Photo – RGA/wikipedia

The company has committed to adding 300 new jobs over the next five years as moving into the new 405,000-square-foot facility facilitates RGA’s growth.

The plan to build a global headquarters and add 300 jobs was first announced in November last year. In order to secure RGA’s relocation and expansion project, St. Louis County offered the company a 50 percent property tax and personal property tax abatement.

In addition to the local incentives, the company is eligible for state tax incentives worth $10.5 million, based on its commitment to create 300 new jobs and invest $140 million.

The incentives offered will not only create new jobs, but also save the 800 existing RGA jobs in the St. Louis region, most of which are located at the existing leased offices in Chesterfield.

The new 17-acre site for the global headquarters across from Chesterfield City Hall is just a couple of miles away, and construction of the two five-story office buildings, connecting two-story atrium lobby, parking garage and other infrastructure is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

Although the current design calls for development of 405,000 square feet, the site can accommodate future expansions to add more space up to a total of 650,000 square feet.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said it was always exciting to see companies that have already been located in the state for a long time make more investments. He added that RGA’s expansion was more evidence that efforts to foster a stable and pro-business environment were paying off.

RGA reinsures life insurance policies sold by insurers, and is a Fortune 500 company with 1,655 employees located across 25 countries. As of the end of last year, the company had assets worth $40.4 billion and had life reinsurance worth $2.9 trillion in force. RGA generated revenues worth $9.8 billion last year.

Kennedy Space Center (photo – Leowithyou/wikipedia)

UPC will invest more than $9 million on the project, which is estimated to create more than 50 new jobs with average annual wages of $64,000.

HMF was used by NASA for the space shuttle program. Leasing the facility allows NASA to preserve its capabilities for possible future projects without having to bear the cost.

HMF was slated for demolition before the Space Coast EDC teamed up with KSC’s Planning and Development Division to find a way to preserve it.

Kennedy Director Bob Cabana said they are continuing to work with the commercial community to find innovative ways to make use of the KSC’s unique capabilities and preserve them. Cabana added that they were well on the way to becoming a multi-user launch complex with the support of organizations such as the Florida Space Coast EDC,  .

Enterprise Florida helped them in facilitating UPC’s return to Florida. This will be the second time UPC is taking up space at KSC. The company was a subcontractor for propellants at KSC for 10 years, from 1998-2008.

UPC president and CEO Joseph Hasay said they were excited and pleased at the opportunity to be able to return to KSC, and thanked NASA, state officials, Brevard County and the Space Coast EDC for their support in making it happen.

Space Coast EDC president and CEO Lynda Weatherman said that KSC, even without the shuttle program, was still an amazing asset for the economy. She added that the coalition of the EDC, KSC’s Planning and Development team, Enterprise Florida and others were working to ensure that KSC continues to be available for commercial companies that need its facilities.

UPC has signed a 15-year lease, and will maintain and operate the facility at its own expense. They will employ 12 aerospace workers in the first year, with a stated goal of adding at least 50 employees over the next four years.

Apart from providing support services, UPC plans to build an aerospace fuel manufacturing plant that will allow it to offer fuels to customers at reduced prices, and will possibly attract other commercial space endeavors to Florida to set up operations at KSC.

Last year, United Paradyne Corporation was involved in 51 percent of all space-lift missions in the U.S.

American Chemistry Council (photo – americanchemistry.com)

The report, titled “Shale Gas, Competitiveness, and New U.S. Chemical Industry Investment – An Analysis of Announced Projects,” examines 97 projects that together account for $71.7 billion in potential investments announced through the end of March 2013.

By 2020, these projects will have created a total of 530,000 new and permanent jobs. This includes 46,000 direct jobs in the chemical industry, along with another 264,000 jobs with suppliers and 226,000 induced jobs.

All this will generate $20 billion in local, state and federal tax revenues, along with 1.2 million temporary jobs in between now and 2020, when these projects are in the construction phase.

ACC President and CEO CAL Dooley said that the U.S. had become a magnet for chemical sector investments, which he said was a testament to the positive environment created by shale gas and the bright outlook for natural gas for decades to come.

Dooley added that the most exciting part about it was that half of the announced projects were led by non-U.S. firms, which means the country is about to capture a large part of the rest of the world’s market share.

The report also notes that much of the investment is geared towards production plants that would supply export markets, which would help in improving the US trade deficit.

Other highlights from the report include:

- The $71.7 billion investment will increase chemical industry output by $66.8 billion;

- The associated hike in supplier activity will add $100 billion in indirect economic output; and

- The 310,000 direct and indirect jobs created will together earn payrolls totaling $23.8 billion.

The report concludes that barring “ill-conceived policies” to restrict access to shale gas resources, there will be a significant chemical industry manufacturing expansion in the U.S.

The report authors add that there is concern about the quality and quantity of workers required for the skilled manufacturing and construction jobs that will be created. They say the government and industry need to work together to ensure that a trained workforce is prepared to build and work in the soon to come chemical industry manufacturing renaissance.

Read the full ACC report on chemical industry investments – Download (pdf) 

Primerica headquarters in Duluth, GA (photo – Primerica)

The consolidation and relocation of their 10 separate facilities in Gwinnett County into a new and single global headquarters was first announced in Sept 2011.

Duke Realty, which built the facility and leased it to Primerica, broke ground on the construction for the “built-to-suit” facility in Nov 2011.

The new 365,000-square-foot complex will be housing 1,600 of the company’s employees in Gwinnett County, and has excess capacity to house another 200 employees.

Gov. Deal said that the company’s decision to select Gwinnett County for its global headquarters speaks volumes about the pro-business environment.

John Addison, chairman of Primerica Distribution and co-CEO, thanked the Governor, Gwinnett County and Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development for their support and assistance during the move.

The county has offered Primerica $2.3 million in property tax abatements over a six-year period that begins next year. As per the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the company is also eligible for state tax credits worth $1,250 for every new job created. Primerica has agreed to create at least 35 new jobs over a five year period.

Nick Masino, senior vice president of Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development and Partnership Gwinnett, said that Primerica was a key partner in helping strengthen the community’s growth and quality of life.

Primerica, Inc. was spun out of Citigroup in 2010 with an IPO. Rick Williams, chairman of the board and co-CEO said that the new global headquarters was a culmination of their successful public offering.

He added that being in a single complex instead of having the workforce scattered around in 10 different buildings would improve efficiency, and allow them to provide better service and support to the sales force and to customers.

Primerica is the fourth largest employer in Gwinnett County, and the largest independent financial services marketing company in the U.S., with 90,000 representatives that generated revenues worth $1.19 billion last year.

Fertilizer (photo – nih.gov)

Pakistan-based Fatima Group has 48 percent stake in the company, and the project had been on hold since January 2013 due to national security concerns.

Here’s a brief timeline of events that led the state to withdraw support for the Posey County project after approving incentives and $1.3 billion in financing through bonds.

On November 30, 2012, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) offered an incentives package to Midwest Fertilizer Company.

The exact amount or nature of the incentives has not been disclosed, but it would have been considerable given the scale of the project which was supposed to create 2,500 construction jobs over three years, followed by more than 300 high-paying permanent jobs.

Apart from IEDC and the Indiana Governor’s Office, the company had been working with the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana and the Posey County Economic Development Partnership.

On December 20, 2012, the Indiana Finance Authority issued $1.259 billion worth of Indiana Finance Authority Industrial Development Revenue Bonds, with the proceeds going into escrow to be loaned to Midwest Fertilizer Company as financing for the project.

What’s notable about this is that these bonds were made available to Indiana under a federal disaster aid program that was slated to expire in 10 days at the end of the year, so they were perhaps rushed into a huge decision that probably should not have been made so quickly.

Immediately after that, state officials found that a U.S. Dept. of Defense official had testified before Congress that the Fatima Group had not been cooperating with efforts to reduce IED threats in Asia. Their fertilizer was apparently being used as an ingredient to build bombs, and the company was not doing enough to keep track of their supplies or change its formula so that it could not be used this way.

On January 15, 2013, a day after he took office, Governor Mike Pence ordered the project to be put on hold pending a review.

This review has been ongoing for the last four months as local economic development officials put pressure on the Governor to approve the project, and the company began cooperating to do what the DoD required of them.

Again, Indiana was being rushed into a hasty decision because there was a legal deadline for the $1.3 billion in escrow to be made available to the company in July, or the project would have to be scrapped.

On May 17, 2013, Gov. Pence issued a statement explaining that he had ordered the IEDC to withdraw support for the project.

He said he did not take the decision lightly, and added that while economic development was important, the security and safety of soldiers in harm’s way was more important.

On the same day, IEDC President Eric R. Doden sent a letter to Feisal Beig of the Fatima group notifying them of the withdrawal of incentives for the project.

Midwest Fertilizer Corporation issued its own statement, also on May 17, expressing disappointment at the announcement, but also noting that they would continue to work with the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana and the Posey County Economic Development Partnership to explore options to build the plant without state support.

Source: http://www.bestvalueschools.com/superwealthy/

Iluka Resources mining operations in Virginia (photo – iluka.com)

The company will initially be investing $67 million on machinery and equipment for the mining and concentration facilities.

To-date, the company has already invested $20 million on the project, and subsequent development costs are likely to push the total project cost up to $120 million.

Iluka’s project will create 86 new jobs with a total payroll impact of $34 million over the next 11 years. It will also create 490 construction jobs.

Iluka already has two mining operations in Virginia, located in Brink and Concord. The mined material is currently moved to a separation plant in Stony Creek which produces minerals such as zircon.

The proposed plant in Dinwiddie County includes mining and concentration facilities to produce zircon and titanium. Virginia zircon is apparently highly sought by high-end sanitary-ware and ceramic tile manufacturers.

Governor McDonnell said that Iluka had been a valuable employer for the last 16 years, and their new decision to add a new sands mine and invest in new equipment was a testament to the abundance of natural resources and infrastructure available.

Iluka also had mines in Florida and Georgia, but ceased those operations in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The company has since been evaluating new mineral sands deposits in Aurelian Springs, North Carolina and Dinwiddie County, Virginia for development.

Company officials indicated they were able to move ahead with the Dinwiddie County site first because of Virginia’s business-friendly environment.Matthew Blackwell, president and general manager, U.S. Operations, Iluka Resources, said that they appreciated the fast and thorough responses provided by officials and regulatory agencies while the company was considering the project.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with local officials in Dinwiddie County to secure the project. The company has been offered a $300,000 grant under the Virginia Investment Partnership program, along with another $525,000 from the Virginia Tobacco Commission.

The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will additionally provide Iluka with funding and support for recruitment and workforce training.

Positive Facts

The American wine industry is the fourth largest producer of wine in the world and 34% of US citizen alcohol expenditures are defined as wine sales. Every state in the nation has at least one winery producing quality American wines but the Southern California Wine Country with regions of Napa and Temecula share over 90% of the U.S wine producing markets. With California’s widely known financial situation, housing over 90% of the vineyard market would imply that local wineries are indeed recession proof, but while these positive facts may be inspiring for local winery owners but they do not mean that the industry as a whole is unfazed by America’s most recent economic struggles.

A Change in Purchasing Habits

When we have economic struggles, we often see a change in purchasing habits. Retail stores see fewer customers during conventionally busy seasons and American residents cut back on the items they feel they don’t need to survive.
California resident and wine expert, Dr. James Lapsley of the University of California said it best in an interview where he discussed the changes in purchasing habits of wine drinkers, “What happened during 2008 to 2011 was that people who were fairly rich and who had seen their portfolios decline suddenly tightened their belts and said, ‘I’m no longer buying $60 Cabernets, I’m buying $30 Cabernets.’ And people who were buying $15 wines said, ‘I’m now buying $7 wines.  If you were a winery producing inexpensive wine – which meant you were a very large winery because this is where you really need to have economies of scale both in production and distribution – you did really well.”

Large vs Small Wineries

The wineries in Temecula, CA are considered larger wineries not unlike those mentioned by Lapsley in his interview. However, the recession and a possible downturn today would not bode well for small wineries who may have been counting on selling their bottles at $60 to stay in business. This can mean distressed sales in locally produced wine but with a simple adjustment to pricing, our small local vineyards can last through a downturn to see the light at the end of the tunnel when the economy begins to move back into the black.

Affect on Local Wineries

While the business of a vineyard may seem impervious and ever-growing, it is obvious that just like millions of other small businesses across the nation; small local vineyards may have difficulty remaining in business. However with an adjustment to pricing and production, we can expect to see the business of a local winery make it though a down economy or recession.

Guest Author Bio

Stacey Waldron is the Internet Marketing Director for Bel Vino Winery located in Temecula California. She enjoys gardening and playing with her two dogs, Banjo and Karly on hot summer days and always makes time for a good bottle of red wine shared amongst friends.

Rendering of Headquarters Hotel in McCormick Place entertainment district (photo – .cityofchicago.org)

It combines previously announced investments worth $470 million with another $640 million for the redevelopment of Navy Pier and creation of an entertainment district at McCormick Place, which is Chicago’s convention center.

The project will create 3,700 permanent jobs and another 10,000 construction jobs, and is expected to fuel economic growth to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

The plan calls for a new 10,000 seat events center, along with two hotels, shops and entertainment venues that are expected to fuel revitalization of Motor Row and other neighborhoods in the vicinity.

One of these hotels is the previously announced 1,200-room Headquarters Hotel and the other one will be a 500-room boutique hotel.

The City and local government agencies would be able to use the venue free of rent for events such as public school contests, graduations, etc.

The improvements and additional facilities will attract more tradeshows and conventions to Chicago, with a skybridge connecting McCormick Place West to the events center, which can be used as a general sessions hall for conventions.

The Navy Pier, already one of Chicago’s popular attractions, will be getting a comprehensive redesign of its public and commercial spaces just in time for its centennial. The $278 million redevelopment plan calls for urban landscaping, pocket parks, social areas and dramatic use of water features.

Marilynn Gardner, president and CEO of Navy Pier Inc, said they were taking what is good and making it great.

The events center arena and surrounding entertainment district is a public-private partnership, with the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) and DePaul University sharing the $140 million cost of constructing the events center.

This will be matched with $400 in private investments to build the two hotels, restaurants and other venues included in the plan for the entertainment district.

Jim Reilly, CEO of McCormick Place, said they needed the events center and assembly hall in order to attract conventions and shows to Chicago and Illinois that were currently going to competing cities that already had such events centers.

Upon completion of the project, the increase in the number of conventions and events, and the resultant increase in hotel demand, is expected to generate an additional $108 million annually for the City of Chicago.

Mayor Emanuel said that the Elevate Chicago plan was a vital step towards realizing the full potential of the City. He said these projects would serve as a major economic engine and would have a lasting impact on the city for generations.

ExactTarget (photo – exacttarget.com)

The announcement was made by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal after months of speculation about the true identity of the project that was previously only known as “Project Orange.”

ExactTarget is a digital marketing firm offering SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions to customers that help them plan, automate and optimize data-driven marketing and improve the ROI on marketing campaigns.

This expansion has been in the works ever since the Indianapolis, Indiana-based ExactTarget acquired Atlanta-based B2B marketing automation company Pardot last year. They immediately started negotiating with state and local economic development agencies about a proposed expansion of their offices in Atlanta.

InvestAtlanta and the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) teamed up to secure the project. The City of Atlanta has offered ExactTarget $200,000 in incentives through its Economic Opportunity Fund, and the company is eligible for tax credits from the state worth $2.9 million based on its job creation commitments.

ExactTarget will be moving its expanded operations and regional headquarters into the same Buckhead building as Pardot.

All this doesn’t mean it was a done deal right from the start. The company reportedly considered other sites in Indianapolis, Charlotte, Chicago and other locations.

Brian P. McGowan, President and CEO of Invest Atlanta, said that Atlanta’s success in recruiting these high-paying jobs despite competition from other cities is a testament to Atlanta’s position as a tech hub that continues attracting high-tech jobs.

GDEcD Commissioner Chris Cummiskey said they had a great team working on the project, and Georgia was the right place for companies that thrive on innovation for growth.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed likewise said that the city was a great place for technology growth, and offered a culture of innovation and a diverse talent pool that ExactTarget will need while expanding its operations.

Gov. Deal said that Georgia’s talented workforce and low costs, together with its mature IT infrastructure, provided companies like ExactTarget a competitive edge in the marketplace.

ExactTarget has around 1,800 employees across the world, and posted a loss of almost $21 million last year, taking into account the fact that they spent $95.5 million on acquiring Pardot and another $21 million for iGoDigital.