Portsmouth and Scioto County received 10th place nationally with six total projects in Site Selection magazine’s annual ranking of Top Micropolitans, cities of 10,000 to 50,000 people, which cover at least one county.
Site Selection’s Projects Database focuses on new corporate facility projects with significant impact. This includes headquarters, manufacturing plants, research and development operations and logistics sites, among others. It does not track retail and government projects, schools or hospitals. New facilities and expansions included in the analyses must meet at least one of three criteria: Involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, create at least 20 new jobs or add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.
Tied with Portsmouth (Scioto County) for 10th place were Douglas Georgia; Jefferson, Georgia; Wilson, North Carolina; Ogden sburg, New York; Celina, Ohio and Defiance, Ohio.
Site Selection, a 63-year-old Atlanta-based magazine, has awarded the Governor’s Cup annually since 1988, based on new and expanded corporate facilities as tracked by the proprietary Conway Projects Database. The magazine is published by Conway Inc. It is the senior publication in the corporate real estate and economic development fields and is the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC, at www.iamc.org). The magazine’s circulation base consists of 48,000 subscribers, most of whom are involved in corporate site selection decisions at the CEO/President/COO level.
“The Governor’s Cup is the most important ranking in the economic development field,” Jason Kester, executive director of the Southern Ohio Port Authority (SOPA), said. “This award would not be possible without the support of the Scioto County Commissioners, the City of Portsmouth, Village of New Boston, the Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Visitor’s Bureau and all of our corporate partners. We had nine “major” projects in 2016, all of which received some form of assistance from JobsOhio, the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth, the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Fund, American Electric Power, or Fluor-BWXT. Without their support and the commitment to our community by our local businesses, we would not appear in these rankings. We’re extremely proud of our community’s accomplishments.”
Site Selection’s yearly analyses are regarded by corporate real estate analysts as “the industry scoreboard.”
“The City of Portsmouth commends the Southern Ohio Port Authority on this prestigious recognition of its diligent efforts in promoting economic development in the Portsmouth micropolitan,” Portsmouth City Manager Derek K. Allen said. “The leadership exhibited by the Port Authority staff and the collaborative partnership of the various local governmental bodies has made this ranking possible.”
Findlay, Ohio was first among the nation’s 575 micropolitan areas, followed by Cullman, Alabama; Wooster, Ohio; Shelby, North Carolina; and a tie between Tupelo, Mississippi, and Batavia, New York. Ohio once again led as the state with the most Top Micropolitans (18).
“It’s the highest that Portsmouth (Scioto County) has ever been ranked and the most projects we’ve ever done in a year – so our economic development efforts are doing a really good job. More importantly, our corporate partners have a lot of confidence in our local area and workforce which allows them to grow and expand locally without looking to other markets or regions,” Kester told the Daily Times. “In the last 18 months, we’ve had 8 significant expansions, created over 100 jobs, retained more than 400, and had over $50 million dollars in new investment. We are growing.”
From Portsmouth Daily Times | March 2, 2017
