For Immediate Release
March 3, 2008
The Sioux City Metro is number one for economic development with populations between 50,000 and 200,000, according to corporate real estate publication Site Selection magazine. Ron Starner, General Manager of Site Selection, made the announcement to a crowd of 150 business executives from Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota at a noon luncheon today.
During the 2007 calendar year the Sioux City Metro had 23 qualified projects, with second place Morristown, Tennessee totaling 15 projects. Site Selection, a 54-year-old corporate real estate publication based in Atlanta, Ga., annually tracks new corporate announcements of significant impact. The annual rankings appear in its March issue, distributed this week to more than 47,000 subscribers, who include the nation's top site selectors, CEO's and COO's. In a prepared statement, Mark Arend, Editor in Chief of Site Selection, stated "The Sioux City metro area's eight-project lead over the runner-up metros in its tier proves that the economic development strategy in place is highly effective. Clearly, the region has the workforce, infrastructure and business climate required by industrial site seekers."
The 2007 rankings scored the total number of economic development projects based on qualifying criteria established by the magazine's publisher, Conway Data, Inc. Tracked by Site Selection's "New Plant Database," the annual competition focuses on new corporate location projects of significant economic and community impact. Retail, government, school, and hospital projects are not eligible for consideration. New facilities and expansions included in the rankings must meet at least one of three criteria: capital investment of $1 million or more, creation of a minimum of 50 new jobs, or the addition of at least 20,000 square feet of new floor space. Based on the 2007 results, the Sioux City Metro is one of only two Top Ten communities in its category located west of the Mississippi River.
Communities included in the MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) are Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; South Sioux City, Nebraska; and Dakota Dunes and North Sioux City, South Dakota. The counties of Woodbury, Dakota, Dixon, and Union also comprise a portion of the Sioux City MSA.
With projects such as the Northwest Airlines Reservation Center [See USA Today article], Fed Ex and Soo Tractor expansions, Sioux City contributed several projects to the metro ranking and is confident about providing a significant number of qualified projects for 2008.
The Sioux City MSA tied for third place for the most new corporate location projects in Site Selection's 2006 rankings.
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Source: Sioux-City.org
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