Texas Tops Site Selection’s Business Expansion Ranking for 10th Consecutive Year

Texas led the nation in business expansion projects in 2021, winning Site selection the magazine’s top honors for the 10th consecutive year.

The state’s number of projects – 1,123 – more than doubled Ohio’s second place. Texas’ total was also 341 higher than its 2020 tally.

Under Site selectionAccording to the criteria, projects are eligible according to three components: investment of $1 million or more, creation of 20 or more new jobs or 20,000 square feet or more of new space.

Among major metropolitan areas, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked second behind Chicago for the most business expansion projects last year. Houston and Austin finished third and fourth respectively. It was the ninth consecutive year

Chicago was at the top of the list.

Behind Texas and Ohio in the draft race were Illinois with 480, California with 301 and North Carolina with 282.

Site selection noted the surge in investment in Texas semiconductor factories late last year.

Texas Instruments led the way with a four-factory plan that could eventually bring Sherman $30 billion in investment. Not far behind was Samsung’s $17 billion plan for a new factory in Taylor near Austin.

In January, several news reports said that Micron Technology was also scouting central Texas for a new chip factory location.

Investments in semiconductor factories took the top three spots on Site Selectionlist of “American giants” of the most expensive projects. Intel Corp’s $20 billion chip factory in Chandler, Ariz., joined the two Texas projects at the top.

Other Texas projects ranked in the top 10 were Nacero’s $7 billion industrial gas investment in Penwell and Covestro’s $4.7 billion chemical expansion in Baytown.

Competition is fierce between states and metropolitan areas to land big projects that create jobs, broaden tax bases and add panache to communities’ local business rosters. While Texas cities triumph in many of these battles, not even the Lone Star State wins them all.

Fort Worth lost out last year to the Atlanta area for Rivian’s $5 billion electric vehicle assembly plant, and Plano-based Toyota North America selected North Carolina for its $1.29 billion electric vehicle battery plant, the automaker’s first in the United States.

So far this year, cities in Texas have seen seven out-of-state business relocations, according to a database compiled by economic development group YTexas. Last year, 64 businesses moved to Texas from elsewhere in the United States

This fall, YTexas will host a summit at AT&T Stadium in Arlington to showcase the state’s business environment and allow Texas-based companies to showcase their technologies and products.

“Since the pandemic, more than 100 companies have committed to moving their headquarters to Texas, and this is expected to continue at a record pace,” YTexas Founder and CEO Ed Curtis said in a statement.

The organization expects more than 3,000 participants at the September 30 event.