Ten Smaller Markets in the South for Foreign Investment

Last year was tough on every U.S. regional economy. However, one bright spot for the South was foreign investment, or in-sourcing. Companies based in Japan, Korea, Germany, The Netherlands, India, Canada, Sweden, Poland and The U.K. all made large investments in the South during the recession of 2008. Foreign-based companies have significant operations in all of the South's mega-markets. Atlanta, Northern Virginia, Charlotte, St. Louis and all large mega-metros in Florida and Texas are hip-deep in foreign companies. Here are some locations in the South favored by major international companies that are not mega-markets.

Metro Little Rock

Little Rock has turned more large foreign-based projects in the last couple of years than any time in its history. Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohrn (India), Dassault Falcon Jet (France), Man Industries (India), LM Glasfiber (The Netherlands), Polymarin Composites (The Netherlands) and Wind, Water Technologies (The Netherlands) have all investment hundreds of millions in the Little Rock region in the last few years.

Mobile, Ala.

One of the biggest deals in the South's economic development history is well underway 30 miles north of Mobile, Ala. On November 2, 2007, Germany-based ThyssenKrupp broke ground on a $4 billion-plus carbon and stainless steel plant in Calvert, Ala. The project is believed to be one of the largest private industrial investments in the U.S. over the next decade and is a perfect case of job in-sourcing in this country. The foreign-owned project will create almost 3,000 jobs when fully operational next year.

Piedmont Triad, N.C.

There are over 220 international operations representing 29 countries in the Piedmont Triad Region. Companies represented in the region include: Germany (27 firms), Canada (23), Italy (23), Japan (18) and the U.K. (16) and many other countries have major operations in the Triad region and its three largest markets of Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. Siemens, Honda, Bridgestone, Volvo and Lenovo and even Russia-based Asinex operate in the Triad. Honda recently completed its Honda Aircraft global headquarters and R&D facilities at the Piedmont Triad International Airport and will be building is new HondaJet aircraft at PTIA and the turbine engines at a new Honda Aero engine plant at Burlington/Alamance airport.

Chattanooga, Tenn.

Several foreign-owned firms have found Chattanooga, but none are bigger than Germany's Volkswagen. The automaker continues to indicate its $1 billion assembly plant is on-track. The Germans have transformed many smaller markets in the South and that is about to happen in the Chattanooga area. Also, French-based Alstom chose Chattanooga for the manufacture of large-scale power generation equipment. Together those two international companies will directly employ 2,400 in Chattanooga.

Upstate South Carolina

The Upstate, which features the Greenville-Spartanburg metro as its anchor market, has a long history of success in attracting foreign investment. The Germans, the French and the Japanese have certainly found the Upstate to their liking. Michelin, BMW and Fuji Film all operate huge plants in the Upstate.

Danville, Va.

The first IKEA factory in the U.S. opened in May of last year. The 930,000-square-foot facility operated by Sweden's Swedwood currently employs about 300 workers. Another IKEA supplier, Com40 (Poland) has set up shop in Danville as well. Also, Nestle (Switzerland), CBN Technologies (Canada) Arista Tubes (UK) and Essel Propack (India) are other international firms which have large operations in Danville.

Macon, Ga.

In-sourcing hit Macon in a big way last year when Kumho Tires announced it had picked the middle Georgia metro for a $225 million, 1-million-square-foot tire plant. The Korean company expects to employ over 400 workers at the facility when it opens later this year.

West Georgia

Korean companies have flocked to Columbus, LaGrange and other locations in West Georgia since Kia announced its first U.S. automotive assembly plant in West Point, Ga. in the spring quarter of 2006. The plant is expected to open later this year and produce its first vehicle for sale to the public in November.

Lafayette, La.

Lafayette is another small Southern market with lots of international ties. Noteworthy foreign companies operating in Lafayette include RGIT (Scotland), Weatherford (Bermuda), Schlumberger and Core Laboratories (The Netherlands), Norandex Distribution (France) and Petsec Energy (Australia). Interestingly, the Reptile Tannery (RTL) in Lafayette is owned by the Hermes Group (France).

Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky is home to a diverse group of more than 160 international companies, one of the largest is Toyota Motor Manufacturing & Engineering North American Headquarters in Erlanger, Ky. Also headquartered in Erlanger is Toyota Boshoku America, a Tier 1 automotive interior parts supplier. Other international firms with major operations in Northern Kentucky include Lafarge North America (France), Mauer AG (Germany) and Messier-Bugatti (France).