Top 10 2010 Projects | Silver Shovel Winners
Alabama Population: 4.7 Million
-
- Company
- City/County
- N/E
- #Jobs
- Inv. Amt.
- Industry
-
- 1.
- Austal USA
- Mobile
- E
- 2,000
- $160 million
- Ship Building
-
- 2.
- Hyundai Power Transformers USA
- Montgomery
- N
- 1,000
- $125 million
- Electric Transformers
-
- 3.
- Dollar General
- Bessemer
- N
- 650
- $60 million
- Distribution
-
- 4.
- Dynetics Inc.
- Huntsville
- E
- 350
- $52.5 million
- R&D
-
- 5.
- Raytheon Co.
- Huntsville
- E
- 300
- $74.2 million
- Physical & Biological Research
-
- 6.
- SSAB
- Axis
- E
- 137
- $290 million
- Steel Plates
-
- 7.
- Mobis
Alabama LLC - Montgomery
- E
- 250
- $59.7 million
- Automotive Parts/
Plastics
-
- 8.
- GE Aviation
- Auburn
- N
- 200
- $50 million
- Jet Engine Coatings
-
- 9.
- Glovis of Georgia
- Valley
- N
- 200
- $20 million
- Warehousing & Logistics
-
- 10.
- AP Plasman Corp.
- Fort Payne
- N
- 200
- $14 million
- Automotive Parts/
Plastics
- * Top 10 projects as supplied by state's economic development agency.
Top 10 2010 Projects | Silver Shovel Winner
Kentucky Population: 4.3 Million
-
- Company
- City/County
- N/E
- #Jobs
- Inv. Amt.
- Industry
-
- 1.
- Ford Motor Co.
- Louisville
- E
- 1,800
- $600 million
- Automotive
-
- 2.
- ZF Steering Systems, LLC
- Boone Cty.
- E
- 374
- $95 million
- Automotive
-
- 3.
- Fruit of the
Loom - Bowling Green
- E
- 600
- $47 million
- HQ/
Textiles
-
- 4.
- Corning Display Technologies
- Harrodsburg
- E
- 80
- $186.6 million
- Specialty Glass/
Ceramics
-
- 5.
- Tractor Supply Co.
- Simpson Cty.
- N
- 216
- $53.1 million
- Distribution
-
- 6.
- Bremner, Inc.
- Princeton
- E
- 111
- $62.1 million
- Food Packaging
-
- 7.
- Faurecia
Interior
Sytems, Inc. - Louisville
- N
- 425
- $33.6 million
- Automotive
-
- 8.
- Armstrong
Mines and
Processing - Centertown
- E
- 250
- $35 million
- Coal Production
-
- 9.
- US Bank
Home
Mortgage - Owensboro
- E
- 500
- $14.1 million
- Financial Services
-
- 10.
- Magna Seating of America, Inc.
- Shepherds-
ville - N
- 360
- $15.5 million
- Automotive
- * Top 10 projects as supplied by state's economic development agency.
Top 10 2010 Projects | Silver Shovel Winners
Louisiana Population: 4.5 Million
-
- Company
- City/County
- N/E
- #Jobs
- Inv. Amt.
- Industry
-
- 1.
- Nucor Corp.
- St. James
- N
- 1,250
- $3.4 billion
- Iron & Steel Parish
-
- 2.
- Blade Dynamics
- New Orleans
- N
- 600
- $13 million
- Wind Turbine Blades
-
- 3.
- Globalstar
- Covington
- N
- 500
- $3 million
- Comms. Headquarters
-
- 4.
- DG Foods
- Bastrop
- N
- 317
- $10 million
- Poultry Processing
-
- 5.
- Aeroframe Services
- Lake Charles
- E
- 300
- $2 million
- Aircraft MRO
-
- 6.
- Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations, Inc.
- Bossier City
- E
- 277
- $28 million
- Oilfield Services
-
- 7.
- CQMS
- Mansfield
- E
- 200
- $9 million
- Tool Manufacturing
-
- 8.
- BJ Services
- Shreveport
- N
- 133
- $65 million
- Petroleum Industry Headquarters
-
- 9.
- Folgers Coffee Co.
- Orleans/St. Tammany Parish
- E
- 120
- $69 million
- Coffee Production
-
- 10.
- Louisiana Sugar Refinery
- Gramercy
- N
- 127
- $190 million
- Sugar Refinery
- * Top 10 projects as supplied by state's economic development agency.
Top 10 2010 Projects | Silver Shovel Winner
Tennessee Population: 6.3 Million
-
- Company
- City/County
- N/E
- #Jobs
- Inv. Amt.
- Industry
-
- 1.
- GM Spring Hill Manufacturing
- Spring Hill
- E
- 483
- $483 million
- Automotive
-
- 2.
- Electrolux Corp.
- Memphis
- E
- 1,200
- $190 million
- Appliances
-
- 3.
- Olin Corp.
- Charleston
- E
- N/A
- $160 million
- Chemicals
-
- 4.
- Whirlpool Cleveland Division
- Cleveland
- E
- 130
- $120 million
- Appliances
-
- 5.
- Amazon.com, Inc.
- Chattanooga/
Cleveland - N
- 1,477
- $164 million
- Distribution
-
- 6.
- General Mills
- Murfreesboro
- E
- 80
- $100 million
- Food Processing
-
- 7.
- Jackson
National Life
Insurance Co. - Franklin
- N
- 723
- $10 million
- Insurance
-
- 8.
- IB-Tech
- Mount
Pleasant - N
- 385
- $50 million
- Automotive Parts
-
- 9.
- Wei-Chuan
USA, Inc. - Murfreesboro
- N
- 317
- $19 million
- Food Products
-
- 10.
- HealthSpring
- Nashville
- E
- 315
- $53 million
- Insurance
- * Top 10 projects as supplied by state's economic development agency.
Alabama
Alabama has won Silver or Gold Shovel awards for every year of the competition, thanks to its strong manufacturing base - both for traditional and high-tech industries. It is also adding to its reputation as an R&D destination: Dynetics and Ratheon are investing $52.5 million and $74.2 million, respectively, to build state-of-the-art research facilities in Huntsville that represent a combined total of nearly 700 jobs. GE Aviation has announced it will build a $50 million, 200,000- square-foot environmental coatings facility at West Technology Park in Auburn. The facility will enhance components for the GE/Rolls-Royce F136 jet engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) F-35 program. The logistics and distribution sector is also seeing growth this year. Glovis of Georgia is planning a $20 million warehousing and logistics facility, and Dollar General will construct a one-million-square-foot distribution center in Bessemer, creating 650 jobs. "The Birmingham region is a great fit for our needs," says Tawn Earnest, senior director of corporate communications at Dollar General. "We already serve shoppers in this region and have more than 100 neighborhood stores."
Kentucky
This is Kentucky's second Silver Shovel Award, having received one in 2007. Kentucky's robust manufacturing base accounts for nearly 20 percent of the state's GDP. Key industries are automotive, aerospace, safety equipment, specialty chemicals, veterinary tools, defense systems, biological research supplies, textiles, wood, plastics, machinery, and primary metals. Kentucky ranks third in the U.S. for the number of automobiles and trucks it produces. Ford Motor Company plans a $600 million expansion at its Louisville Assembly Plant (LAP). The upgrade will enable the production of the next-generation Escape for the North America market, creating 1,800 jobs. ZF Steering Systems LLC will also undertake a $95.8 million expansion of its Florence, Boone County, operation. The growth is required to meet the increased demand for the company's new and existing products, creating 374 full-time jobs over the next three years. "The area's skilled work force and competitive business environment were among the reasons we chose this location," comments Pierre Abboud, CEO of ZF Steering Systems.
Louisiana
Louisiana received a Silver Shovel last year and continues to show strong economic performance. According to the Pollina Corporate Real Estate's "Best State for Business" survey, Louisiana earned the first-ever "most-improved state" designation based on its gains from 2008 to 2010. Over that two-year period, Louisiana jumped 20 spots in national ranking. Not only is the state home to strong traditional industries, such as petrochemicals and shipbuilding, it is attracting high-tech industries as well, including clean tech, digital media, ICT, green manufacturing, and renewable energy. One of these companies is Blade Dynamics, which will build a $13 million facility in New Orleans to manufacture wind turbine blades, creating 600 new jobs; an additional 970 ancillary jobs are also expected. Blade Dynamics was attracted to New Orleans for a number of reasons, including the availability of specialized equipment previously funded by the state for the benefit of NASA, the state's work force assistance programs, and a competitive incentive package.
Tennessee
Tennessee received a Gold Shovel in 2009 and Silver Shovels in 2006 and 2010. The state is forecasting broad-based improvement in virtually every economic indicator this year. Manufacturing is expected to see its first job gains since the recession, with employment projected to rise 1.4 percent in 2011. Several manufacturers of appliances, equipment, chemicals, foods, and automobiles are moving forward with expansions. Electrolux is planning to build a $190 million home products manufacturing plant in Memphis. The 700,000-square-foot plant will eventually employ up to 1,200 workers. Amazon.com also announced it will open two distribution centers in Chattanooga (Hamilton County) and Bradley County, representing a total investment of more than $164 million dollars, two million square feet of space, and some 1,400 jobs. General Motors has announced it will invest $483 million in its power-train facility at Spring Hill by 2012, enabling the plant to produce the next-generation Ecotec (Emissions Control Optimization Technology) four-cylinder engine. The expansion requires nearly 500 additional workers. In another auto development, IB-Tech, a subsidiary of Japanese-owned auto parts manufacturer Imasen Electric Industrial Company, will open a $50 million production facility in Mount Pleasant to manufacture high-quality seat adjusters, creating 385 jobs. "The location, community support, and solid work force were key in our selection process," says John Freundner, assistant vice president of administration for IB-Tech.
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Methodology
Area Development's annual Gold and Silver Shovel Awards recognize states for their achievements in attracting high-value investment projects
that will create a significant number of new jobs in their communities. We collected information from all 50 states about their top-10
job-creation and investment projects initiated in 2010 (only those projects that actually had monies invested, "broke ground," began an expansion,
started new hiring, etc. were considered). Based on a combination of weighted factors - including the number of new jobs to be created
in relation to the state's population, the combined dollar amount of the investments, the number of new facilities, the diversity of industry
represented - three states achieving the highest weighted overall score are awarded Area Development's 2011 Gold Shovels. Runner-ups
in three population categories - over 9 million, between 4 and 9 million, and under 4 million - are awarded 2011 Silver Shovels..