MASSACHUSETTS

Why the Boston area’s life sciences sector is outperforming national growth rates.

BIOTECH LOCATIONS

Investments in its home country and in Germany demonstrate French biopharma giant Sanofi’s commitment to European production.

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Chevron invests in its newly relocated HQ. A bio-based alternative to monoethylene glycol will be made in Indiana by a Brazil-Japan JV. A giant Chinese battery maker will partner with a domestic company to make battery cells in Indonesia.

DENSO has operated in Athens, Tennessee, since 1997.

Photo courtesy of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development

DENSO officials last Thursday announced a 200-job expansion in Athens, Tennessee, that will add 54,560 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and renovate existing areas. If that expansion news sounds familiar, it’s because the Japan-based automotive component manufacturer has invested there many times. According to the Conway Projects Database, the company has invested eight times over the past 20 years in either Athens or Maryville, Tennessee, including a $1 billion investment announced in 2017 and a 200-job expansion in Maryville in 2013.

The largest employer in McMinn County (1,444 employees), DENSO started in Maryville in 1988 and in Athens in 1997. The expansion in Athens increases the site’s footprint to 879,000 sq. ft. DENSO is a $47.2 billion company that employs 162,000 globally. In North America, DENSO is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and employs more than 27,000 engineers, researchers and skilled workers across nearly 50 sites.

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One of the factors in the economic dynamism of Los Alamos, New Mexico, is Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Photo courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory

Heartland Forward in late August released the 527-page “Most Dynamic Micropolitans” report ranking 527 micropolitan areas — communities with populations of 10,000 to 50,000 — across the entire United States based on economic performance. The report found Los Alamos, New Mexico; Jefferson, Georgia; and Jackson, Wyoming-Idaho, were the top three most dynamic micropolitans. “Outdoor recreation, tourism and manufacturing were the most common strengths among the top 25,” the report stated.

Compare and contrast with Site Selection’s annual rankings of Top Micropolitans based on one thing: corporate end-user facility project investments. The only community to appear in both rankings is Jefferson, Georgia, which finished in a tie for No. 10 in the most recent Site Selection rankings based on 2023 project results.

Editor in Chief Adam Bruns made this photo yesterday near the end of a 35-mile round trip ride on a warm autumn afternoon along the Silver Comet Trail between Dallas, Georgia, and Rockmart, Georgia. The Silver Comet is a paved pedestrian rail-trail that begins in Smyrna, Georgia, 13 miles northwest of Atlanta, and travels 61.5 miles through three counties until it reaches a trailhead near Cedartown, Georgia, at the Alabama state line. There it connects to the 33-mile long Chief Ladiga Trail, another fully paved trail build on an abandoned rail line that runs all the way to Anniston.

The Rails to Trails Conservancy has tracked more than 25,000 miles of rail-trails now developed nationally with another 9,000 miles ready to be built. Find a trail near you via the Conservancy’s TrailLink interactive map.