Corporate Executives’ Facility Plans Post-Pandemic Reflected in Area Development’s Surveys

JERICHO, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Area Development’s 35th Annual Corporate Survey and 17^th Annual Consultants Survey reflect the impact of the global pandemic on corporate executives’ site and facility plans across a range of small and large companies in varied industries.

Of the 110 corporate respondents, 45 percent represent manufacturing firms and 12 percent distribution/logistics operations. About half of the respondent companies employ fewer than 100 people, and only 30 percent of the Corporate Survey respondents said they plan to open new domestic facilities within the next two years, with nearly two thirds claiming to have transitioned their employees to remote work temporarily (51 percent) or permanently (13 percent).

In contrast, all of the 60 consultant respondents said their clients plan to open new domestic facilities within the next two years. Interestingly, nearly 70 percent of the responding consultants work with clients having 500 or more employees, and at least 80 percent are working with durable goods manufacturers.

Availability of skilled labor is ranked as the #1 site selection factor by the Corporate Survey respondents, followed by highway accessibility, energy availability and costs, quality of life, and labor costs. The respondents to our Consultants Survey rank labor costs as most important, followed by availability of skilled labor and highway accessibility (tied), energy availability and costs, and state and local incentives.

As in past years, southern regions will garner the largest share of all the respondents’ planned new domestic facilities. Only 8 percent of the Corporate Survey respondents have plans for new foreign facilities, with a quarter slated for Western Europe and about a fifth each for Asia, Mexico, and Canada. In contrast, more than 40 percent of the consultants’ clients have plans for new foreign facilities, with the most going to Mexico, Canada, and Eastern and Western Europe.

A full review of this year’s Corporate and Consultants Surveys can be found in the Q1/2021 issue of Area Development and online at areadevelopment.com/survey.

Area Development is published quarterly and also maintains several highly visited websites, which can be reached at www.areadevelopment.com. It also has produced more than 50 Best Practices Consultants Forums for economic developers since 2006.

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