In the recent Inbound Logistics article featuring Elli Bowen, she discusses the rising critical need for communities to differentiate themselves to attract major industrial development. 

What is happening: The U.S. is currently attracting 23% of all foreign direct investment across the globe, with growing opportunities for reshoring and nearshoring. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, reshoring activity largely accounts for more than $195 billion in annualized construction spending in 2023, up 79.9% year-over-year, and is well above the decade average of $60 billion in annual spending.

Why: Major legislative moves, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act, have resulted in a 20-year high for U.S. manufacturing construction (and steep competition for incentive funding). 

Defining megaprojects: These endeavors involve north of $1 billion in investment and have significant labor, utility, and transportation infrastructure requirements.

Megaprojects need megasites: Megasites are roughly defined as areas larger than 1,000 acres that are available for industrial-scale development and meet both utility and transportation infrastructure demand requirements. For example, Panasonic’s new $4-billion battery manufacturing plant at Astra Enterprise Park in De Soto, Kansas, capitalizes on the site’s location within the Kansas City metro to support the facility’s anticipated 4,000 jobs.

Megasites provide connectivity: Access to multiple modes of transportation, like the Kansas City region offers, ensures unhindered movement of resources and products across North America and beyond, expanding reach and offering risk reduction, resilience and flexibility.

Read the full article from Inbound Logistics.