Winter 2011
Ten Comeback Kids
We can't think of a better time to bring this popular Ten Top 10s category back. After all, the South is coming back economically from the worst recession in generations and these states and markets are leading the way after a few real tough years.
Mississippi: A Year to Remember
In 2010, Mississippi’s efforts to create jobs and attract investment yielded considerable results. The state saw a 20 percent increase in the number of prospective businesses approaching the state in the first three quarters of 2010 compared to all of 2009. And in the first nine months of 2010 alone, more new jobs and investment were announced by state-assisted economic development projects than were announced in all of 2009. Despite a still-weak national economy, state-assisted business location and expansion projects announced in 2010 represent nearly $4 billion in new investment and will create more than 6,800 new jobs in Mississippi over the next few years.
The clean energy, distribution and steel industries, in particular, saw significant growth in the state in 2010, but announcements came from both large and small companies in a wide range of sectors.
Mississippi is off to a strong start in 2011, as well. Projects that have received assistance from the Mississippi Development Authority that have announced this year, to date, are accounting for more than 1,000 new jobs and $1.9 billion in investment.
Charlotte: Banking on Diversity
When Charlotte's NationsBank took over San Francisco's Bank of America in 1997, the Tar Heel State's largest market became the nation's second-largest banking center. In fact, because of Bank of America's and Wachovia's headquarters in Charlotte, it became known as "Wall Street South." When the financial crisis set off the worst recession in generations, Charlotte's sky high economic rise was cut at the knees. Wachovia was purchased by Wells Fargo in a fire sale and Bank of America became the second biggest bailout recipient -- only Citigroup received more federal bailout funds -- and thus, Charlotte became the South's poster child of the Great Recession if you don't count markets in Florida.
Yet, Charlotte didn't become one of the American's South's most dynamic markets because of short-sighted leadership. We remember discussing with Charlotte officials problems that could arise from being so tightly tied to the financial services industry back in 1999 when the sector was responsible for about 20 percent of the nation's GDP, a figure that was absolutely unsustainable.
Today, Charlotte has diversified and of late has become one of the nation's centers for energy. Defense, health care, film and other sectors have grown, too, in the region. Motorsports, which has had it challenges as well, continues to cluster in the Charlotte region and it doesn't hurt that financial services have come back to at least having a pulse.
South Carolina: Bucking the Trend
The Palmetto State made some of its greatest accomplishments during challenging economical times. South Carolina’s recruitment efforts topped the Southeast in 2009 and 2010. Last year brought the strongest job recruitment efforts in the history of the state with over 20,000 new jobs recruited. In fact, during 2010 Dunn and Bradstreet reported that South Carolina had the highest ratio nationwide of net new businesses locating in the state.
The state has enjoyed growth in many sectors including aerospace, automotive, and warehousing and distribution sectors. Job growth in these sectors totaled more than 21,000 new jobs since 2008. In 2009, The Boeing Co. made the single-largest economic development announcement in the history of the state when it chose South Carolina as the location of its second final assembly site for the 787 Dreamliner program – over $870 million in capital investment and 4,000 new direct jobs.
In 2008, BMW made the company’s single-largest investment of $750 million and 500 jobs – bringing its overall investment in the state to $4.6 billion and 7,000 employees. Since the start of the recession in November 2007, BMW has hired over 2,800 new employees and invested $1.5 million in its South Carolina plant.
Greater New Orleans: An Undeniable Comeback
The comeback of New Orleans is undeniable. After having suffered one of the worst disasters in American history with Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is bouncing back to become a hub of innovation. In the years since the storm, the New Orleans area has been the focal point of the greatest urban renewal of our time. Civic engagement has skyrocketed, as native and new residents have become committed to effecting positive change. Businesses with historic ties to the region are rebounding, while companies in emerging industries are beginning to find homes in New Orleans, as well. The fields of advanced manufacturing, creative and digital media, energy, international trade, life sciences, and sustainability are all establishing strongholds in a city with its best days ahead of it.
North Louisiana: Never Out for the Count
North Louisiana has recently experienced devastating closings and setbacks at some of the region’s largest employers –Guide Plant (headlight manufacturing), State Farm Regional Headquarters (corporate back office), Pilgrims Pride (chicken processing), International Paper (paper/pulp mfg) and the announced 2012 closure at General Motors (Auto Assembly). These closures would normally knock a region and its communities out for the count. That is not the case for North Louisiana.
North Louisiana has rebounded with such strength and resiliency, that its journey back from the brink chronicles one the best comeback stories of the recession. Whether it’s the meteoric rise of the film and entertainment sector since 2005, the significant investments in the Haynesville Shale, one of the most productive natural gas fields in the world, or continued expansions from existing employers, like CenturyLink, JP Morgan Chase or Gardner Denver Thomas, the region emerged from the recession stronger, more cohesive and more diverse than ever before.
Alabama: Comeback Kid of the Year?
If the criteria are a jobless rate that fell faster than any other state but one in 2010, then Alabama is your "Comeback Kid of the Year" in the South. Alabama's jobless rate dropped more than any other state in the South and only Michigan's unemployment rate fell more in calendar year 2010. Alabama's unemployment rate at the beginning of last year was 10.9 percent. By December of 2010, it had dropped 1.8 percent points to 9.1 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Michigan saw the biggest decline, falling 2.8 percentage points from 11.7 percent over the year. Alabama's and Michigan's job generation improvement, particularly in the last half of 2010, were bolstered by a comeback by the automotive industry.
Memphis: No Better Example of Hard Work Equals Great Results
The Great Recession spared no one. When the dust settled, the downturn was still adding victims and for that matter it still is. Some Southern markets were so stunned by the recession that getting back in a groove after the disaster passed proved to be impossible. Memphis, on the other hand, was one of the first major Southern markets out of the economic development gate when the recession ended, winning "Major Market of the Year" in the 2010 SB&D 100.
The win came out of the blue. On a visit by SB&D to Memphis in May of 2009, economic development officials there were hopeful, but empty handed as major projects landed in other parts of Tennessee during the first five months of that year. Shortly after that visit, Memphis turned some outstanding projects in the last half of 2009. Then in 2010, the momentum continued in a big way with massive deals from Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi and Swedish appliance maker Electrolux, among others.
Mobile: A Comeback Kid that Suffered a Great Loss
One of the biggest economic development projects that the South ever bid on was lost in the winter quarter. The Pentagon and the U.S. Air Force chose Boeing to build the next generation aerial refueling tanker. The choice will still generate jobs in the South, but the planes will be built outside the region. If EADS, the parent company of Airbus, would have won the contract, the European aerospace giant would have built the planes in Mobile, Ala. Yet, even before EADS lost the bid, Mobile was undergoing a huge comeback from the recession. In fact, we put Alabama on this list and if not for Mobile's job generation contributions in the form of ThyssenKrupp's opening of its $5 billion plant and Austal USA's announcement earlier this year that it will more than double its workforce of 1,800 to build ships for the Navy, well, there is no way Alabama would be on this list.
The Upstate Region of South Carolina: A Major Contributor to S.C.'s Emergence
South Carolina's emergence from the recession stems from all three regions contributing, including the Upstate (Greenville), the Central region (Columbia) and the Low Country (Charleston). The Upstate region, though, has landed as many if not more significant projects post recession in S.C. than the other regions. Some of those include Germany-based ZF Group (900 jobs in Laurens County), First Quality Tissue (1,000 jobs in Anderson County), Adidas (1,200 jobs in Spartanburg), Alexium (200 jobs in Greenville County) and Proterra (1,300 jobs in Greenville County). Those five deals are huge for the region and that's not counting BMW's plant in Spartanburg County that seems to add jobs every quarter.
Chattanooga/Cleveland, Tenn: The South's Latest Economic Development Rock Star
This region is the latest economic development rock star in the South. First, Chattanooga landed the 2,000-job Volkswagen automotive assembly plant that will officially open any day now. That announcement was made shortly before all hell broke loose in October of 2008. Following Volkswagen's announcement was a slew of suppliers, including Magna, Faurecia, MTEK, Gestamp and ThyssenKrupp. And in December of 2010, Amazon.com announced it would build two fulfillment centers, one at the Enterprise South Industrial Park where VW is and the other in neighboring Cleveland, Tenn. Together the projects represent an investment of $139 million and the creation of 1,400 permanent jobs. To top off all of those deals Chattanooga was recently named as one of the world's seven smartest cities by the Intelligent Community Forum. Now that's smart growth.