Six Regions in Virginia to Receive Economic Development Funding

Economic development organizations throughout the commonwealth are receiving $2.9 million in eight grant awards through Growth and Opportunity for Virginia, an organization that focuses on fostering sustainable regional economic growth in the commonwealth.

“These GO Virginia projects exemplify our commitment to fostering economic growth and creating opportunities across various regions,” said Gov. Glenn Youngkin. “By removing barriers to entrepreneurship, improving industrial sites and increasing the number of Virginia’s shovel-ready sites, we are propelling the growth of targeted industries and clearing pathways for sustainable employment.”

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Arizona Sees Record Number of Jobs in the State

The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) revealed Monday that efforts to work with companies to bring jobs to Arizona have paid off, bringing in the most jobs seen by the organization in a single year.

“For the second year in a row, Arizona economic development efforts broke records. During the 12-month fiscal period that ended June 30, 2022, the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) and local economic development agencies successfully worked with companies that committed to creating a projected 24,186 new Arizona jobs – a single year record. Those companies also committed to investing $10.75 billion in local communities,” according to the ACA.

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Communities Grant Program to Send $45 Million to 12 Connecticut Cities for Improvement Projects

Ned Lamont

A total of 12 cities will be receiving funding through Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new grant program.

The governor announced $45 million will be awarded through the Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant Program, which works to leverage $74 million in nonstate, private funding to prop up projects aimed at improving livability and vibrance of cities.

“Investing in our communities is a key part of our plan to accelerate long-lasting and equitable economic development in Connecticut,” Lamont said in a release. “This new grant program we launched will have wide-ranging impacts as we emerge stronger than ever from the pandemic, creating new jobs, improving the vibrancy and quality of life in our neighborhoods, and making all corners of the state even more attractive for investment and opportunity.”

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Commentary: Be Grateful for Global Warming

"It's not easy being green" sign in the middle of a crowd

Present-day warming has been termed a crisis, and modern economic development a cancer. But what if I told you that much of the recent advancement in human prosperity would have been impossible without the temperature increases of the last several hundred years?

A key to the sustenance of any society is food security. Today’s world should be grateful for today’s relative warmth as well as higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels because both have been instrumental in propelling plant growth globally.

A review of human and climate history reveals a strong link between the rise and fall of temperature and the rise and fall of civilization—just opposite of what the climate doomsayers are telling you.

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Economic Development Roundup: Green Hydrogen Fuel Production Plant Slated for Georgia

hydrogen fuel plant

Hydrogen solutions provider Plug Power will invest $84 million to open a green hydrogen fuel production plant in Kingsland, Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said.

The investment is expected to create 24 jobs in Camden County. Plug Power’s GenKey solution combines critical elements to power and fuel and provides services to Amazon, BMW, Southern Company, The Home Depot, Group Carrefour and Walmart.

“With this hydrogen production plant, we are expanding our green hydrogen network to provide zero-emissions fuel to customers in Georgia and across the Southeast,” Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said. “Investing in Camden County is the right choice to support Plug Power’s continued growth.”

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Florida Job Growth Grant Fund Accepting Applications

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) tweeted on Monday they are accepting proposals for new projects to be a part of the Job Growth Grant Fund. DEO is accepting applications coming off Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing Florida’s $101.5 billion budget last week.
The grant program is getting an extra $50 million from this year’s budget and over $24 million left unspent from 2019. In all, the program will have over $74 million to spend on communities seeking “workforce training and public infrastructure projects to support growth and employment in Florida.”

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Critics Question Gov. Whitmer’s $1.3 Million Spending on Holland Private Sector Jobs

Mission Design and Automation, LLC

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is spending taxpayer money on private business Mission Design and Automation in Holland Charter Township.

Mission will house new large-scale automation projects and space for offices and meeting rooms, but critics argue government funds shouldn’t be used to subsidize private enterprises.

Michigan awarded the private company $400,000 in taxpayer money through the Jobs Ready Michigan Program grant. The project is expected to generate a total private investment of $5.3 million and create 109 well-paying new jobs over two years.

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Franklin Lands Mitsubishi Motors Headquarters With 200 Jobs Moving Here Beginning in August

  Mitsubishi is saying “buh bye” to California’s high taxes and moving its headquarters to Franklin, multiple media outlets report. Mitsubishi was one of two final Japanese car manufacturers to have its headquarters in California, CNET said. Honda will be the lone Japanese holdout. Moving to Franklin will allow the company to be closer to its Alliance partner Nissan, which moved there around 13 years ago. Nashville Business Journal added that other Middle Tennessee automotive brand names include Bridgestone, General Motors, Hankook and suppliers and other related companies. The move will include about 200 jobs and an $18.25 million investment in corporate jobs including legal, finance, IT, sales and dealer operations. Mitsubishi is negotiating a long-term office lease plus a lease for interim use. A move to a temporary space will start in August and be done by the end of the year, Nashville Business Journal said. Automotive News said Mitsubishi cited Franklin’s high-tech community, cost savings, business-friendly work environment and, again, proximity to Nissan. Mitsubishi’s decision is yet another loss for Southern California, referred to in 2000 as “Motown West” for the concentration of automotive brands that based their U.S. operations there. Since then, the brands under Ford’s former…

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Nashville Draws $70 Million Corporate Finance Headquarters

A global asset management firm will build a $70 million corporate headquarters in Nashville, the state announced in a press release Wednesday, May 2. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe and AllianceBernstein L.P. (AB) officials made the announcement. The relocation of its company headquarters will create more than 1,000 corporate jobs, including positions in finance, IT, operations, legal, compliance, internal audit, human resources, sales and marketing, WSMV reported. “Tennessee is home to many world-renowned brands and we’re extremely proud to welcome AllianceBernstein, a global financial leader, to Nashville,” Haslam said in a press release. “Tennessee’s pro-growth policies continue to attract international companies to our state, providing fantastic job opportunities for our citizens. AB’s decision to bring 1,050 corporate office jobs to Nashville is an incredible win for our state and shows that Tennessee will lead in creating high quality jobs.” Rolfe said in the press release, “Since 2011, Tennessee’s financial industry has grown at the second fastest rate in the Southeast, creating approximately 24,500 jobs.” The year-long search for a new location started with 30 cities. In the end, Bernstein said Nashville was the clear choice, WSMV reported. AllianceBernstein’s headquarters are currently in New York…

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Diane Black Challenges Memphis Regional Megasite

Diane Black is taking on a sprawling West Tennessee industrial site that includes a 35-mile-long wastewater pipeline. The Republican gubernatorial candidate blasted the Memphis Regional Megasite in an op-ed that appeared in the April 25 Commercial Appeal. The state government has left West Tennessee “behind” through neglect, she wrote. “Infrastructure is a big part of that,” Black wrote. “It is hugely important both to Memphis and to rural West Tennessee. I’ve spoken with representatives from the Trump Administration and my congressional colleagues about finishing I-69 and I-22. These projects are almost complete, they simply require a governor committed to getting it done. “I will continue to work with the President and Vice President to make sure West Tennessee gets the federal infrastructure dollars it needs to complete road projects and bring broadband to rural counties.” The megasite consists of 4,100 acres of industrial real estate, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development website. Black calls the megasite a “boondoggle” 13 years in the making that has cost $140 million and needs an additional $100 million and still is a few years from having completed infrastructure. The wastewater pipeline will cost at least $75 million, she said, and some estimate the…

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Haslam’s IMPROVE Act Includes Same ‘Economic Development’ That Lost Millions in TNInvestco

Tennessee Star

  “A performance audit from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has revealed the State of Tennessee has only recovered $5.3 million of its initial $200 million investment in the TNInvestco program,”  according to a statement dated November 10, 2016, under the name of Justin P. Wilson, Comptroller, referring to a performance audit report. The statement from the Comptroller focused primarily on the TNInvestco program from the 60-page October 2016 “Performance Audit Report” produced by the state’s Comptroller’s office on Governor Haslam’s Department of Economic Development and Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. The Report was conducted by the Comptroller’s Department of Audit, Division of State Audit, with the report dated October 25, 2016, signed by Director, Deborah V. Loveless, CPA and addressed to The Honorable Ron Ramsey, Speaker of the Senate; The Honorable Beth Harwell, Speaker of the House of Representatives; The Honorable Mike Bell, Chair, Senate Committee on Government Operations; The Honorable Jeremy Faison, Chair, House Committee on Government Operations; and, Members of the General Assembly; and The Honorable Randy  Boyd, Commissioner, Department of Economic and Community Development. At the time of the audit, the program was in in its sixth year, having been approved by the Tennessee legislature in 2009.  With…

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Pure Foods Goes Bankrupt After Benefiting From $1.2 Million in Tennessee State Economic Development Funds

Less than two weeks before Governor Haslam introduced his IMPROVE Act centered on a gas tax increase for road funding, Pure Foods, Inc., a recipient of $1.2 million in state economic development funds, filed for bankruptcy.   The $1. 2 million from the state’s FastTrack Economic Development (ED) Fund did not go directly to Pure Foods. Instead, it was allocated for use by KEDB for construction of a speculative building that Pure Foods leased for 10 years.   According to the Kingsport Tennessee Times News, in March 2015, the Canadian based gluten-free snack food company, Pure Foods, Inc., was set to establish its U.S. headquarters at the Gateway Commerce Park in Kingsport, Sullivan County.  The deal included an investment of $22 million, an 80,000-plus square foot facility, and the creation of 273 new jobs generating an annual a payroll of $8 million. The Kingsport Economic Development Board (KEDB) and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce also supported the project by providing financial assistance and various incentives, including the purchase of 33 acres of land in the Gateway Commerce Park for $6.5 million borrowed from First Tennessee Bank. According to the Transparent Tennessee website’s FastTrack Project Database, ED grants provide additional support for…

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