ARKANSAS

Reinvestment plans by companies already in the Natural State show they’re here to stay.

ENGINEERED MATERIALS

The plastics industry does not ❤ newly proposed federal guidelines on plastics pollution because they sidestep the issue of waste. But one multinational company in Northwest Ohio has stepped up with recycling innovation.

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Graph courtesy of National Partnership for Women & Families

The National Partnership for Women & Families in September released updated state-by-state analysis of the pay gap women workers face. According to recently released Census Bureau data, women workers were typically paid 78 cents for every dollar paid to a man – adding up to a difference of $11,450 over the course of the year. The National Partnership found that while the gender wage gap varies, it hits every corner of the country. “The gender pay gap cost women $1.6 trillion in 2022, and it persists regardless of industry,” the organization stated. “Gender and race discrimination directly and indirectly play a large role in the wage gap. Occupational segregation, including the overrepresentation of women in low-wage work, and the lack of workplace policies to support workers’ family, caregiving needs and health needs are additional factors contributing to the country’s pay gap.”

As it happens, today the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2023 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Harvard University’s Claudia Goldin “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labor market outcomes.” She is the author of the 2021 book “Career & Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey Toward Equity.”

Watch Site Selection newsletters and the forthcoming Workforce 2024 publication for more on challenges and innovations in corporate child care policies and practices.

In addition to other recent investments domestically and abroad, Columbus, Indiana-based Cummins Inc., whose world HQ is shown here, in April announced it is investing more than $1 billion across its U.S. engine manufacturing network in Indiana, North Carolina and New York.

Photo courtesy of Cummins Inc.

Today marks a holiday known as Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It was exactly 10 years ago when we took at look at project activity in places whose names are some variation of the explorer’s name in “New Worlds Discover Columbus.” Since that story was published, the Conway Projects Database has tracked more than 350 corporate facility projects landing in Columbus, Ohio; Columbus, Indiana; and Columbus, Georgia, alone.

Earlier this year, as part of a forthcoming series, we wrote about one indigenous tribe’s economic development momentum in “Coming Full Circle.”

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Photo courtesy of Amtrak and LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency

The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner travels along a 351-mile coastal route through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, serving 29 stations. Amtrak says it is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger rail route in the United States.