2 minute read
Gold & Silver Shovel Awards
Silver Shovel Winner
sausages and hot dogs, McCain Foods processes appetizers, Masters Gallery Foods packages cheese, and Phelps Pet Products makes jerky treats for dogs.
States with Population 2+ to 4 Million
Food processing is also big business in Silver Shovel winner Arkansas. Tyson Foods is expanding in Bentonville, Hostess Brands in Arkadelphia, and together they’re adding a thousand jobs to the state’s economy. Distribution provides growing employment possibilities in Arkansas, too, including new operations from Tractor Supply, Dollar General, and Lowe’s that together will create nearly a thousand more jobs.
Silver Shovel Winner
Other projects add to the diversity. Italy-based Fiocchi USA picked Little Rock for an ammunition primer facility that will supply the ammo manufacturing sector. Highbar LLC, a new operation focused on sustainable scrap metal recycling and steel production, will build a rebar steel mini-mill in northeast Arkansas worth a couple hundred jobs and more than $450 million in investment. AFCO Steel is expanding in Little Rock, and Lifeplus International is expanding its Batesville holistic well-being products operation.
The story in Silver Shovel honoree Connecticut is led by two $200 million projects. One involves General Dynamics Electric Boat, a submarine builder that’s the biggest employer in Connecticut and Rhode Island and is adding 1,500 jobs in Groton. The other is AMSL, a semiconductor equipment maker adding a thousand jobs in Wilton. A diverse list of projects bolsters the good-news story, including financial services jobs at Mirador and Apollo Global Management, aerospace jobs at Polamer Precision, distribution jobs at BJ’s Wholesale Club, and careers in biotech at Arvinas.
Silver Shovel Winner
Silver Shovel Winner
To the south in Mississippi, a Manufacturing Project of the Year leads the way — the expansion of Steel Dynamics in Columbus. It’s a $2.5 billion deal promising a thousand new jobs. In Canton, Nissan Motors is spending $500 million to retool its assembly plant and upskill 2,000 jobs. Nissan and Infiniti EVs will start rolling off the line there in 2025. Sustainable wood bioenergy is fueling the $250 million investment that Enviva Inc. is making in the community of Bond, where 100 new employees will produce wood pellets. CLAW Forestry plans 131 jobs at its $200 million sawmill in Gloster. And there are several hundred new distribution jobs on the way, courtesy of Walmart, Baxter, and Standvast Fulfillment.
Another Non-Manufacturing Project of the Year helped Utah take home a Silver Shovel. LiveView Technologies is investing a third of a billion dollars at its Orem headquarters and plans to hire another 3,400 people. The company’s cloud platform gathers data from cameras aboard portable trailers, offering safety and security. The state’s growth is spread across multiple sectors, including some 800 new financial services jobs through expansion at Morgan Stanley, food processing jobs at Frulact and Blue Core Labs, biotech jobs at an expanding Cytiva, and energy storage manufacturing work at Jabil in Grantsville.
South Dakota
States with Population Under 2 Million
South Dakota is home to just under a million people, so it’s not surprising that most of its Silver Shovel projects are smaller. But they are just as vital to local economies. You can bet the Manitou Group expansion plans in Madison and Yankton will have quite an impact, with some 400 new jobs in heavy machinery. The 130 new jobs created through expansion of Valley Queen Cheese in Milbank are rather tasty, too, for those working directly in the plant as well as the dairy farmers expected to add 30,000 cows to their herds. And a new pet food production line at Royal Canin in North Sioux City will add another 150 jobs.
Nucor is adding a $3.7 billion steel mill with 800 jobs to the economy of Mason County, West Virginia, helping to earn that state a Silver Shovel. Precision Castparts plans a $500 million titanium melt facility that will run on renewable energy and supply aerospace and other industries, creating 200 jobs. CMC Metals plans a metals micro mill with another 235 jobs, GreenPower Motor Company is adding 200 jobs in the manufacture of electric school buses, and Mountaintop Beverage is brewing up nearly 300 beverage-making jobs in Monongalia County, representing a $280 million investment.
For information on the Sponsors of this report, see the Ad Index on page 87.
