WESTBURY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Despite an uncertain operating environment and continuing concerns about the availability of skilled labor, plans for new and expanded facilities are still on the horizon, according to the results of Area Development’s 33rd Annual Corporate Survey and 15th Annual Consultants Survey.
Of the 118 corporate respondents, 47 percent represent manufacturing firms and 14 percent distribution/logistics operations. About half the respondent companies employ fewer than 100 people. About 40 percent of the Corporate Survey respondents say they plan to open new facilities within the next five years, with around the same percentage saying the TCJA will affect future plans. However, only 29 percent say the trade war with China will affect their future plans.
In contrast, of the 65 consultant respondents, more than half say their clients’ future facility plans will be affected by the TCJA, and more than 70 percent believe the trade war with China, as well as new tariffs on aluminum and steel, will affect their clients’ future facility plans. More than 60 percent of the responding consultants work with clients having 500 or more employees.
Availability of skilled labor is ranked as the #1 site selection factor by the Corporate Survey respondents, followed by labor costs and highway accessibility. The respondents to our Consultants Survey also rank availability of skilled labor as the #1 factor, in a three-way tie with proximity to major markets and highway accessibility.
As in past years, southern regions will garner the largest share of all the respondents’ planned new domestic facilities. Interestingly, Asia will only receive 13 percent of the corporate respondents’ new foreign establishments with a quarter going to Western Europe and a fifth to Mexico. The consultants’ clients are planning 19 percent of their projects for Asia, 17 percent for Western Europe, and 15 percent each for Canada and for Mexico.
A full review of this year’s Corporate Survey can be found in the Q1/2019 issue of Area Development and online at areadevelopment.com/survey.
Area Development is considered the leading resource for site and facility planning. It also provides two free GIS-driven databases: FacilityLocations.com, which lists more than 5,000 economic development contacts; and FastFacility.com, which lists available industrial buildings and sites. Area Development also produces e-newsletters.
