Cici Awards 2021 Corporate Investment Awards | Trade and Industry Development
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1/21/2021 CiCi Awards 2021 Corporate Investment Awards | Trade and Industry Development Technology/R&D CiCi Awards 2021 Corporate Investment Awards 5 Jan, 2021 By: Tracey Schelmetic While 2020 has certainly presented some challenges on the corporate investment front, many large projects continued apace, and the year is shaping up to be a strong one. The 15 Corporate Investment winners of Trade & Industry Development’s 2021 CiCi Awards have been determined from the details announced in 2019 and 2020 of corporate development projects. (This year, we’ve chosen to combine the two years due to the interruption COVID-19 wrought in the spring, both to the projects themselves as well as our publishing schedule.) Collectively, these 15 projects bring more than $31 billion in corporate investment. But the benefits go well beyond the capital involved. These projects are creating a total of nearly 18,000 new jobs and retaining more than 4,000 existing jobs. Technology remains a major job-creator in our list of winners. Taiwan Semiconductor is spending $12 billion in Maricopa County, Arizona to build a facility that will produce semiconductor wafers, creating thousands of jobs. Google and Facebook are expanding their footprint of data centers, with the former building a $600 million facility in Ellis County, Texas, and the latter investing $800 million in DeKalb County, Illinois. One of our largest single winning projects is that of Grön Fuels, which is leasing 141 acres at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where it’s currently engaging in the front-end engineering and design work to build a renewable fuels complex at the port. The project will represent a $9.2 billion investment and create more than 1,000 jobs. There are also several automotive projects on the list: that of General Motors, which is building a $1.5 billion facility in St. Charles County, Missouri; and Ford Motor Company, which is spending more than $1.4 million to expand and modernize a plant in Wayne County, Michigan. Ultium Cells, a joint project between GM and South Korea’s LG Chem, will revitalize a former GM assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio to build lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles. The project will see an investment of $1.5 billion and create about 1,000 jobs that are sorely needed in the area. Other automotive projects include that of Allison Transmission, a $425 million investment in Marion County, Indiana; and AW Texas, Inc., a $400 million U.S. facility for Japan’s Aisin AW that will produce drive trains, transmissions and vehicle IT systems for Toyota pickups in Texas’ Guadalupe County. Finally, high-end EV company Tesla is investing $1.1 billion in Travis County, Texas in a project that is expected to create 5,000 jobs. In total, TID’s 2021 Corporate Investment CiCi Awards recipients are a testament to the effectiveness of the alliances formed between companies and economic developers and entities at the state and local levels. Read on for more details about these compelling projects. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Maricopa County, Arizona Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s 5-nanometer technology for semiconductor wafer fabrication is about as high tech as technology can get. The process has the capacity to produce 20,000 wafers each month. When it came time to choose a site for U.S. manufacturing, the company found what it was looking for in Maricopa County. Arizona has long been a hub for the advanced manufacturing and semiconductor industries. Companies that locate there cite the state’s skilled workforce, strong supply chain, strategic geographic location, and pro-innovation policies, all of which have driven rapid industry growth and economic momentum. This new U.S. facility will enable TSMC to provide enhanced services to customers and partners and increase its ability to attract global talent, according to the company. The Arizona Commerce Authority is currently working with TSMC, the U.S. administration, the City of Phoenix and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to finalize all aspects of the project and choose a specific site in Phoenix for the location of the new facility. The project is expected to create over 1,600 new high-tech jobs in Maricopa County and generate thousands of additional jobs in the state for suppliers and other companies within the semiconductor industry. TSMC’s total spending on this project, including capital expenditure, will be approximately $12 billion from 2021 to 2029. “We’re incredibly proud that one of the world’s leading technology companies has chosen Arizona for this high-tech project, one with national and global significance,” said Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. “TSMC could have picked any place in the world to build this advanced manufacturing factory. They chose Arizona for our unbeatable business climate, already thriving tech sector and ready access to an international supply chain. I’d like to thank TSMC Chairman Dr. Mark Liu for his commitment to Arizona.” Grön Fuels, West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Grön Fuels, a portfolio company of Fidelis Infrastructure, specializes in the development and production of renewable energy, low-carbon transportation fuels. In November 2020, Fidelis leaders announced that Grön Fuels had secured a long-term lease for 141 acres at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, where the company is completing front-end engineering and design work to confirm the final feasibility of developing a renewable fuels complex at the port. With expansion and associated projects, the complex is expected to entail $9.2 billion of total investment over several phases and create 1,025 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $98,595 plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project and subsequent phases will result in up to 4,560 new indirect jobs. Pending the final investment decision, the project will be built in stages at the leased location on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at the port and located beside the west bank of the Mississippi River near Port Allen. The first phase of the project will involve an investment of more than $1.25 billion, and is expected to produce up to 60,000 barrels per day of low-carbon renewable diesel, with an option to produce renewable jet fuel using non-fossil feedstocks such as soybean oil, corn oil and animal fats. When all phases of the potential project are completed by the estimated date of 2030, the site would be one of the largest renewable fuel complexes in the world, and the latest in a trend of renewable fuel projects in Louisiana. Long known for its strengths in the oil and gas industry, Louisiana is now attracting major investments and job creation from businesses that are preparing for a low-carbon future. “Louisiana’s core strengths in the field of building and operating plants that produce fuels and products for the world, coupled with its logistically advantaged deep-water location at the nexus of energy and agriculture, serve as the launching point for a new ‘high tech’ transition of the region into the next generation of energy,” said Dan Shapiro, Fidelis Managing partner. “I’m proud to be involved in this exciting project as we work to advance it through feasibility and its next steps.” https://www.tradeandindustrydev.com/industry/technology-r-d/cici-awards-2021-corporate-investment-awards-17432?print=1 1/6 1/21/2021 CiCi Awards 2021 Corporate Investment Awards | Trade and Industry Development Steel Dynamics, Inc., San Patricio County, Texas Steel Dynamics is one of the largest domestic steel producers and metals recyclers in the U.S. based on estimated annual steelmaking and metals recycling capability, with facilities located throughout the U.S. and Mexico. The company produces steel products, including hot roll, cold roll, and coated sheet steel, structural steel beams and shapes, rail, engineered special-bar-quality steel, cold finished steel, merchant bar products, specialty steel sections and steel joists and deck. In addition, the company produces liquid pig iron and processes and sells ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Steel Dynamics’ newest facility is being located in Sinton, Texas, which is approximately 30 miles northwest of the port of Corpus Christi and is strategically located within the targeted Southwest U.S. and Mexico market regions, which will provide the project with numerous competitive customer and raw material advantages. The new $1.9 billion facility will have an annual production capacity of approximately three million tons, with the capability to produce the latest generation of advanced high-strength steel grades. The project, which broke ground in early 2020, will include value-added finishing lines, including a galvanizing line with an annual capacity of 550,000 tons, and a paint line with an annual coating capacity of 250,000 tons. The mill is expected to become operational in mid-2021. When finished, it will have approximately 600 full-time workers, easily making it the largest employer in the Sinton area. With potential partnerships, that employment number could double, according to the company. “We are extremely excited to announce our selection of Sinton as the site for our next-generation, new flat roll steel mill investment,” said Mark. D. Millett, president and CEO of Steel Dynamics, Inc. “We are eager to join the Sinton community, and we appreciate the warm welcome and support that we have received from them, Governor Abbott and the State of Texas, as well as local leaders from San Patricio County, the City of Sinton, and the Sinton Independent School Board. We thank them for their trust, shared vision, and support for this important strategic investment. We anticipate the project will create approximately 600 well-paying positions, and abundant opportunities for indirect job growth from customers and other support service providers, bringing meaningful economic growth to the surrounding communities.” General Motors, St.