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Ohio Wins Site Selection Magazine’s Governor’s Cup Award for 2006

Atlanta, March 1, 2007: Ohio has won the 2006 Site Selection Governor’s Cup, which the 53yearold Atlantabased magazine has awarded annually since 1978 to the U.S. state with the most new and expanded corporate facilities as tracked by Conway Data Inc.’s New Plant database. Conway Data publishes Site Selection, the oldest publication in the corporate real estate and economic development field, and the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC, at www.iamc.org). Site Selection’s yearly analyses are regarded by corporate real estate analysts as “the industry scoreboard.” The magazine’s circulation base consists of 44,000 executives involved in corporate site selection decisions, most at the CEO/President/COO level.

Ohio claims the 2006 Governor’s Cup with 431 projects, after coming in second the

previous two years. It also claimed the 2003 award. Texas came in second this year with 363 projects, followed by North Carolina (316), Virginia (281) and Georgia (267).

Much of the credit for Ohio’s reclaiming the top spot goes to former Lt. Governor Bruce Johnson, who headed the state’s economic development efforts and the Ohio Department of Development. Johnson is now president of the InterUniversity Council of Ohio, an association of the state’s 14 public universities.

“It’s talent and work force and a sense that Midwestern workers are awfully productive,” Johnson said of the Governor’s Cup victory.

“The tax changes that were put in place in 2006 caught a lot of people’s attention — getting rid of the corporate franchise tax and the tangible personal property tax or phasing in those processes, as well as reducing our personal income taxes,” Andrew Doehrel, president of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, told Site Selection Editor Mark Arend. Doehrel also credits recent workers’ comp and tort reform efforts.

Johnson, Doehrel and Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted (RKettering) are optimistic about the ability of newly elected Gov. Ted Strickland to keep the economic development momentum on track.

“The one thing Democrats and Republicans will continue to unite around in Ohio is job creation” Husted says in the magazine’s March issue.

“The Taft administration put significant resources into improving Ohio’s business climate, and Bruce Johnson was central to that effort,” says Mark Arend, editor of Site Selection. “All indications are that a smooth transition to the Strickland administration took place in the development arena, and we look forward to watching their progress.”

The magazine’s New Plant database focuses on new corporate location projects with significant impact. It does not track retail and government projects, or schools and hospitals. New facilities and expansions included in the analyses must meet at least one of three criteria: (a) involve a capital investment of at least US$1 million, (b) create at least 50 new jobs or (c) add at least 20,000 sq. ft. (1,858 sq. m.) of new floor area. As of this year’s tally, Site Selection no longer counts speculative building or hotel projects, which are now being fed into an associated infrastructure database.

More New Plant Tallies

This year also marks the debut of a new tiered system for ranking the nation’s Top Metros for new and expanded facilities in 2006, in keeping with a similar trend among corporations looking to midsized and small cities for projects. For metro areas with populations over 1 million, this year’s Top 10 Metros, in order, were Chicago, Washington/Arlington/Alexandria, Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Marietta, DallasFort Worth/Arlington, Cincinnati/Middletown, Detroit/Warren/Livonia, Houston/Baytown/Sugar Land, Charlotte/Gastonia/Concord, and, tied for ninth, Indianapolis and Nashville/Davidson/Murfreesboro.

In the second tier of metros, comprising populations between 200,000 and 1 million, the top performers, in order, were GreensboroHigh Point, N.C.; Grand RapidsWyoming, Mich.; Huntsville, Ala.; Tulsa, Okla.; McAllenEdinburgPharr, Texas; RaleighCary, N.C.; Durham, N.C.; HagerstownMartinsburg, Md.W. Va.; and, in a threeway tie for ninth, Dayton, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and AlbanySchenectadyTroy, N.Y.

Tier Three, comprising populations between 50,000 and 200,000, was led by AuburnOpelika, Ala. Following on its heels was instate rival Tuscaloosa, followed by Sioux City, IowaNeb. ; Valdosta, Ga.; BlacksburgChristiansburgRadford, Va.; Harrisonburg, Va.; ParkersburgMarietta, W.Va.Ohio; Terre Haute, Ind.; Decatur, Ala.; and Danville, Va.

In the magazine’s ranking of Top Micropolitans — cities of 10,000 to 50,000 people which cover at least one county — StatesvilleMooresville, N.C., claimed the top prize among the nation’s 674 micropolitan areas for the third year in a row, followed by Wooster, Ohio; Tupelo, Miss.; DaphneFairhope, Ala.; and Batavia, N.Y.

All of the above stories are posted at the magazine’s awardwinning Web site,

www.siteselection.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: The New Plant Database figures in the online versions of Site Selection’s March 2007 stories supersede the figures in the print edition.