Top 10 Companies in the South the Last 10 Years

By Lee Burlett

Methodology: The top 10 companies hiring and investing in the South over the last 10 years were chosen based on the results of the SB&D 100 between 1993-2002 (1992-2001 calendar years). Under SB&D 100 rules, states, counties and markets receive points for each corporate expansion, relocation or startup that makes the SB&D 100. We chose the top 10 companies investing and hiring in the South over the last 10 years by simply giving points to companies as opposed to sites. For example, if a company turned eight Job or Investment 100 deals over the course of the last 10 years, they earned 80 points in that category. Points from "Just Missed Deals," which are those from 200 jobs to the Job 100 threshold and $30 million in investment to the Investment 100 threshold, were not used simply because we didn't have all of the data from the last 10 years (if only we knew back in '93 and '94, we wouldn't have nuked those files to gain space on our 386 PCs). So these companies are ranked by data from the largest 1,000 deals made in the South the last 10 years exclusively.

No. 1: Wal-Mart (22 SB&D 100 Deals: 220 Points)

Unbeknownst to many, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart is the largest employer in most Southern states. But since we don't allow retail announcements in our annual SB&D 100, you'd think the Arkansas-based, 900-pound retail gorilla wouldn't have a chance to be named the No. 1 company hiring and investing in the South over the last 10 years. But that's not the case. The only deals making the SB&D 100 over the last 10 years from Wal-Mart were its distribution centers -- all 22 of them. Those deals alone propelled Wal-Mart to the No. 1 company in the South with 220 points. Interestingly enough, Wal-Mart does not report expansions at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., where it employs approximately 8,000 workers. So no points were earned for Wal-Mart there.

Few companies have had a greater spin-off effect than Wal-Mart in the South. The total number of Southern jobs created by suppliers to the No. 1 Fortune 500 company are probably impossible to calculate. Furthermore, no other company in the South has spread the wealth like Wal-Mart. Its distribution centers are mostly located a mile or two off an interstate, in rural areas throughout the region.

No. 2: (ouch!) WorldCom/MCI (19 SB&D 100 Deals: 190 Points)

To make this Top 10 list, it makes no difference if you implode right before the ranking is published. Remember, this ranking is based on companies hiring and investing in the South over a 10-year period. In that time, WorldCom/MCI was the second-largest dealmaker in the South. In fact, in the last edition of Southern Business & Development (spring 2002), which featured the 2002 SB&D 100, WorldCom's announcement of 3,600 jobs in Fairfax, Va., was named Deal of Year by this magazine. Too bad that deal is probably a dog. Strike "probably."

WorldCom, headquartered in Clinton, Miss., has had a tough go of late. But for most of the 1990s it wasn't WorldCom announcing deals like mad in the South. It was MCI, the company WorldCom acquired in 1998, that launched WorldCom/MCI to such a lofty position in the South's top 10 companies over the last 10 years. Prior to its acquisition, MCI had 11 deals make the SB&D 100 between 1993-1998. WorldCom/MCI turned but 8 mega-deals after the merger. Could it be that the mouse ate the cat in that deal?

No. 3: Capital One (15 SB&D 100 Deals: 150 Points)

Few companies have hired more folks in the South than Capital One in the last five years. During that time, Capital One, based in Falls Church, Va., has turned 12 big SB&D Job 100 deals. Started as an independent company in 1995, Capital One has hired nearly 13,000 people in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Spotsylvania, Va. The company has significant operations in Tampa and in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as well.

So far this year, Capital One has been ranked in Fortune's 100 Best Places to Work in America for the fourth consecutive year, the Sunday Times' 100 Best Places to Work in the U.K. for the second consecutive year and was named the Salvation Army's Corporate Philanthropist of the Year.

No. 4: AT&T (13 SB&D 100 Deals: 130 Points)

Incorporated in New York in 1885, AT&T has had more spin-offs and splits than any company in the Top 10. Most of the deals that made the SB&D 100 from 1992-2001 were from AT&T, AT&T Wireless, AT&T Broadband, AT&T Solutions and AT&T WorldNet. Over the years, the nation's largest telecommunications company has spread its hiring and investing to several states in the South including Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The company has shown an affection for Dallas, where it sited three SB&D 100 deals in the last 10 years.

No. 5: West Corporation (13 SB&D 100 Deals: 130 Points)

Founded in January 1986, Omaha-based West Corp. has evolved from an inbound telemarketing service bureau to a large-scale provider of integrated customer contact solutions, including inbound, outbound, interactive and Internet services. The call center industry has generated more SB&D 100 deals than any other industry since the "100" was first published in 1993. West Corp./West Teleservices has been the company that has led the call center charge in the American South over the last 10 years.

West has not shown a specific interest in a certain region of the South. Operations that made the SB&D 100 over the years are scattered throughout the South including large call centers in Pensacola, Hampton, Va., Baton Rouge and Beaumont and Lubbock, Tex.

No. 6: FedX (11 SB&D 100 Deals: 110 Points)

Memphis-based FedX has announced some significant deals in the South over the years. In fact, its 11 deals that made the SB&D 100 since 1993 created exactly 11,000 jobs. Most of those jobs were created in Memphis and adjoining Collierville, Tenn. However, two big deals were made in Fort Worth and one in Clayton County, Ga.

FedX's air cargo distribution hub in Greensboro, N.C. was announced in 1998, but has not broken ground as of yet. That facility has received all of its permits except for two water permits. After those are secured, the long awaited project should finally get off the ground.

No. 7: Citicorp/Citigroup/Citibank (10 SB&D 100 Deals: 100 Points)

Like AT&T, there have been plenty of mergers and spin-offs of New York-based Citicorp, formerly First National City Bank of New York. One noteworthy deal involving one of the world's largest companies occurred in 1998 when Citicorp and Travelers Group merged to form Citigroup.
The company has picked some of the South's hottest markets for its largest deals over the last 10 years. Citicorp/Citigroup/Citibank has large facilities operating in Tampa, Jacksonville, San Antonio and Florence, Ken., just outside Cincinnati.

Top 10 Manufacturers in the South 1992-2001

* Based on number of SB&D 100 deals turned between calendar year 1992-2001

Top 10 Services in the South 1992-2001

* Based on number of SB&D 100 deals turned between calendar year 1992-2001

No. 8: BellSouth/Cingular Wireless (9 SB&D 100 Deals: 90 Points)

A former "Baby Bell," BellSouth opened for business in 1984 with 96,000 employees and assets of more than $21 billion. Today the Atlanta-based company is one of the South's telecommunication leaders, opening new data centers, call centers and network operations throughout the region. It formed Cingular Wireless in 1999. That company has chosen six Southern markets for large customer centers: Ashland, Ken; Ocean Spring, Miss; Fayetteville, N.C; Johnson City, Tenn; Lafayette, La; and Ocala, Fla.

No. 9: Boeing (8 SB&D 100 Deals: 80 Points)

Chicago-based Boeing would have climbed well past No. 9 on this list if Kansas' and Missouri's deals from 1993-1998 were allowed to be counted. Unfortunately, Kansas and Missouri were not part of our coverage area until 1999, when we struck a deal with the Southern Economic Development Council. But Boeing, the only manufacturer in the Top 10 Companies in the South the Last 10 Years, is well represented with some impressive deals announced since 1992 in San Antonio (two SB&D 100 deals), El Paso, Tulsa, Decatur, Ala., and Houston. The company is currently manufacturing rockets in Decatur and floating them to the Gulf of Mexico via the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

No. 10: UPS (7 SB&D 100 Deals: 70 Points)

In 1993, when the first SB&D 100 was published, United Parcel Service was delivering 11.5 million packages and documents per day for more than one million customers. The Atlanta-based air courier operates its main air hub in Louisville. That's where UPS announced in 1998 an $860 million expansion that would add 6,000 employees. That deal made the top 10 deals in the South over the last 10 years. UPS has made its mark on the "100" in other locations. In 1995, the company announced a 1,000-employee tracking center in Newport News, Va., and in 1996 it added 1,000 jobs to its secondary hub in Fort Worth.

Honorable mention: Nextel, Target, Convergys, Nissan, IBM, Sprint, Ford (60 points); Lockheed Martin/Martin Marietta, GM, Motorola (50 points).

Let's Make A Deal:
Top 10 Deals in the South the Last 10 Years

Auto manufacturers dominate our list of the decade's top business investments.

By Don Hampton

They are transforming the economic landscape of the South. And, in the process, they have made headlines.

A growing number of large international corporations have made major announcements of new facilities in the South. They've infused the region with economic opportunity and a renewed sense of the quality of the "Made in America" seal.

No industry has impacted the Southern economy over the past decade as much as the automotive manufacturers. Mercedes, Nissan, Honda, BMW and Hyundai all made our list by expanding their operations to Southern locations.

Here, then, are the top ten business investments of the past ten years:

In 1993, Mercedes-Benz selected an Alabama site for its new facility. It was the first time in company history Mercedes had created a passenger auto manufacturing plant outside Germany. In 1997, production of the Mercedes M-Class began at the company's Vance, Ala. facility. Then, on August 28, 2000, the company announced a $600 million expansion of the plant. "This expansion is a direct result of the hard work and commitment of our team members," said Bill Taylor, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International speaking about the workers his company found in the South.

The facility originally represented a $300 million capital investment by the company, and 1,900 jobs to the community. The expansion is expected to increase the employee number to nearly 4,000. Professor Juergen Hubbert, DCAS member of the board for Mercedes-Benz and smart passenger vehicles said, "Our success would not have been possible without the great partnership we formed with the State of Alabama and without the strong workforce that we have found here. Alabama has become an important home for Mercedes-Benz."

In 1999, a second auto manufacturer found a home in Alabama. Honda announced plans to build a manufacturing facility in Lincoln to produce Odyssey minivans. The announcement has further impacted the local economy with 10 Honda-related businesses following the parent company to Alabama.

The company's $580 million, 1.7 million square-foot plant began operation last November, and has already produced 15,000 minivans. More than 2,000 people are employed at the facility. Honda officials recently announced an expansion that will basically double the size of the plant.

Then a third automotive company came to Alabama. On April 2, 2002, Hyundai announced it would build a $1 billion plant just south of Montgomery, creating at least 2,000 jobs. "This is the biggest economic development project in the history of Alabama," said Gov. Don Siegelman.

Hyundai also plans to bring 20 primary suppliers and up to 120 other suppliers to Alabama. Fifteen-thousand Hyundai-related jobs will move to Alabama over the next five years.

Not that Alabama has a monopoly on the auto industry. Mississippi was busy in 2000. Nissan Motor Company selected Canton for a $930 million manufacturing facility. The plant will potentially employ 4,000 in the near future, with a capacity of 250,000 vehicles created annually. "Mississippians look forward to the job opportunities and the positive economic impact that will be created by Nissan, as well as the support Nissan will provide to state and local community activities," said Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

And BMW has found South Carolina very much to its liking. So much so that the company located its only North American assembly plant in Greer.

Today, the company has found a home in the Palmetto State, investing more than $1.4 billion and employing more than 4,000 people. BMW Manufacturing Corp. in South Carolina is now the exclusive producer of the German automobile maker's highly popular Z3 Roadster as well as the M Roadster, the Z3 Coupe, the M Coupe and the X5 Sports Activity Vehicle.

As Vice President for Community and Corporate Relations, Carl Flesher explains, "The secret to our success in South Carolina is the people. My chairman would tell you that he came here incognito for about six months and drove through neighborhoods, he went into restaurants and went to the movies and he said, 'I spent time looking into people's faces trying to find out: could we build BMW products here?' And he came to the conclusion that with the obvious sense of pride and the friendliness, we could. Our success has proven that." In addition to the quality work force, BMW also attributes its success to a state government that listens and is willing to provide the infrastructure businesses need to be successful.

They don't make the delivery trucks there, but "Brown" has invested greatly in Louisville. UPS invested $1.1 billion to expand its hub in the Kentucky city. The 2.7 million square foot facility has been widely recognized as one of the world's top corporate facility deals of 1998.

The facility employs nearly 23,000 Kentuckians, and sorts 304,000 packages and documents per hour.

Three companies have made a significant impact on the economy of Virginia. Micron Technology began as a partnership between IBM and Toshiba to create a DRAM chip manufacturing facility. The companies invested $1.5 billion and created 3,000 jobs on their 600,000-square-foot campus.

Former Virginia Governor George Allen said, at the facility's grand opening, that the company "celebrates the confirmation of Virginia's emergence as the Silicon Dominion."

Another technology manufacturing facility, Infineon, made just as significant an impact in Henrico County. The company, which is the world's second largest supplier of automotive electronics chips, invested $1.5 billion in the plant. Allen called the facility a symbol that "magnifies the exciting changes that are transforming this entire region's economy, making Virginia a leader in the technology revolution."

Falls Church, Va. is home to one of the nation's most recognizable financial companies. Capital One had 10,000 employees in the Richmond metro area when it made a big announcement in October 2000. The company took on the largest corporate expansion project in Virginia's history - one that would require a $700 million investment and create 8,000 new jobs.

Rounding out the top 10 deals in the South over the last 10 years is a $2 billion, 1,200-employee expansion of Texas Instruments' wafer facility in Dallas in 1996. The company also expanded its complex in Dallas by $1 billion as well. TI invented the integrated circuit in Dallas in 1958. Texas Instruments is headquartered in Dallas and employs over 10,000 people in the Metroplex.

They approach business from differing angles, but these companies all have discovered the same thing. Investing in the South brings results.