. The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade's Economic Development Commission Thursday approved just over $14 million in economic incentives for five companies identified only by project names to keep the company's names secret during negotiations.?#colorado?#incentives?#economicdevelopment

4. A Canadian, plant-based meat company recently announced plans on operating its first US-based operation in Snohomish County, Washington. Meat Factory will invest $20 million in a formerly closed production facility and create up to 150 new jobs. “The establishment of No Meat Factory in Stanwood represents a significant investment in our local economy and a testament to our region’s skilled workforce,” said Garry Clark , Economic Alliance Snohomish County CEO, and president. “We are proud to support this venture and to see the return of over 100 food processing jobs to our community.” #washington

5. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) recently launched a new program to give away free marketing services to small businesses. The Small Business E-commerce Support Program launched this month as part of the state’s Main Street Recovery Finance Program, a $100 million small business support program included in the state’s 2020 Economic Recovery Act. “We’re trying to really reduce the burden of running a small business and alleviate some of the pain points,” said Christina Fuentes , NJEDA’s vice president of community and business development. #newjersey #smallbusiness #marketing

6. To address the nation’s job skills gap, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH) recently offered a bipartisan bill that would provide federal tax incentives to encourage more businesses to hire apprentices. First introduced in 2013 by former U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), the LEAP Act has been updated by Reps. Carey and Budzinski to eliminate age limits and emphasize the eligibility of pre-apprenticeship programs, according to the summary.?#apprenticeship

7. Baker Tilly US and Ever.green have launched an online marketplace for clean energy tax credits. The tax credit marketplace, which includes tools for estimating the potential value of tax credits under the IRA, is already mostly functional for solar developers, according to Ever.green co-founder and CEO Cris Eugster. For potential buyers of tax credits, Ever.green is still playing a consultant-type role until the outstanding tax credit guidance from the IRS is released, enabling a more standardized marketplace experience. #bakertilly #energytaxcredits #ira #inflationreductionact

8. Eric Stavriotis?recently wrote an article for?Area Development?about the changing of priorities for corporations in their site selection methodologies. You can read all about it below!? #siteselection?#realestate? #corporaterealestate? #CRE

9. Seems like we are constantly hearing the narrative that companies are fleeing California for Texas but I am not 100% buying it. Nevertheless, here is another article stating it as a fact. I believe many companies are choosing to expand in Texas versus California but will continue to maintain their operations in California. Tesla is a perfect example of that. #california #texas #tesla

10. Arkansas continues to see high growth levels, due in large part to the war in Ukraine. The state is home to some of the largest defense contractors in the United States. #arkansas #ukraine

11. Did you know you can take a course in Development Economics? You can watch the video below for an overview or head over to mru.org for all their offerings.

12. The Detroit City Council recently approved $1.5 billion dollars for the District Detroit project. The $1.5 billion mixed-use project, which Olympia Development and Related Companies spearhead, will feature 10 renovated buildings, such as affordable housing, hotels, office and retail spaces between Comerica Park and the Little Caesars Arena. #michigan #detroit

13. CS Wind America plans on expanding an existing Vesta Blades America plant in Pueblo, Colorado. The plant will be expanded to 900,000 square feet and will increase the total employment at the facility to 1500 workers.

14. Does your company currently utilize the Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)? If you do, how do you track the success of your WOTC program? If you don't you should consider adding the screening questions to your onboarding process. By doing so you can turn the HR department into a profit center rather than just overhead.

15. Jacob Everett, CEcD wrote an article that analyzes how federal legislation has impacted companies' future investment plans. With a tight labor market and rising costs, executives are hopeful recent legislation will help them continue to invest in their futures.

16. Taylor Murray recently authored an article on how rural communities can position themselves for success in the site selection game. He discusses focusing on sites, supply chains and workforce. #supplychain #workforce

17. The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) continues to make the news (and not always in a good way.) Check out the article from Experian about how to ensure your business or clients will qualify. Thanks to Matthew Kelley for sharing this on LinkedIn last week. #ERC

18. The City that Never Sleeps, recently announced two new life sciences facilities that will locate in NYC. Mayor Eric Adams has committed to life sciences centered around sustainable activities. #newyork #nyc #lifesciences

19. Cummins recently announced a new facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The new facility will serve as a tech hub and satellite office for the company. The Hub holds significant location incentives, including an additional link to existing Atlanta-based Cummins facilities and allowing employees and productions to have a major transportation corridor to connect with customers and dealers within the region. #atlanta #georgia #tech

20. Beth Land, MBA, CEcD recently wrote a piece on state product development trends and their impact on site selection for mega industrial projects. #megaprojects

21. Toyota Boshoku Tennessee recently announced an expansion of their metal stamping operations in Madison County, Tennessee. The project will create 80 new jobs and will include an investment of over $54 million. “When a company chooses to expand in our state, it is not only a testament to Tennessee’s workforce and business climate but also to the community that the company calls home,” said? Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development ?(TNECD) Commissioner?Stuart McWhorter. #tennessee

22. My former EY colleague Kelley Rendziperis from Site Selection Group, LLC wrote an article on the importance of incentive compliance when it comes to securing deals. She suggests three ways to enhance your compliance efforts.

23. Are you an economic development professional working in a smaller community? If so, you may find the following opportunity of interest. Dane Carlson is attempting to crowdsource a collection of site selection examples for smaller communities. Feel free to contribute below.

24. Hoover Treated Wood Products announced a new state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield, Texas. The company will employ 50 new employees and the facility is slated to open at the end of 2023. Fairfield EDC was paramount in securing the company’s expansion into Texas and aided with a land grant at the Fairfield Industrial Park South. “Fairfield EDC is focused on helping businesses create products and services that grow beyond our local economy,” said David Fowler , President,?Fairfield Economic Development Corporation.?#texas

25. Elijah Moore recently wrote about the increased activity in the United States for EV manufacturers and highlights the many challenges these projects face when it comes to site selection. #evmanufacturing #ev

26. Interested in "recession proofing" your economic development efforts in your community? If so, check out the article below from Golden Shovel Agency Thanks to Warren Westcott for sharing this piece. #recession

27. Hanwha Advanced Materials is building a new facility in Cartersville, Georgia. The project will invest more than $147 million and create 160 new jobs. Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hanwha Group and will supply Qcells with encapsulant film. These materials are used in solar cells to ensure long-term panel durability. HAGA will be the only company in the United States manufacturing solar encapsulants. #georgia #solarpanels

28. Sempa announced it will launch a new LNG facility in Port Arthur, Texas, and invest $13 billion as part of the project.

That will do it for this edition of the newsletter. I hope you found it informative, interesting, or otherwise positive. Feel free to send me any articles or material you think would be of interest to our community. As always, I welcome any suggestions, comments, or critiques. Until next time stay cool!