Even the Midwest's "Old Economy" industries, such as automobile manufacturing, are retooling themselves to compete more effectively in the digital age.

DaimlerChrysler Corp.'s Jefferson-North Assembly Plant, Detroit, Mich.

The notion of a Midwestern Rust Belt is increasingly anachronistic as the New Economy takes shape. And the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio are right in the thick of it. These states are recasting themselves as fertile plains for such sunrise technologies as biotech, agri-tech, software development, computers and electronics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology and e-commerce.

The region's more mature industries -- agriculture, food processing, plastics, metal fabrication, steel, auto manufacturing, and logistics and distribution � remain key contributors to the economic development picture. But those industries, too, are evolving with rapid advances in their technologies, markets and ever-more-automated business processes. The result is a region that is increasingly competitive to industries old and new.

Economic policies and work-force-development programs have been key to transforming the region into a cluster of some of the strongest and most steady economies in the country. Competition between these states is tough as each vies to capture new business and companies considering crossing state lines or coming in from elsewhere. To insure their fair share of wins in the economic development arena, each state has implemented competitive incentive programs that award companies for job growth, training, expansion and innovation.

Following is a close-up view of what is happening in each Midwestern state along with several recent announcements that depict the depth of activity that is happening there.