CALIFORNIA

Remember when that visionary venture capitalist said California would be better as six separate states? Site Selection’s six editors report from each of them and also offer a close look at the state’s new water policy.

INVESTMENT PROFILE: ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA

Anne Maza, co-owner of salon tool company Olivia Garden and daughter of the company’s founders, describes why Antioch and the Bay Area make sense for this global leader.

ADVERTISEMENT

Major facility investments are on the way from Stellantis in South America; Eli Lilly and Company in Ireland; and Jabil in India.

Built using a public-private partnership model, Karolinska University Hospital went into operation in 2018 in Stockholm.

Photo by Felix Gerlach courtesy of imagebank.sweden.se

Life sciences is a prominent theme in “Navigating the Future of Innovation Districts,” a new conference whose inaugural edition is set to take place in Hagastaden, a district in Stockholm, Sweden, on September 26. “The City of Stockholm is a firm believer in the central role innovation districts play in fostering and sustaining innovation,” said Ylva Williams, CEO of event organizer Stockholm Science City. Speakers include leaders from JLL, the Kendall Square Association, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University.

Karolinska accounts for over 40% of the medical academic research conducted in Sweden. Among the university’s partnerships has been a translational research center established with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca in 2013. Work accomplished through this partnership is examined in a Drug Discovery Today article published last year entitled “Doing Science Together: Gaining momentum from long-term explorative university–industry research programs.”

In 2015, based on research conducted by his team in concert with Venture Valuation, André Guedel of KPMG Switzerland contributed insights to Site Selection on life sciences site selection in Europe. Sweden showed a strong number of biotech and med-tech firms and a strong concentration of R&D activity. Turn to the European Commission’s European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) for the latest data and reports on European innovation ecosystems.

ADVERTISEMENT

Bentley University and Gallup last week released the 2024 Business in Society report. Among its findings, “when it comes to the top priorities for businesses, Americans attach the highest importance to making money in ethical ways (79%) and providing high-quality health care benefits to employees (71%),” said the organizations in a release. Other findings:

• Sixty-three percent of Americans see businesses as having a somewhat positive or extremely positive impact on people's lives.
• Thirty-eight percent of Americans say businesses should take a public stance on current events.
• Three out of four Americans say they believe AI will reduce the total number of jobs in the country over the next 10 years.

Photo courtesy of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

June marked the 80th anniversary of the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC), comprising this six-fan, 40-by-80-ft. tunnel, completed in 1944, and a separate 80-by-120-ft. tunnel, both located at Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. NFAC is managed by Arnold Engineering Development Complex, headquartered near Tullahoma in middle Tennessee but with a portfolio that extends across “more than 90 aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges, sled tracks, centrifuges and other specialized units.”