Lowest Cost of Business · 2014. 9. 20. · comprehensive guide for companies ... including labor,...

T he compilation of our annualMetro Rankings always is achallenge because at last countthere were nearly 350 Metro-politan Statistical Areas in the U.S.Adding to the complexity, manyMSAs are not restricted to the bor-ders of cities and towns but alsoencompass the surrounding regionAdditionally, economic developmentprograms often are promoted on aregional basis. Our preference whendoing the Metro Rankings is tostructure them as much as possible topermit the results to showcase indi-vidual locations. We’ve done our bestto adhere to that standard.

CINCINNATI HAS LOWESTCOST OF DOING BUSINESS

Cincinnati’s low costs for facilityleasing, transportation and propertytaxes contributed significantly to itsranking as the least-costly location todo business in the United Statesamong the 27 largest metro areas (allwith populations exceeding 2 mil-lion), according to a study by KPMGLLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm.

Atlanta was the second most cost-competitive location in the large-cities category, followed by Orlando,Tampa and Dallas-Fort Worth,which ranked third, fourth and fifthrespectively. Other locations thatperformed well were Baltimore, St.Louis and Cleveland.

In our 2012 Metro RankingsReport, Cincinnati also was rankedninth in Economic Growth Poten-tial (less than 450,000 employ-ment), seventh in Best Quality ofLife and sixth among the Top 10Manufacturing Cities.

KPMG’s Competitive Alternativesstudy provides a thorough biennialcomparison of more than two dozenlarge metropolitan area business loca-tions in the United States, offering acomprehensive guide for companiesconsidering sites for their businessoperations. The KPMG study is par-ticularly valuable for its measurementof significant factors that contributeto business operating costs and whichoften vary by location, includingcosts associated with taxes, labor,facilities, transportation and utilities.

KPMG’s 2012 Competitive Alter-natives study measured 26 significantcost components in each market,including labor, taxes, real estate andutilities, as they apply to 19 indus-tries over a 10-year analysis horizon.Information is also provided on a

variety of non-cost components. Thestudy enables companies to performa “quick scan” of locations to deter-mine which markets can offer anadvantageous business environment.

The KPMG study reveals thatCincinnati had a cost index of 95.9,representing business costs 4.1 per-cent below the U.S. national baselineof 100.0. Cincinnati was followedclosely by Atlanta at 96.2, Orlando at96.3, Tampa at 96.4 and Dallas-FortWorth at 96.5.

Atlanta’s ranking was driven by avery favorable effective income taxrate and competitive business operat-ing costs in such areas as transporta-tion, employee benefits, natural gasand factory leasing. Orlando bene-fited from very competitive costs forsalaries and wages, and employeebenefit plans. Tampa had the lowestlabor costs of all the large U.S. cities,along with low downtown office leas-ing costs. Dallas-Fort Worth had par-ticularly strong cost advantages forutilities and facilities, which con-tributed to the location’s ranking forlowest overall business operatingcosts among the large U.S. citiesexamined in the KPMG study.

Baltimore ranked sixth in thestudy with a cost index of 97.0, ben-efiting from the lowest suburbanoffice lease costs among large citiesand low property-based taxes. St.Louis and Cleveland followed Balti-more, both with a cost index of 97.1.St. Louis’ low costs for factory leasingand electricity contributed signifi-cantly to its ranking, while Clevelandbenefited from low office lease costs.

KPMG’s baseline cost index (U.S. =100.0) is defined as the average of busi-ness costs in the four largest U.S. met-ropolitan areas: New York, Los Ange-les, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth.

6 4 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

(Continued from page 33)

1. CINCINNATI

2. ATLANTA

3. ORLANDO

4. TAMPA

5. DALLAS-FORT WORTH

6. BALTIMORE

7. ST. LOUIS

8. CLEVELAND

9. PITTSBURGH

10. PHOENIX

Lowest Cost of Business

MIDLAND TX, KNOXVILLE TNARE GROWTH CENTERS

It is no wonder that expert afterexpert has recognized Midland,TX ashaving exceptional assets, the kind ofassets that promote sustainablegrowth when other parts of the coun-try are struggling with challenges.Midland, TX ranked second in ourEconomic Growth Potential (lessthan 450,000 employment) category.

Midland has amassed distinctionsin recent years that include beingranked number one in both Inc.com’slist in overall and small cities cate-gories and on the MilkenInstitute/Greenstreet Real Estate Part-

ners’ “Best Performing Cities Index.”Midland offers a retail trading

zone population in excess of350,000; rail service, a major inter-state and two airports includingMidland International Airport(MAF). The city also boasts the LaEntrada Al Pacifico—a West TexasTrade Corridor between Mexico,Canada and the United States.

A well-educated workforce isessential in a competitive global envi-ronment, and workers must be ableto update and expand their knowl-edge as new technology and ways ofworking evolve. Post-secondary andhigher education resources are read-

ily available in the Midland area toserve the community.

The University of Texas of thePermian Basin with an enrollment of3,600 students offers bachelor’s andgraduate degrees in business andtechnical areas, with an emphasis onsegments that serve the PermianBasin oil and gas industry. MidlandCollege, a level-two, comprehensivecommunity college offers more than50 fields of study, including pro-grams in nursing, paralegal studies,aviation maintenance technology,aerospace manufacturing, oil and gasand wind-related technology. And,the Midland College Advanced

6 6 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

1. RALEIGH, NC

2. PROVO, UT

3. ARLINGTON, VA

4. OMAHA, NE

5. SCOTTSDALE, AZ

6. BOISE, ID

7. CINCINNATI, OH

8. GREENSBORO, NC

9. RICHMOND, VA

10. IRVINE, CA

Best Quality of Life

Fastest Growing Cities

1. CHARLOTTE, NC

2. RALEIGH, NC

3. CAPE CORAL, FL

4. PROVO, UT

5. AUSTIN, TX

6. LAS VEGAS, NV

7. McCALLEN, TX

8. KNOXVILLE, TN

9. GREENVILLE, SC

10. SAN ANTONIO, TX

Top 10 Manufacturing Cities

1. HOUSTON, TX

2. NEW YORK, NY

3. CHICAGO, IL

4. ST. LOUIS, MO

5. LOS ANGELES, CA

6. CINCINNATI, OH

7. DALLAS, TX

8. INDIANAPOLIS, IN

9. PHOENIX, AZ

10. SAN DIEGO, CA

Technology Center (ATC), a part-nership of Midland College andMidland Independent School Dis-trict, is designed to deliver technicalworkforce education programs,enabling residents to acquire techni-cal skills and certifications.

Other workforce developmentresources in the Midland areainclude the Petroleum ProfessionalDevelopment Center, the Center forEnergy and Economic Diversifica-tion, Texas Tech University HealthScience Center, Workforce Solutionsof Midland and MakeMidland-Home.com—an interactive websitecreated to partner Midland Employ-ers with Job Seekers by providinguseful information.

Commercial service daily toeight major hubs, border entrywith United States Customs, easyaccess to Interstate 20, plentifulland and buildings along withbusiness jet and a corporate air-port with easy access to the Cen-tral Business District means thereis room for aggressive expansionin a strong market ready for newopportunities. Midland has abusiness park with acres ofshovel-ready sites, some adjacentto runways for aviation-relatedindustries, and numerous avail-able sites for energy clusters, busi-ness and professional services,healthcare facilities, transporta-tion and aviation, among other

target industries in Midland.Midland’s Central Business Dis-

trict (CDB) has over five millionsquare feet of multi-tenant officespace. Under the leadership of theMDC, the Downtown MidlandManagement District and Tax Incre-ment Finance District Boards areaggressive in both the revitalizationefforts of the CBD and bridgingpublic-private partnerships.

Knoxville, TN earned our no. 10ranking for Economic GrowthPotential (less than 450,000 employ-ment) and was eighth in our rankingof the Fastest Growing Cities.

“Our 2012 Metro Rankingsresults show that growth is synony-mous with Knoxville,” Business

6 8 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

A DEVELOPMENT OF THE AK-CHIN INDIAN COMMUNITY

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Upgrades to the former Phoenix Regional Airport, now renamed Ak-Chin Regional Airport are under way and a grand opening is expected in the fall of 2012. The initial stage includes reactivation of fuel services; renovations to the 5,000 ft. runway and taxiway; new lighting; and Fixed Base Operations (FBO) building.

Just five minutes from the Airport, Santa Cruz Commerce Center offers more than 50 acres of immediately available land for lease with a build-to-suit option for qualified tenants. With below market lease rates and substantial tax savings, our fully improved industrial park gives tenants ideal proximity to

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Facilities Editor in Chief Jack Rogerssaid. “Few cities can match thecombination of assets the Tennesseecity brings to the Knoxville-OakRidge Innovation Valley. Knoxvillehas all of the attributes that willenable it to be a growth center foryears to come,” Rogers added. “Withan influx of skilled workers and aworld-class research infrastructure,we expect Knoxville to continue itsupward climb in our key MetroRankings categories.”

When it became clear that a hugeportion of the federal stimulus effortwas earmarked for research anddevelopment of alternative-energyand energy efficiency-related proj-ects, the Knoxville, TN area was ready.

It declared itself the Knoxville-OakRidge Innovation Valley, bringingresearchers from Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory (ORNL) and the Univer-sity of Tennessee/Knoxville together inambitious effort to establish the regionas a primary alternative energy hub.

Improved LED lights, high techair filtration systems and lighter,stronger and easier-to-ship materi-als—all developed locally—are fuel-ing a promising, and increasinglygreen, future for the Knoxville-OakRidge Innovation Valley.

Entrepreneurs and local compa-nies in the Innovation Valley eco-nomic development region areworking closely with researchers atORNL, the Department of Energy’s

Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge and theUniversity of Tennessee/Knoxville.

Technology transfer also is atwork locally at Industrial CeramicSolutions, which produces ceramicfiber filters for industrial and dieselexhaust applications. The company,headed by former Oak Ridge mate-rials research scientist Dick Nix-dorf, is developing high-perform-ance reinforcement fibers toimprove durability of combustionchamber liners in coal-fired powerplants. Nixdorf ’s company alsoworks with bon nanotubes, whichcould improve fuel cells andlithium. The underlying technologydeveloped was a joint effort byORNL and Y-12.

B U S I N E S S F A C I L I T I E S 6 9


Frederick, part of the Maryland bioscience cluster, is the ideal location for research and development.

Home to Riverside Research Park and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

Proximity to nearly 50 federal life sciences institutes and centers, including NIH, FDA, NIST and USAMRIID

Ranked 2nd Smartest City in the US by Forbes.com

Easy access to 3 international airports

To learn more about business sites in Frederick, Maryland call the Department of Economic Development at 301-600-6360 or visit www.businessinfrederick.com

Economic Development

The City of

Maryland

a great american business destination

The synergies between researchand the region’s economy are perhapsbest symbolized by the ORNL labdirector’s chairmanship of theKnoxville-Oak Ridge InnovationValley economic development part-nership and by such events as theTechnology Resource Showcase,which has connected localresearchers and their innovative tech-nologies with local companies.

“I believe in the adage, ‘companiesinnovate or they die’,” said JesseSmith, technical director for theInnovation Valley partnership. “Weask companies, why would you wantto be anywhere else? What better waythat to tap into DOE’s largest energymaterials lab and the innovative

products coming out of Y-12 and themany collaborative efforts with amajor university?”

Also fueling growth in the area isincreased demand for centrifugesproduced at a site in Oak Ridgeshared by USEC Inc. and its manu-facturing partner, Babcock & WilcoxCo. Toshiba Corp. and Babcock &Wilcox Investment Co., an affiliateof Babcock & Wilcox Co., havesigned a definitive long-term agree-ment to a three-phased investment of$200 million in USEC.

CHARLOTTE NC: RISING QUICKLYCharlotte, NC earned the top

ranking in our Fastest GrowingCities category. It seems like a week

doesn’t go by without some majoreconomic development news out ofthe Charlotte, NC region. A skilledworkforce and aggressive state pro-grams to support relocations and newfacilities are reaping a whirlwind ofjob-creating activity in this part of theTarheel State. For example, tire giantMichelin North America invested$11.3 million to expand its aviationtire operations in Norwood, NC.

Center City is the centralemployment district for Charlotte,with businesses that range fromdesign firms and retail shops in His-

7 0 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2


Employment Leaders

1. BISMARK, ND

2. LINCOLN, NE

3. FARGO, ND

4. MIDLAND, TX

5. BURLINGTON-SOUTHBURLINGTON, VT

6. IOWA CITY, IA

7. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA

8. ODESSA, TX

8. SIOUX FALLS, SD

8. OKLAHOMA CITY, OK

8. PORTSMOUTH, NH

toric South End to the governmentcenters and financial, insurance, realestate, engineering and legal servicescompanies that populate the grow-ing skyline of Uptown Charlotte.

More than $6 billion in invest-ment is anticipated by the end of thedecade for this vibrant district,which already employs 70,000workers in Uptown and South End.The Center is being transformedinto a thriving urban neighborhoodand national destination. There arefour major office towers under con-struction, mid- and high-rise con-dos as well as transit-oriented devel-opment with condos andapartments are popping up alongthe LYNX Blue Line. There also is a

growing list of tourism assets,including the Wachovia CulturalCampus and the extremely popularNASCAR Hall of Fame.

Directly across from the CharlotteConvention Center and NASCARHall of Fame, stretching nearly downto Duke Energy’s new office tower,sits what may be the largest piece ofprime, undeveloped land in the heartof a major Eastern U.S. city.

More than 14 acres of land, nowcovered with neatly manicured lawns,is available adjacent to Charlotte’sthriving hub. The land has beendivided into five parcels for develop-ment: a 3.68-acre parcel adjacent to alight-rail station and gateway, acrossfrom the convention center; 3.75 acres

at south gateway, across from theNASCAR museum; a 2.68 parcel witheasy access to highway and exiting traf-fic; 1.8 acres south of I-277; and 2.28acres with street connections to nearbyresidential areas, retail and greenway.

All of the available parcels haveUptown Mixed Use District zoningand unlimited floor area ratio (FAR).Unlimited FAR and building heightmeans there’s basically no limit on thesize of buildings that may be con-structed on the site. The land currentlyis all city owned.

The city is actively soliciting pro-posals from retail, office and residen-tial buyer/developers, who in turnwould secure tenants for their devel-opments. A deal was reached last


Midland Ranks 2nd in Economic Growth Potential (Employment

year for a 250-unit apartment toweron one of the parcels.

Developers of these primeparcels will get close assess to theinner belt loop of Charlotte’s inter-state highways, while being withinwalking distance of the QueenCity’s cultural gems and businessheart. The parcels are three blocksfrom the Levine Cultural Campus,which includes three museums anda performance hall.

Center City is a thriving anddiverse urban neighborhood withmore than 13,000 residents. Itsneighborhoods boast gleaming, high-rise condos, stately turn-of-the-cen-tury Victorian homes, apartments,town homes and houses for singles

and growing families. More than 25-million visitors come to Center Cityto visit 120 restaurants and 50nightspots, the Carolina Panthers atBank of America Stadium and Char-lotte Bobcats at the Time WarnerCable Arena as well as cultural ven-ues including the Blumenthal Per-forming Arts Center, Discovery Placeand ImaginOn, and the MintMuseum of Craft and Design.

INDIANAPOLIS:CROSSROADS OF THE U.S.

In our 2012 Metro RankingsReport, Indianapolis made the top10 in three categories: EconomicGrowth Potential (employmentgreater than 450,000), Logistics

Leaders (Air Cargo Hubs) and Top10 Manufacturing Cities.

Indianapolis used to be the quin-tessential Rust Belt city. Now it’s atthe center of a statewide boom in thelife-sciences sector and rapidly isestablishing itself as one of the Mid-west’s leading transportation hubs.

A rapidly growing life sciencesindustry has a $44-billion totalimpact on Indiana’s economy,according to a comprehensive reportreleased by BioCrossroads. Thereport, based on data gathered by theIndiana Business Resource Center atthe Indiana University Kelley Schoolof Business, illustrates a decade ofsubstantial growth and measurableprogress across a wide range of

7 2 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

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nationally significant indicators.For example, the report noted that

in 2009, Indiana’s life sciencesexports totaled $7.4 billion, rankingthe third highest in the U. S., behindonly California and Texas. The statehas the third-highest life sciencesemployment concentration nation-ally and has seen a 21 percentincrease in life sciences employment,adding more than 8,800 new jobs tothe industry since 2002. More than50,000 workers at 825 companiescomprise four life sciences sub-sec-tors: medical devices and equipment;drugs and pharmaceuticals; research,testing and medical laboratories; andagricultural feedstock and chemicals.

Indiana’s health information tech-nology sector contributes an addi-tional 2,500 workers and 72 compa-nies. The report also highlights the

progress of Indiana’s life sciencescompanies in discovering and com-mercializing thousands of new prod-ucts over the past decade. There were

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1. COLUMBUS, IN

2. LAFAYETTE, LA

3. ODESSA, TX

4. BLACKSBURG-CHRIS-TIANSBURG-RADFORD, VA

5. HOLLAND-GRAND HAVEN, MI

6. OCEAN CITY. NJ

7. GAINESVILLE, GA

8. ELKHART-GOSHEN, IN

9. SANDUSKY, OH

10. HOUMA-BAYOU CANE-THIBODAUX, LA

Jobs Growth Leaders

2,226 U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-tration filings between 2005 and2010—the Hoosier state had theninth highest number of 510(k)applications with 1,821, and the11th highest number of PremarketApproval applications with 405.

“There are three key componentsto having a thriving innovation cluster:the sector must be based on real assets,must draw substantial corporate andphilanthropic investment and must besustained by the investments of otherswho care about it,” said David John-son, president and CEO of BioCross-roads, based in Indianapolis.

“Indiana has all of those elements

working together. Compared toother states and regions, we have asignificant competitive advantagebecause of our focus on cultivating askilled workforce, engaged universityand academic institutions, strongphilanthropic support, novel public-private partnerships, access to capitaland a positive business climate.”

Indianapolis, which is home to bignames in the field such as Eli Lilly &Co. and health insurer WellPointInc., is leading the transformation.Corporations like these have addedthe lion’s share of the state’s new life-sciences jobs. Now, they’re helpingsmaller companies get off the ground,

too—by spinning off new businessesas well as by backing independentstart-ups. Eli Lilly, for instance, hascontributed roughly $60 million toseed and venture funds that are sup-porting entrepreneurs.

MEMPHIS,TN: GLOBAL LOGISTICS HUB

Memphis, TN scored an impres-sive double play in this year’s rank-ings by grabbing the top slot in bothour Metro and Global LogisticsLeaders (Air Cargo Hubs) rankings.

The FedEx hub was placed inMemphis because of the city’s centrallocation, the availability of the work-

7 4 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

Best Cost of Living

1. HARLINGEN, TX

2. PUEBLO, CO

3. McCALLEN, TX

4. TEMPLE, TX

5. MEMPHIS, TN

6. COOKEVILLE, TN

7. RICHMOND, IN

8. WACO, TX

9. ARDMORE, OK

10. SHERMAN-DENISON, TX

Economic Growth Potentional

(Employment > 450,000)

1. AUSTIN, TX

2. OKLAHOMA CITY, OK

3. SALT LAKE CITY, UT

4. HOUSTON, TX

5. DALLAS-FORT WORTH, TX

6. RALEIGH-CARY, NC

7. PITTSBURGH, PA

8. INDIANAPOLIS, IN

9. CINCINNATI, OH

10. BALTIMORE, MD

Economic Growth Potentional

(Employment < 450,000)

1. ODESSA, TX

2. MIDLAND, TX

3. LAFAYETTE, LA

4. PROVO, UT

5. McCALLEN-MISSION, TX

6. COLUMBUS, IN

7. MIDLAND, MI

8. EL PASO, TX

9. FREDERICK, MD

10. KNOXVILLE, TN

force, a strong relationship with thelocal airport authorities and generouseconomic incentive programs.Thesequalities have fueled major FedExexpansions in the Memphis area,including a facility in Collierville, TN.

The Memphis region has a varietyof headquartered companies primarilylocated in the Metro area. In additionto FedEx and AutoZone, (two Fortune500 headquarters) are DunavantEnterprises and International Paper,two recognized Forbes “private 500”companies. Additionally, Sparks is thelargest commodity trader in the world,Morgan Keegan is one of the largestinvestment bankers, Belz Enterprises isone of the nation’s leading develop-ment companies, The Kemmons Wil-

son Companies (founder of HolidayInn) also is a major privately held com-pany located in Memphis.

The University of TennesseeHealth Science Center (UTHSC), St.Jude Children’s Research Hospital andthe region’s medical centers providethe necessary research and training tobuild and support economic activityin the bio-med health sciences field.Together, these institutions enablebusiness incubation and startups to befacilitated. An example is the TriStarincubator, a private research facilitycreated by UTHSC.

Memphis bills itself as “America’s Aero-tropolis,” a moniker it has trademarked asthe leading aerotropolis in North America.

“In many communities the idea of

the aerotropolis is aspirational, but inMemphis it’s reality,” says Arnold Perl,chairman of the Memphis-ShelbyCounty Airport Authority Board.

“Since Memphis was first identi-fied as the closest thing to an aero-tropolis in North America by Dr.[John] Kasarda in an article in FastCompany magazine in 2006, theaerotropolis infrastructure has deep-ened and it has become much moreintegrated into our community’sstrategic planning, ”The federal gov-ernment has now recognized that theaerotropolis is a job incubator andhas put aerotropolis language intoboth the Federal Aviation Reautho-rization Act as well as the HighwayReauthorization bill. In the past year,



a HUD grant was provided to Mem-phis to enable creation of the firstformal master plan for the aerotrop-olis. That plan will provide greateralignment and a sense of purpose forwhere we are headed.”

The Memphis aerotropolis isnow recognized as a global “airportcity.” But Memphis is not resting onits laurels. Instead, regional eco-nomic developers have cometogether to make significantimprovements to the airport’s entiretransportation infrastructure.

“If we listed some of the improve-ments we made in the past few years,we’ve spent about $65 billion on

transportation projects,” says DexterMuller, senior VP of CommunityDevelopment for the Greater Mem-phis Chamber (GMC). “We havefour workgroups that work on theaerotropolis initiative here: trans-portation and access; master planningand redevelopment; gateways andbeautification; and marketing andbranding. Every year we try to moveprojects in those areas forward.”

Some of the forward progress thatwas made over the last 18 monthsincludes:

• Access to $56 million in fund-ing to complete an outer loop in the next two years to facilitate

Logistics Leaders –FTZs

1. FORT WORTH/ALLIANCE, TX

2. CHICAGO, IL

3. NEWARK, NJ

4. HOUSTON, TX

5. CHARLESTON, SC

Logistics Leaders –Air Cargo Hubs

1. MEMPHIS, TN

2. ANCHORAGE, AK

3. LOUISVILLE, KY

4. MIAMI, FL

5. LOS ANGELES, CA

6. CHICAGO, IL

7. NEW YORK, NY

8. INDIANAPOLIS, IN

9. NEWARK, NJ

10. ATLANTA, GA

Logistics Leaders –Ports

1. LOS ANGELES, CA

2. LONG BEACH, CA

3. PORT OF NY/NJ

4. SAVANNAH, GA

5. SEATTLE, WA

6. HOUSTON, TX

7. NORFOLK, VA

8. OAKLAND, CA

9. TACOMA, WA

10. CHARLESTON, SC

7 6 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

Food Processing Industry Leaders

1. CHICAGO, IL

2. TORONTO, CANADA

3. LOS ANGELES, CA

4. GENESEE COUNTY, NY

5. SIOUX CITY, IA

6. OMAHA, NE

7. KANSAS CITY, KS

8. SALEM, OR

9. FORT WAYNE, IN

10. FARGO, ND

freight movement by truck• Completing an environmental

impact study to build “The SouthernGateway,” an intermodal bridgeacross the Mississippi river with lanesfor trucks and passengers and also rail

• Approval to complete buildingthe highway 78 corridor that willconnect Memphis to Interstate 22,which will connect it with Birming-ham, AL. “The highway 78 corridoris one of our highest priorities,” saysMuller, “We’ve got approx. 60 to 75billion square feet of industrial spacearound that corridor and it’s rightnear where the Burlington NorthernRailroad has just built their newintermodal yard that will triple thecapacity that they have here. So that’s

kind of ground zero for our indus-trial development. So everything’sbeen approved around it and we areready to go for right-of-way acquisi-tion on it.”

• Completion of a new inter-change modification study from thestate transportation department.Memphis now has a final designthat’s been accepted by the FederalHighway Administration

• Completion of a landscape mas-ter plan; for the first phase, theMemphis City Council appropriated$1.2 million to plant about 2,000trees as part of their gateway beauti-fication plan. “We also had a consult-ing firm work on a gateway designplan for the eight entrances into the

airport city area. We’ve looked ateach one of those to see what treat-ment we should have for them, sowhen you come into the area youknow you’ve entered it. The market-ing end of this is important to us [inorder to communicate] our brandingto everyone, because we want peopleto know this is our air city, this is ouraerotropolis,” says Muller.

Memphis signed a memorandumof understanding with another lead-ing aerotropolis, Charles De GaulleAirport [and the Invest in Parisagency] in France to do joint market-ing to ensure that when they havecompanies in Europe who want todo business in the U.S., Memphis istheir point of contact.


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Billings, Montana is:

ENERGY’SSTRATEGIC PLAY ™

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South Jordan FactsPopulation Growth:

1990 Census ................................................... 12,2202000 Census ................................................... 29,4372010 Census ................................................... 50,418As of Print Date .............................................. 55,095Population Increase since 1990...................... 351%

Acreage: City Total.............................................. 18,301 Parks/Open Space................................. 363

Median Age ......................................................... 28.6Average Household Size...................................... 3.52Median Household Income ................................. $94,107High School Graduates (over 25 yrs) ................. 95.8%College Degree Holders (over 25 yrs) ................ 30.9%Median Home Value ................................................. $351,500Median Travel Time to Work (Minutes) ............. 26.1Travel Time to Salt Lake Int. Airport.................. 20 min.July Temperature (Ave. Max) .........................90.1°F/32.3°CJanuary Temperature (Ave. Max) ...................31.6°F/-0.2°CCommercial Construction Since 1990. Over 10 million sq. ft.City Issuing Most Resid. Bldg. Permits in Utah Since 2005Taxable Retail Sales Increase (99-2011) +1,929%

1999–$49,123,400 2009–$740,263,000 2011–$996,833,882Target Industries: Business & Financial Services; Bio & LifeSciences; Software Development; IT & Data Storage; Re-search & other High Tech Areas; and Food Manufacturing.

Accolades:10 Most Notable High-Growth Cities Gadberry Group 2011Top 100 Places To Live (18th), Money Magazine 2010

“In business, some cities aregood to work with. I have

found The Cityof South Jordangreat to workwith. In my experience, nocity does it better!”

–Ken Gardener, CEOThe Gardener Company

For information contact:Brian Preece,Economic DevelopmentCity of South Jordan1600 W Towne Center Dr.South Jordan, UT 84095(801) [email protected]

www.sjc.utah.gov

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– Median HoHighhg SchoCollege DMedian HoMedian TrrTTrrT avel TimJuly TeeT mpJanuun ary TeeTCommmm erciCity IssuinTaaT xable R

1999–$4TaaT rget IndSciencessearch &

Accolades10 Most NTooT p 100 P

Ken Gardener, CEOThe Gardener Companyyn

For infoof rmation contact:Brian Preece,Economic DevelopmentCity of South Jordan1600 W TooT wne Center Dr.South Jordan, UT 84095(801) 254-3742bpreece@sjjs c.utah.gov

www.sjjs c.utah.gov

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ousehold Income ................................. $94,107ool Graduates (over 25 yrs) ................. 95.8%egree Holders (over 25 yrs) ................ 30.9%ome VaalV la ue ................................................. $351,500ravel Time to WooW rk (Mi uun tes) ............. 26.1me to Salt Lake Int. Airport.................. 20 min.perature (AvvA e. Max) .........................90.1°F/32.3°Cemperature (AvvA e. Max) ...................31.6°F --/ 0.2°Cial Co sn tructiit on Since 1990. Over 10 miim llion sq. fttf .ng Most Resid. Bldg. Permits in Utah Since 2005etail Sales Increase (99-2011) +1,929%49,123,400 2009–$740,263,000 2011–$996,833,882dustries: Business & Financial Services; Bio & Lifeefs; Software Dev lle opm nne t; IT & Data Storage; Re-& other Hi hhg TeeT ch Areas; and Food Manuun facturi ggn .:

Notable High--h Growth Cities Gadberryyr Grouppu 2011Places TooT Live (18th), Moneyye MaaM gazine 2010


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