Magazine ranks Sioux City No. 1 in economic development
Metro Sioux City earns top ranking for economic development
By Dave Dreeszen Journal business editor | Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2008
SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- A record-setting year for business recruitment catapulted Siouxland into the national spotlight Monday.
For the first time, metro Sioux City topped Site Selection magazine's annual ranking of the small metro areas with the most economic development. The tri-state region had 23 qualifying corporate announcements in 2007, eight more than second-place finisher Morristown, Tenn., among communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000.
Sioux City's winning totals even would have cracked the top 10 in the next-largest category -- metro areas with populations between 200,000 and 1 million.
"It was a very strong showing for a community this size,'' said Ron Starner, general manager of Conway Data, Site Selection's publisher. The local metro area has a population of around 120,000.
Starner announced the No. 1 ranking in front of more than 150 local business executives and leaders at a luncheon Monday at South Sioux City's Marina Inn.
Starner predicted Sioux City's top rating could be a harbinger of even better things to come for the region. Site Selection's base of 44,000 subscribers include executives involved in corporate site selection decisions, most at the chief operating officer, president or chief executive level.
"A ranking like this can not only put a community on the map, but, more importantly, it can put a community on the radar screen of site selectors,'' he said.
The magazine's annual rankings, he said, helps connect communities with businesses looking to relocate or expand.
"This recognition confirms that this community's economy remains on a very positive trajectory,'' said Regina Roth, chair of The Siouxland Initiative and Beef Products Inc. co-owner.
BPI's planned $30 million crumbles plant in South Sioux City was among the largest local investments last year. Others included a $85 million cattle feedlot and self-contained ethanol plant Prime Biosolutions plans to build in Dakota County, Neb., and Speciality Protein Products' proposed $30 million organic soybean processing plant, also in South Sioux City.
Site Selection did not provide a complete list of the 23 projects, but Chris McGowan, executive vice president of The Siouxland Initiative, noted all three states and every city in the metro area had one or more in 2007.
Starner said he was impressed with the diversity of the projects, which included not only Sioux City's traditional food processing, but also such sectors as energy, technology and advanced manufacturing.
Tracked by Conway Data's extensive New Plant database, Site Selection's annual rankings are determined by which cities and states attracted the most projects that satisfy at least one of three criteria. The projects must include an investment of at least $1 million, create at least 50 new jobs or involve construction of at least 20,000 square feet. Retail, government, hospital and school developments are not eligible.
The Siouxland Initiative, which hosted Monday's announcement, intends to take full advantage of the Site Selection ranking, said McGowan.
The Initiative, the development arm of the Siouxland Chamber, gave a preview of ads the organization plans to run in Site Selection and other national trade publications, as well as in an ongoing local marketing campaign. The rating also will be the focus of a direct mailing to every site selector in the Initiative's database, and in McGowan's upcoming, one-on-one conversations with executives and site selectors across the country.
"We're going to make sure that everybody in the site selector arena is made aware of this news,'' he told the luncheon audience.
Siouxland improved on its 2006 Site Selection finish, when it tied for third place for the most new corporate location projects among small metro areas.
Starner cited three main factors for Siouxland's success. The region, he said, "plays to its strengths,'' targeting industries that it knows well, such as food manufacturing. Being on the border of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, expanding companies also is an advantage, he said, because expanding companies have a choice of states to locate in.
"You don't have to take a one-size-fit-all approach when a company approaches you,'' he said. "You have a menu of options.''
Strarner also cited the region's long-range planning. In Site Selection's March issue, he quotes Siouxland Initiative President Debi Durham as saying the organization a decade ago developed a strategic plan for transportation, education, health care, infrastructure and quality of life.
Site Selection highlights all its first-place cities and states in its March issue, known as the annual Governor's Cup. For the second straight year, Ohio captured the Cup, finishing first among the states for the most new and expanded corporate facilities. Illinois came in second, followed by Tennessee. Iowa ranked 16th this year, but would have been sixth on a per capita basis, Starner noted.
The planned Hyperion Energy Center did not factor into metro Sioux City's top ranking in Site Selection's nationwide list for the most new or expanded corporate facilities.
Because Hyperion has not formally chosen a site for its $10 billion oil refinery and power plant, the project was not included in the metro area's 23 corporate announcements for 2007, said Ron Starner, general manager of Site Selection.
"When it's a done deal, then it would count," he told the Journal editorial board.
Nonetheless, Site Selection, a leading corporate real estate publication, is plenty interested in Hyperion's project, which would be the second largest U.S. infrastrcuture project, behind the Big Dig in Boston.
In its March issue, the magazine highlights all the first-place cities and states in its annual site selection rankings. In Sioux City's story, Starner writes "greater Sioux City is poised to take its biggest leap of all if the proposed Hyperion Energy Center becomes a reality in Union County, S.D."
The story details plans for the refinery, which would have an estimated annual economic impact of $13.7 million for the region.
Starner, who met briefly with Hyperion executives while he was in town Monday, said his publication has been closely following the Dallas, Texas, company's plans. More than 75 percent of Site Selection's 43,000 subscribers represent manufacturing companies, whose top concerns are energy related.
"The reality is manufacturers in the U.S. are becoming less and less competitive globally, largely because of energy costs and access to energy," he said. "A project like Hyperion, as important as it may be to your area, the perspective that we take as a magazine, we look at projects like that as infrastructure projecgts like that for the whole country."
-- Dave Dreeszen
For the first time, metro Sioux City topped Site Selection magazine's annual ranking of the small metro areas with the most economic development. The tri-state region had 23 qualifying corporate announcements in 2007, eight more than second-place finisher Morristown, Tenn., among communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000.
Sioux City's winning totals even would have cracked the top 10 in the next-largest category -- metro areas with populations between 200,000 and 1 million.
"It was a very strong showing for a community this size,'' said Ron Starner, general manager of Conway Data, Site Selection's publisher. The local metro area has a population of around 120,000.
Starner announced the No. 1 ranking in front of more than 150 local business executives and leaders at a luncheon Monday at South Sioux City's Marina Inn.
Starner predicted Sioux City's top rating could be a harbinger of even better things to come for the region. Site Selection's base of 44,000 subscribers include executives involved in corporate site selection decisions, most at the chief operating officer, president or chief executive level.
"A ranking like this can not only put a community on the map, but, more importantly, it can put a community on the radar screen of site selectors,'' he said.
The magazine's annual rankings, he said, helps connect communities with businesses looking to relocate or expand.
"This recognition confirms that this community's economy remains on a very positive trajectory,'' said Regina Roth, chair of The Siouxland Initiative and Beef Products Inc. co-owner.
BPI's planned $30 million crumbles plant in South Sioux City was among the largest local investments last year. Others included a $85 million cattle feedlot and self-contained ethanol plant Prime Biosolutions plans to build in Dakota County, Neb., and Speciality Protein Products' proposed $30 million organic soybean processing plant, also in South Sioux City.
Site Selection did not provide a complete list of the 23 projects, but Chris McGowan, executive vice president of The Siouxland Initiative, noted all three states and every city in the metro area had one or more in 2007.
Starner said he was impressed with the diversity of the projects, which included not only Sioux City's traditional food processing, but also such sectors as energy, technology and advanced manufacturing.
Tracked by Conway Data's extensive New Plant database, Site Selection's annual rankings are determined by which cities and states attracted the most projects that satisfy at least one of three criteria. The projects must include an investment of at least $1 million, create at least 50 new jobs or involve construction of at least 20,000 square feet. Retail, government, hospital and school developments are not eligible.
The Siouxland Initiative, which hosted Monday's announcement, intends to take full advantage of the Site Selection ranking, said McGowan.
The Initiative, the development arm of the Siouxland Chamber, gave a preview of ads the organization plans to run in Site Selection and other national trade publications, as well as in an ongoing local marketing campaign. The rating also will be the focus of a direct mailing to every site selector in the Initiative's database, and in McGowan's upcoming, one-on-one conversations with executives and site selectors across the country.
"We're going to make sure that everybody in the site selector arena is made aware of this news,'' he told the luncheon audience.
Siouxland improved on its 2006 Site Selection finish, when it tied for third place for the most new corporate location projects among small metro areas.
Starner cited three main factors for Siouxland's success. The region, he said, "plays to its strengths,'' targeting industries that it knows well, such as food manufacturing. Being on the border of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, expanding companies also is an advantage, he said, because expanding companies have a choice of states to locate in.
"You don't have to take a one-size-fit-all approach when a company approaches you,'' he said. "You have a menu of options.''
Strarner also cited the region's long-range planning. In Site Selection's March issue, he quotes Siouxland Initiative President Debi Durham as saying the organization a decade ago developed a strategic plan for transportation, education, health care, infrastructure and quality of life.
Site Selection highlights all its first-place cities and states in its March issue, known as the annual Governor's Cup. For the second straight year, Ohio captured the Cup, finishing first among the states for the most new and expanded corporate facilities. Illinois came in second, followed by Tennessee. Iowa ranked 16th this year, but would have been sixth on a per capita basis, Starner noted.
The planned Hyperion Energy Center did not factor into metro Sioux City's top ranking in Site Selection's nationwide list for the most new or expanded corporate facilities.
Because Hyperion has not formally chosen a site for its $10 billion oil refinery and power plant, the project was not included in the metro area's 23 corporate announcements for 2007, said Ron Starner, general manager of Site Selection.
"When it's a done deal, then it would count," he told the Journal editorial board.
Nonetheless, Site Selection, a leading corporate real estate publication, is plenty interested in Hyperion's project, which would be the second largest U.S. infrastrcuture project, behind the Big Dig in Boston.
In its March issue, the magazine highlights all the first-place cities and states in its annual site selection rankings. In Sioux City's story, Starner writes "greater Sioux City is poised to take its biggest leap of all if the proposed Hyperion Energy Center becomes a reality in Union County, S.D."
The story details plans for the refinery, which would have an estimated annual economic impact of $13.7 million for the region.
Starner, who met briefly with Hyperion executives while he was in town Monday, said his publication has been closely following the Dallas, Texas, company's plans. More than 75 percent of Site Selection's 43,000 subscribers represent manufacturing companies, whose top concerns are energy related.
"The reality is manufacturers in the U.S. are becoming less and less competitive globally, largely because of energy costs and access to energy," he said. "A project like Hyperion, as important as it may be to your area, the perspective that we take as a magazine, we look at projects like that as infrastructure projecgts like that for the whole country."
-- Dave Dreeszen
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 12 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
KC wrote on Mar 9, 2008 9:34 AM:
Joseph wrote on Mar 5, 2008 9:36 AM:
jpberka wrote on Mar 5, 2008 9:13 AM:
Brandon wrote on Mar 4, 2008 9:40 PM:
KC wrote on Mar 4, 2008 9:03 PM: