Area Development Announces 2026 State Shovel Awards Winners

North Carolina earns Platinum Shovel honors as states compete for transformative manufacturing, semiconductor, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and data center projects

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Area Development has announced the winners of its 2026 State Shovel Awards, recognizing the most impactful economic development and job creation projects across the United States.

This year’s awards reflect one of the most competitive industrial investment environments in recent memory, with states landing transformative projects in semiconductors, aerospace, life sciences, clean energy, automotive manufacturing, logistics, and digital infrastructure.

The 2026 Platinum Shovel Award was awarded to the state of North Carolina for its extraordinary breadth of investment activity, including major wins in aerospace, life sciences, automotive manufacturing, transportation, and technology. The state’s project roster was led by JetZero’s planned $4.7 billion blended-wing aircraft manufacturing facility in Greensboro, expected to create more than 14,500 jobs.

“This year’s winners reflect a new era in economic development competition,” said Area Development Editor Andy Greiner. “States are no longer competing only on cost. They’re competing on speed, infrastructure readiness, workforce quality, energy availability, and their ability to execute large, complex projects under increasingly difficult conditions.”

New for 2026, Area Development introduced a standalone Data Center Project of the Year category in recognition of the unprecedented scale of AI and digital infrastructure investment reshaping the national economy.

Gold Shovel winners included:

• Texas
• Virginia
• Arizona
• Indiana
• Mississippi

Silver Shovel winners included:

• New York
• Florida
• Ohio
• Georgia
• Tennessee
• South Carolina
• Alabama
• Utah
• Kentucky
• Idaho
• Kansas

The full feature explores the projects, industries, and investment trends shaping the industrial economy in 2026, including semiconductor reshoring, AI-driven infrastructure expansion, advanced manufacturing growth, and the continued evolution of workforce and energy strategy.

The 2026 awards also highlight the widening definition of what constitutes a transformational economic development project. While advanced manufacturing remains central to state competitiveness, this year’s rankings were equally shaped by hyperscale data centers, AI infrastructure, logistics facilities, and major corporate headquarters expansions.

Area Development introduced a dedicated Data Center Project of the Year category this year in recognition of the unprecedented scale of digital infrastructure investment reshaping the American economy. Projects from Amazon Web Services, OpenAI, Microsoft, Vantage Data Centers, QTS, and others underscored the growing importance of power, fiber connectivity, water access, and speed-to-energy as defining competitive factors for states.

At the same time, the Manufacturing Projects of the Year reflected the breadth of America’s industrial resurgence. Major wins in aerospace, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, and raw materials investment demonstrated that the nation’s industrial revival is no longer concentrated in a single geography or sector. From JetZero in North Carolina to Micron in Idaho and Amkor in Arizona, states competed for projects expected to shape regional economies for decades.

See more at www.areadevelopment.com/shovels-2026.

About Area Development

Area Development is the leading publication for corporate executives, site selectors, and economic development professionals involved in facility location, expansion, and investment strategy.