RELOCATIONS & EXPANSIONS

QUIZ

A couple of years ago, we asked our readers to name the one industry sector that the South did not lead all other U.S. regions. Here's what you had to choose from: Farms/forestry; construction; manufacturing; transportation; wholesale trade; finance, insurance, real estate (FIRE); services; and government. When we asked that question, the South led all other U.S. regions in Gross Regional Product for every industry sector but one. Now the South leads all sectors. What was the last sector the South had to take in order to lead all U.S. regions in Gross Regional Product for all economic categories?

(scroll to bottom of file for answer)

ALABAMA

Honda Expands Again in Lincoln

Honda will create 800 additional jobs and spend another $40 million so it can produce more Odyssey minivans at the company's Lincoln plant. Two years ago, Honda said it would hire 1,500 workers and invest $440 million into the Lincoln plant. The automaker now intends to employ 2,300 by the end of 2002, and increase its investment to $580 million. Honda officials say that the expansion is triggered by continued demand for the Odyssey minivan

FiberCore Opens First U.S. Plant in Auburn

FiberCore Inc., a Charlton Mass.-based manufacturer of optical telecommunications fiber and components will build a $30 million factory in Auburn, Alabama. The plant, which is expected to open in 2004, will be the first U.S.-based plant for FiberCore, which has factories in Germany and Brazil.

ARKANSAS

New Spa City Xerox Plant Adds 290 Workers

Xerox Corp. has expanded its operation in Hot Springs, Ark., with a new 51,000 square foot e-services facility. The $4 million building will provide imaging, digital storage and retrieval services for customers such as Dow Chemical, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and McGraw Hill. The company has had an e-services facility in Hot Springs since 1987 that employed 85. The new center will employ 375 people, making Xerox one of the larger employers in the area.

Pine Bluff's Jefferson Industrial Park Gains New Business

The Packaging Ink Company, a producer of water-based printing ink for the paper packaging industry, has located to Pine Bluff's Jefferson Industrial Park. The company, which is a new venture of Mosley Holdings of Sheridan, moved into a 110,000 square foot building acquired by Mosley. The purchase included property totaling about 18 acres in the industrial park. The building was formerly a grocery bag manufacturing plant. The company is in production with 15 employees, and expects to grow to 70 employees within two years.

FLORIDA

Tampa Wins Large Job-Generator with Merck-Medco

Merck-Medco Rx Services of Florida, opened its first Merck-Medco in Tampa, a processing, dispensing and consulting home-delivery pharmacy, in 1987. In 1989, the company opened a second home delivery pharmacy and warehouse, also in Tampa. Between these two locations, Merck-Medco currently employs 1,500 workers. The company recently announced that it will open a new 1,000-employee call center in Tampa. This is Tampa's largest job announcement in two years. It is an unusual call center because this center will be certified as a pharmacy. About 700 of the employees will be customer service representatives, but the work force will also include as many as 100 pharmacists and several hundred administrative workers. At full capacity in 2003, the center will handle more than 200,000 patient inquiries a week.

Capital One to Expand in Tampa

Capital One has expanded its Tampa call center and plans for more growth. Since July 1, the company has added more than 100 new jobs at the 71-acre campus, and plans to add 1,000 more workers during the next six years. The new employees will handle calls from customers of Capital One's auto finance business.

Paper Company to Build Plant in Sanford

Unicell Paper Corp is building an 82,000 square foot plant in Sanford that will produce paper products. Construction is expected to be complete by spring. The company plans to eventually double the size of the plant. Unicell will initially employ 70 workers.

CitiStreet to Add 200 Call Center Jobs in Jacksonville

CitiStreet, a Massachusetts-based employee benefits company will add 200 jobs to its Jacksonville office in Baymeadows. The new hires will be added to the 150 employees currently working for the company's call center operation.

America II Creates More Jobs in St. Petersburg

America II Electronics has begun construction on a new 80,000 square foot warehouse. The facility, located on the company's St. Petersburg corporate campus is expected to be operational by March and will house component inventory. The expansion will add 250 jobs during the next five years in warehousing, sales, purchasing and corporate support.

Home Depot to Open Facility in Groveland

Home Depot is building a $12 million, 121,392 square foot trucking facility that will initially employ 100 people. The facility will be used to streamline vendor deliveries to more than 80 Home Depot stores throughout the state.

GEORGIA

Thomaston Gains 500 Jobs with Two New Companies

Two companies will locate in Thomaston and create more than 500 jobs in the next 24 months. Six months ago Thomaston was hit hard when Thomaston Mills announced it was closing after more than 100 years in business. Standard Textile Co., a Cincinnati, Ohio-based manufacturer of healthcare, hospitality, and institutional textile products, will establish manufacturing operations at the former Thomaston Mills Peerless Division and traffic and roll warehouse, totaling almost 700,000 square feet. The company will employ 200 people. 1888 Mills will purchase the former Thomaston Mills Finishing Division, a facility of 542,000 square feet. 1888 is a specialty towel and textile products manufacturer based in Griffen, Georgia. 1888 will employ 300 workers.

Glass Manufacturer Opens Plant in Sparta

Saint Gobain Desjonqueres, a high-end cosmetic and perfume bottle manufacturer, will open a plant in Sparta, and create 200 jobs. The international company manufactures glass for the insulation and building materials industries. The Sparta plant will be used to decorate cosmetic and perfume bottles for clients such as Estee Lauder and Ralph Lauren. The company currently operates six plants in Georgia with over 1,000 employees. Founded in 1665, Saint Gobain has been crafting glass for more than 300 years.

King David Kosher Opens Facility in Macon

Kosher poultry processing company King David Kosher, has opened a $29 million, 80,000 square foot plant in Macon that will employ 800 by 2003. The plant takes over the former Cagle's Inc. chicken plant that shut down in June, resulting in 350 layoffs. The new facility has begun operations with a staff of 80.

Hinesville Chosen as Site for Electric Car Company Plant

EMotion Mobility is building a $2 million, 30,000 square foot production plant near Savannah that will specialize in electric-powered vehicles. The Atlanta-based company will make the vehicles, which run at speeds of up to 70 mph, available for rent in Atlanta by late 2002. They will be placed near MARTA transit stations and other locations. Production will begin with 150 workers in September 2002. The company estimates that the plant will handle between 5,000 and 6,000 electric-powered vehicles by 2004.

BellSouth Locates Call Center in Eastman

BellSouth Corp. has opened a call center operation in Eastman. The center is managed by BellSouth's Small Business Services customer operating unit and serves as a component in the company's marketing activities focused on the small business telecommunications sector. More than 75 people will be hired over the next 12 months, with about 20 employees currently working.

KANSAS

Airbus to Open Wing Design Facility

Airbus will open a wing design facility in Wichita, initially employing 60 engineers and support staff to work on wing design for Airbus' new passenger jet, the A380. Boeing, Cessna Aircraft, Raytheon Aircraft and Bombardier employ more than 40,000 workers in Wichita, and Airbus' announcement comes at a time when these manufacturers are cutting thousands of jobs. The new facility will provide some job opportunities to engineers who may be losing their jobs with these other aircraft manufacturers.

Krispy Kreme Opens in Wichita

Krispy Kreme has hired 100 workers in Wichita. The store, which is run more like a factory than a restaurant, is the first in the Wichita area. It will be open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Positions filled include retail employees who work directly with customers filling orders; production specialists who will run the custom-made equipment that makes the doughnuts; processing specialists who will dip the doughnuts in chocolate or fill them, and sanitation workers. The store will be run in three shifts.

Norfolk Iron Opens Emporia Facility

Norfolk Iron and Metal Company of Norfolk, Neb., has opened a 150,000 square foot processing and distribution center in Emporia. With this addition, the company will be able to serve customers in Kansas and Missouri and will broaden into Oklahoma and Texas. There are 60 employees working two shifts at the plant and a third shift will be added soon.

MARYLAND

Belkorp Industries to Open Paper Recycling Plant in Hagerstown

Belkorp Industries of Vancouver, B.C., will open an odor-free paper recycling plant in Hagerstown. The Canadian company recently bought the former Hagerstown Fiber plant at public auction for $7.5 million. The plant will rely on trucks when it resumes operations, with up to 15 deliveries a day. The company, which will be known as Newstech, will hire 75 employees.

MISSISSIPPI

Canton Gains More Suppliers for Nissan

Additional production suppliers for Nissan North America will bring more than $110 million in investment to Canton, and create about 1,000 new jobs. These suppliers include four new production plants, a supplier logistics center and a transportation center. M-TEK Inc. will build a new plant in the Central Mississippi Industrial Center to supply Nissan with interior trim components. The 219,000 square foot plant in Madison County will be known as M-Tek Mississippi, Inc. TKA Fabco has been awarded a significant amount of body stampings and assemblies to supply the Nissan plant. They are determining a suitable location for their facility. Unipres U.S.A. Inc. will supply body stampings for Nissan vehicles built in Canton. Unipres will build a 150,000 square foot plant in Forest. Yorozu America, Inc. will build a facility in the Ceres Industrial Park in Vicksburg. Yorozu will supply various suspension components from its 80,000 square foot plant. To support the logistics requirements of the Canton plant, a new supplier logistics center will be built on the Nissan site in Madison County by a joint venture that will own and operate the facility. The majority owner will be a Mississippi-based, minority-owned company. The 200,000 square foot supplier logistics center represents a capital investment of $15 million. When fully staffed the center will employ 250 people.

USA Yeast to Locate in Greater Hattiesburg Area

USA Yeast announced in December its plans to locate a new facility near Hattiesburg. USA Yeast is a new company with primary investors from Dothan, Ala. The company will produce yeast for high-speed wholesale baking operations in the Southeast and Midwest. The company is expected to employ 50 people. Construction on the company's new facility, located near the Forrest County Industrial Park, began in January.

MISSOURI

Magellan Health Services to Expand in St. Louis County

Magellan Health Services will expand and consolidate its national service center in the St. Louis area. The project will represent a $47 million investment in the community. The company will relocate its operations to three buildings in the TRiSTAR Business Communities' Riverport Commons development in Maryland Heights. The expansion will result in the creation of 500 new jobs.

CitiMortgage to Expand in St. Louis

CitiMortgage's O'Fallon, Mo. facility will expand rather than relocate out-of-state. CitiMortgage officials considered moving its 3,500-employee operations out of Missouri, but instead will expand by building an $85 million, 515,000-square-foot facility in O'Fallon's newest commercial development named Progress Point. The expansion will not only retain the existing 3,500 employees, but will include 1,500 new hires within the next three years.

Harley-Davidson Expands at Northland Plant

Harley-Davidson recently announced that two motorcycle model lines will move to Kansas City's plant north of downtown in Platte County, resulting in a $15 million investment and the creation of 300 new jobs. The first production line involves the company's brand new motorcycle, the V-Rod, and the second model is the Dyna Glide whose assembly operations will move to Kansas City from its York, Pa. plant. The V-Rod and Dyna models will be built alongside the Sportster at Harley's Kansas City plant, which opened in 1998 and currently employs 550 people.

Automotive Supplier Picks Columbia

The Power Transmission (PT) Division of The Gates Rubber Company, part of The Gates Group, will locate its newest production facility in Columbia. The PT Division makes belts, pulleys, tensioners and idlers, worldwide, for the original equipment markets for automobiles, trucks, busses and motorcycles. Gates will move into an existing 120,000-square-foot plant and invest $15 million. The operation is expected to employ 35 associates.

Sara Lee Expanding Operations in St. Louis

Sara Lee Corp. is adding 110 jobs to its St. Louis bakery headquarters, which is a 20 percent increase in its employment base there. Some Sara Lee employees will relocate from Chicago and other positions will be locally hired. The company, which bought Earthgrains Co. in August for $2.8 billion, is spending $1.7 million on an 11,000 square foot expansion at its existing 36,000 square foot research and development facility. Sara Lee also has leased about 15,000 square feet in the Firstar Bank Building where about 60 of the employees will work.

Caremark RX Opens Call Center in Kansas City

A prescription benefit manager, Caremark Rx Inc., has opened a customer service center in the Lee's Summit area of Kansas City. Caremark is currently working from a temporary site, with plans to expand operations to a 60,000 square foot facility and 500 employees in a permanent metro location.

Kansas City Gains Medical Supply Company

McKeeson Medical-Surgical, a national medical supply company, has opened a 125,000 square foot distribution center in Kansas City that will employ 90 workers within three years. The $8.25 million center is located in Executive Park.

Sports Apparel Company to Open Plant in Missouri

Gear for Sports, a Lenexa-based sports apparel company will open a screen print and embroidery production plant in Chillicothe that will create 100 jobs. Operations at the 50,000 square foot building will begin in April 2002. Up to 100 additional jobs could be created within two years. Once it opens, the plant will operate around the clock six days a week. It will be used mainly for screen-printing apparel in the first year, and eventually embroidery operations will be added.

NORTH CAROLINA

Universal Leaf North America to Invest $100 Million, Create 1,000 Jobs in Nash County

A division of Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Universal Leaf North America, has chosen a site in Nash County for the construction of a new leaf tobacco-processing factory. The 1,200,000 square foot building will be the premiere facility in tobacco processing. The selected site has 990+ acres, and is located four miles north of Nashville Township on State Road 58. Universal Leaf will hire 1,000 people to work at the factory, which will be fully operational by July 2003.

Billy Graham Bringing 700 Jobs to Charlotte

Evangelist Billy Graham is moving his headquarters to Charlotte, his hometown. The Minneapolis-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is relocating to a site at Billy Graham Parkway. The new 250,000 square foot headquarters will be a $33 million investment and will employ as many as 700 workers. Functions of the ministry to be moved to Charlotte include administrative offices, TV, radio and film production units and distribution and mailing operations. The project will be built in phases, with the first phase of the development to use 100,000 square feet.

AW North Carolina to Expand Durham Plant

AW North Carolina, manufacturer of transmission components for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Corp., is expanding its Durham plant, investing $160 million and creating 450 new jobs. Construction will begin on the 430,000 square foot plant in spring 2002, with full operation expected by spring 2004.

Japanese Company to Open Plant in Burke County

Visotec Automotive Products, a producer of fabrics for the automotive industry, will invest $50 million in a Burke County plant. The investment will create 200 jobs in the area. The company will occupy a 217,500 square foot building in Morganton. Visotec, a subsidiary of Seiren Co. of Fukui City, Japan, has two plants in New Jersey and New York.

BSH Home Appliances to Expand in New Bern, Creating 1,400 Jobs

BSH Home Appliances Corporation will expand in New Bern, investing $150 million in its Craven County Operations over five years. More than 1,400 new jobs will be created. The company, a manufacturer of household appliances, will manufacture dishwashers, cooktops, hoods, ranges and washers and dryers from the New Bern facility.

Sara Lee Intimate Apparel Creates Jobs in Winston-Salem

Playtex Apparel Inc., a unit of Sara Lee Intimate Apparel, is moving headquarters from Stamford, Conn., to Winston-Salem, where Playtex's Bali Intimates and Hanes Her Way Intimates are based. The move will create 300 jobs in Winston-Salem. Sara Lee is consolidating the offices of all three intimate-apparel units into one location.

Midway to Resume Service in Morrisville

Morrisville-based Midway Airlines, which ceased operations Sept. 12, resumed operations on Dec. 19, after hiring 200 people and receiving about $12.5 million in federal money. The airline had filed for bankruptcy in August, and went out of business after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack halted all air traffic in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Transportation confirmed that the airlines received the federal bailout money through the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act. Midway handles flights to Newark, N.J., Boston, New York's La Guardia International, Washington National and three Florida cities.

OKLAHOMA

California Motorcycle Company Moves to Tahlequah

Fast Trac Manufacturing will move its Hollister, California operations to Tahlequah next year, creating 300 jobs over the next three years. The company will manufacture cruiser and touring motorcycles under the name of Cherokee Motorcycle Company. A spokesman for the Cherokee Nation said that Fast Trac made the decision to move to Oklahoma after the Cherokee Nation, state and city officials met with company owners to promote Tahlequah and its resources.

U.S. Cellular Expands Operations in Tulsa

U.S. Cellular Corp. is consolidating and relocating its customer and financial service operations in Tulsa, creating 100 jobs. The company's financial and customer service operations in Medford, Ore., and Knoxville, Tenn., will be closed and transferred to Union Pines Office Park in Tulsa. The Oregon facility and the Tennessee facility will remain open with different corporate responsibilities. U.S. Cellular currently employs 65 financial and customer service representatives in Tulsa, and construction is underway on 18,000 square feet of offices for the new employees.

Cabinet Maker to Employ 500 Workers in Tahlequah

American Woodmark Corp, a nationwide company that makes kitchen cabinets for the remodeling and home-improvement industries, is building a 300,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Tahlequah. The $19 million plant will be finished by summer and employ 500 workers.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Fort Mill Distribution Center to Employ 1000 Workers

Discount clothing retailer Ross Stores will hire up to 1,000 people over the next five years to staff a new 1.26 million square foot regional distribution center in York County. The center, which will be completed by May 2002, will include a 34,000 square foot office complex and will be Ross' third U.S. distribution center.

Biopure to Invest $120 Million, Create 185 Jobs in Sumter County

Biopharmaceutical company Biopure Corp. is investing up to $120 million to build a plant in Sumter County. The plant will be used to support the company's Oxygen Therapeutic products for use in human and veterinary medicine. The plant will employ 185 workers and will make a drug that will be used to eliminate or reduce red blood cell transfusions in patients undergoing elective surgery.

Michelin to Expand Tire Plant in Lexington County

French tire maker Michelin is adding 200 workers as a result of a $200 million expansion to its tire plant in Lexington County. The company is expanding its earthmover tire facility, which opened in 1995 and already employs more than 250 workers. The facility makes large tires used on heavy equipment such as forklifts, earthmovers and mobile cranes.

Two New Manufacturers to Open in Pickens County

Two manufacturers are opening facilities in Pickens County that will generate 200 new jobs. Central Textiles will create 180 jobs when it opens a $2 million, 180,000 square foot facility in Pickens. The plant will make industrial fabrics, career apparel and pocketing for jeans. Saco Lowell Parts Inc. has created 22 new jobs with the opening of a $1 million 50,000 square foot facility in Easley. Saco Lowell makes replacement parts for the company's textile equipment.

Nissan North America Chooses Greenville for Distribution Center

Nissan North America has decided on Greenville for a $4 million, 186,000 square foot distribution center for the Mid-Atlantic region. The 45-employee facility will be located near BMW's production center. The center, which will open spring 2002, will serve northern Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, eastern Tennessee and Virginia.

Beverage Air to Expand Honea Path Facility

Beverage Air, a maker of refrigeration and freezer equipment, will expand its Honea Path facility, creating 92 new jobs. The company is adding a new commercial freezer line to the plant.

Pickens Gains Plant, 60 New Jobs

Teleflex Fluid Systems is opening a new plant in Pickens, creating 60 jobs over the next two years. The company supplies parts to assembly operations and other manufacturers in the automotive industry. The new plant will manufacture hydraulic tube and hose assemblies.

TENNESSEE

Blazer Adds 50 Workers With Expansion in Chattanooga

Operations have begun at a new facility in Chattanooga for Blazer Fabricating LLC, creating 50 jobs there. Brazer recently signed a long-term lease for an existing industrial property in Chattanooga, a 140,000 square foot facility that includes high-capacity cranes, a rail spur and a barge loading dock. The Birmingham-based company primarily produces plate and structural steel for industrial applications and large metal ducts for pollution control systems in power plants.

M&M/Mars Expands Candy Plant

Candy maker M&M/Mars plans a $74 million expansion at its plant northeast of Chattanooga. The Cleveland, Tenn. plant makes about 25 tractor-trailer loads a day of M&Ms and Twix bars. The expansion will create 80 jobs, bringing the employee total to 500.

HT Hackney Consolidates Operations in the
Roane Regional Business & Technology Park

HT Hackney Company will be the first tenant in the Roane Regional Business and Technology Park. Hackney will consolidate its Knoxville and Alcoa distribution centers once the new facility is complete in summer 2004. The new distribution center will have an annual payroll of $14 million and employ 320 people. Hackney is a diversified company involved in wholesale groceries, gas, oil, furniture manufacturing and bottled water under the labels Laure and Mountain Spring. Hackney operates in 22 states with 27 warehouses.

TEXAS

Wells Fargo Expanding in Austin

Wells Fargo & Co. is expanding its Austin operations by adding 50 employees, primarily in its consumer banking division. The bank, which employs 550 people in the Austin area, will hire 35 "personal bankers," and 15 people to deal with small businesses.

Ford to Build Parts Center in Fort Worth

Ford Motor Co. will build a 225,000 square foot regional parts distribution center at the Alliance Airport industrial park in Fort Worth. The facility will distribute parts to Ford Lincoln Mercury dealerships within a 250-mile radius and employ 50 workers.

Home Depot Opening 750,000 Square Foot Distribution Center

Home Depot Inc. is opening a 750,000 square foot distribution center at the Cedar Crossing Industrial Park in Baytown, a southeastern suburb of Houston. The facility will serve the southwestern states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Frito-Lay Invests $16 Million in Manufacturing Facility in Rosenberg

Frito-Lay will invest $16 million to expand its 400,000 square foot factory in Rosenberg. The expansion will bring 35 new jobs and allow the Ft. Bend County factory to support production of 10 million pounds annually of Cheetos. In total, the facility manufactures more than 84 million pounds annually of snack items. More production lines and packaging equipment constitute the bulk of the renovation costs.

VIRGINIA

BAE Systems to Open Facility, Create 1,000 Jobs in Reston

BAE Systems North America, the British defense and aerospace contractor, will open a new systems-integration unit in Reston in fall 2002 and add 1,000 new jobs at the facility over three years. The Reston operation, a new business division for the Farnborough, England-based company, will be located in a 135,000 square foot office currently under construction.

West Adds 750 Jobs in Hampton

West Corporation announced in December it will create 750 new jobs at their Hampton, Va., location. New teleservices reps will staff West's inbound call center. The customer services center processes incoming telephone orders from people wanting to purchase products or services they have seen advertised on TV, direct mail or other media.

Ferguson Expands Headquarters in Newport News

Ferguson Enterprises will create 400 new jobs at its current corporate office in Newport News. Ferguson, the largest plumbing supply distributor in the U.S. is owned by Wolseley plc, the world's largest specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products. Ferguson's expansion resulted in the need for an additional $20.5 million facility at the campus in Newport News.

Atlanta Pulp & Paper Chooses Brunswick County for Facility

Georgia-based Atlanta Pulp & Paper has located a new facility in Brunswick County. The company, which has begun operations in Brunswick County, makes and sells recycled pulp to paper manufacturers. Brunswick will gain 282 new jobs from the move.

Sara Lee Breaks Ground for $93 Million Expansion in Suffolk

Sara Lee Coffee & Tea, North America has broken ground on a $93 million plant expansion. The expansion, which will create 100 new jobs, includes the latest technology to produce a brand of liquid coffee concentrate for the international market. Suffolk's existing Sara Lee plant is a 320,000 square foot facility that employs 200 people producing roast and ground coffee.

Alfa Laval Expands in Henrico County

Alfa Laval will expand its operations in Henrico County with the addition of a new valve and pump manufacturing facility. The $10 million expansion will be adjacent to the company's current facility in the International Business Park. Alfa Laval presently employs 250 people in the Richmond area and will create 100 new jobs with the expansion. Alfa Laval is a provider of specialized products and solutions that help its customers heat, cool, separate and transport products such as oil, water, chemicals, beverages, foodstuff, starch, and pharmaceuticals.

Abbott to Add 61 Jobs in Altavista

The Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories will invest in its production facility in Altavista. A producer of nutritional products, the company will create 61 new jobs through a $29 million investment. Abbott Laboratories is a global, broad-based health care company involved in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutritionals, and medical products.

School House Candy Relocates to Virginia

School House Candy in Pawtucket, R.I., is relocating its manufacturing operations to Virginia in a move that will affect about 100 employees. The parent company of School House Candy, Sherwood Brands Inc., is consolidating all manufacturing into a single facility. Sherwood will cluster its gift basket assembly operations in New Bedord, Central Falls and Pawtucket. Manufacturing will be centered in a plant in Chase City, Virginia. The move will occur in late spring 2002. Some workers will be offered jobs at the corporate headquarters or the assembly plants, or be asked to relocate.

Ser Solutions Moves to Loudoun Tech Center

Ser Solutions has moved from Herndon to Dulles into new U.S. corporate headquarters in Loudoun's Technology Corridor. The company has moved into 35,000 square feet of office and technology demonstration space in the 280-acre Loudoun Tech Center office complex. Company officials expect the move to save SER millions over the next decade.

QUIZ ANSWER

As mentioned, if you are a regular reader of SB&D you'd know that the FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate) sector was the only Gross Regional Product that the South did not lead all other U.S. regions two years ago. The Northeast topped the South in that sector two years ago by $2 billion. No longer. New figures now show the South produced a GRP in FIRE of $250.6 billion in 2001, while the Northeast dropped to second place with $248 billion. That means the South now leads all U.S. regions in every U.S. industry sector.