Economic Development Workshop

Phil Schneider presented to regional economic developers at the Duluth Airport Authority late-January.

On January 29, 2016, APEX sponsored an Economic Development Workshop at the Duluth International Airport.  Approximately 30 economic development partners, including representatives from the State of Minnesota, St. Louis, Itasca, Bayfield and Douglas Counties and many cities from northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin, were in attendance to hear Philip Schneider, a national site selection consultant and President of Schneider Consulting, LLC, present site selection trends from the Site Selectors Guild 2015 Members Survey.

Schneider shared that per the Survey, site selectors expect a significant increase in the number of manufacturing site selection projects will be in the US over the next three years along with office/service projects.  It is believed that the automotive, petro chemical and food/beverage sectors will create the majority of new projects in the manufacturing industry.  Site selectors also expect a significant increase in the number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that will locate to the US in the next three years with Germany, China and Japan leading the way.  The Survey indicates that market access, the availability of talent/skills, energy costs/total costs and low risk are the key drivers behind both domestic and foreign location investment  in to the US.

We thank the Duluth Airport Authority for hosting this meeting in their nice conference room overlooking the airstrip.

For a copy of Schneider’s presentation from the Economic Development Workshop, please contact Sandy Johnson at Sandy@apexgetsbusiness.com or 218-740-3667.