CLEVELAND, OH — September 8, 2004 — America’s prosperity rides upon a network of air, land and sea routes that connect us not only to our U.S. neighbors, but also to the rest of the world. Businesses rely heavily upon a robust transportation infrastructure to bring raw material to factories, and to deliver finished products to wholesalers, retailers and, ultimately, to consumers.
For that reason, a metro area’s transportation infrastructure extremely important when it comes to attracting, and retaining, businesses.
“Site selection is really a competition between cities,” said Bill King, chief editor of Expansion Management. “Metro areas that offer a broad range of logistics-supporting infrastructure — ground, air, water/sea and rail — have a major advantage over their rivals when it comes to attracting and retaining manufacturing and distribution facilities.”
For the fourth year in a row, Expansion Management and Chief Logistics Officer magazines have published their Logistics Quotient ™, a study that compares 331 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) according to 10 major categories: the overall transportation & distribution industry climate; work force/labor costs, availability and skill levels; road and highway basic infrastructure and spending; road density, congestion and truck safety; road and bridge conditions; fuel taxes and fees; railroad access; water ports, both river/lake and ocean); air service; and interstate highway access. The data comes from a variety of government and proprietary sources.
MSAs that ranked in the top 50 (out of a total of 331 MSAs) were designated “Five Star Logistics Metros,” while metros that ranked 51-110 received a “Four Star Logistics Metro” designation.
“Since most logistics decisions are driven by the need to locate in a particular geographic region, corporate site selectors can use the results of this study to evaluate how cities did on a national, as well as a regional, basis,” King said.
Expansion Management is a monthly business magazine for executives of companies that are actively looking for a place to expand or relocate their facilities within the next one to three years. Every year, the magazine’s renowned research department compares communities according to a wide variety of characteristics important to corporate site selectors.
For a copy of the 2003 Logistics Quotient ™ article, visit Expansion Management’s Web site at www.ExpansionManagement.com.
Expansion Management is a monthly magazine published by Penton Media, Inc., a leading, global business-to-business media company that produces market-focused magazines, trade shows and conferences, and Web sites. Penton's integrated media portfolio serves the following industries: Internet/broadband; information technology; electronics; natural products; food/retail; manufacturing; design/engineering; supply chain; aviation; government/compliance; mechanical systems/construction; and leisure/hospitality. For more information, visit www.penton.com.
List of “FIVE-STAR LOGISTICS COMMUNITIES” for 2004:
Akron, Ohio
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y
Atlanta, Ga.
Baltimore, Md.
Bergen-Passaic, N.J.
Birmingham, Ala.
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Chicago, Ill.
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colo.
Detroit, Mich.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
Gary, Ind.
Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Mich.
Houston, Texas
Indianapolis, Ind.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.
Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
Louisville, Ky.-Ind.
Memphis, Tenn.-Ark.-Miss.
Miami, Fla
Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, N.J.
Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.-Wis.
Mobile, Ala.
Nashville, Tenn.
Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.
New Orleans, La.
New York, N.Y.
Newark, N.J.
Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, Va.-N.C.
Oakland, Calif.
Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Portland-Vancouver, Ore.-Wash.
Richmond-Petersburg, Va.
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, Calif.
San Francisco, Calif.
Savannah, Ga.
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
Toledo, Ohio
Tulsa, Okla.
List of “FOUR-STAR LOGISTICS COMMUNITIES” for 2004:
Amarillo, Texas
Anchorage, Alaska
Austin-San Marcos, Texas
Baton Rouge, La.
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
Boston, Mass.-N.H.
Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, Texas
Canton-Massillon, Ohio
Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Charleston-North Charleston, S.C
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, N.C.-S.C.
Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.
Corpus Christi, Texas
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill.
Dayton-Springfield, Ohio
Des Moines, Iowa
Duluth-Superior, Minn.-Wis.
El Paso, Texas
Evansville-Henderson, Ind.-Ky.
Fargo-Moorhead, N.D.-Minn.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.
Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pa.
Hartford, Conn.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio
Jersey City, N.J.
Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn.-Va.
Knoxville, Tenn.
Laredo, Texas
Little Rock-North Little Rock, Ark.
Lubbock, Texas
Monmouth-Ocean, N.J.
New Haven-Meriden, Conn.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Omaha, Neb.-Iowa
Orange County, Calif.
Orlando, Fla.
Pensacola, Fla.
Peoria-Pekin, Ill.
Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
Portsmouth-Rochester, N.H.-Maine
Providence-Fall River-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.
Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.
Rochester, N.Y.
Rockford, Ill.
Sacramento, Calif.
Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
San Jose, Calif.
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, Pa.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
South Bend, Ind.
Springfield, Ill.
Springfield, Mo.
Stockton-Lodi, Calif.
Syracuse, N.Y.
Tacoma, Wash.
Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va.
Wichita, Kan.
Wilmington-Newark, Del.-Md.
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