There are many reasons why companies decide on one particular metro area over others for its site-location project. One of the most important reasons is the ability to recruit a skilled, well-educated workforce—both locally and from other parts of the country—to make the expansion a success.

“Talent is the No. 1 driver for new businesses,” says Gregory H. Wingfield, president and CEO of Greater Richmond Partnership Inc.

Not only do companies need to be able to recruit a workforce, they also need to train that workforce.

The states of the Southeast U.S. have the workforce that expanding, growing companies need to compete in the global economy. And many have workforce training programs that help offset the costs of training.

Companies cannot afford for expansion projects to fail—the investment is just too big. They need workforces that can positively contribute to their bottom lines from day one of operations. States in the Southeast U.S. afford companies the ability to have such workforces.

Orlando becomes business destination

The Orlando, Fla., metro area, long a tourist destination hotspot, has established itself as a hotspot for attracting expanding and relocating companies. While the metro area cites a favorable tax climate and a strong, established workforce as two of its primary business strengths, education is the asset that ties everything together.

“We have a strong education base, as well as great collaboration between state government, the private sector, and educational sector,” says Brian Walters, EVP at the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission. “There has been a constant alignment of our education system (K through 12 and colleges) with where our economy has demands for talent. We do this perhaps better than any region in the country.”

At the forefront of this alignment is the Univ. of Central Florida (UCF), which Walters describes as the “jewel” of the region. UCF has become an academic and research leader in numerous fields such as optics, modeling and simulation, engineering and computer science, business administration, education, science, hospitality management, and digital media. Many of these fields are the types of industry sectors that the Orlando metro area is trying to attract.

“UCF does a great job in bringing value to economic development,” Walters says. “It has a good base of scientific and engineering talent. The system is built to make sure we have a productive, educated workforce that targeted companies need.”

In addition, the Lockheed Martin/Univ. of Central Florida Academy for Mathematics and Science is a private-public partnership that aims to improve math, science, and technology education. Lockheed Martin is a major employer in Central Florida.

State and local workforce training programs help expanding companies by facilitating training specific to the jobs created.

Logistically, with more than 50 million visitors a year to Central Florida, Orlando International Airport (OIA) has an infrastructure that is more significant than those in similar-sized metro areas, Walters says. The airport has the third lowest fare structure in the country relative to the 100 largest markets, and its international connections increase each year.

Orlando-based companies also take advantage of the metro area’s proximity to ports on both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. When taking into consideration interstates 4, 95, and 75, Orlando becomes a base in which manufacturers can distribute product efficiently and quickly throughout the Southeast U.S., Walters points out.

Boeing helps transform Charleston

It is often said that a metro area is just one site-location project away from transforming itself. For the Charleston, S.C., metro area, the much sought-after Boeing expansion was that project. “It transformed us from a regional economy to an international business destination,” says David Ginn, president and CEO of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance.

Boeing began operations at its 787 Dreamliner Final Assembly building in North Charleston in June. The facility features 642,720 square feet of covered space, roughly the equivalent of more than 10 football fields. It is one of only three locations in the world that can manufacture commercial wide-body aircrafts (along with Boeing’s Everett, Wash., facility and the Airbus complex in Southern France).

When operations began at the facility, it culminated a nearly decade-long site-location process that originally prompted communities and regions in 30 states to make bids.

“Boeing’s requirements included a deepwater port, multi-interstate and multi-rail access, an international airport, and a competitive location to attract top clients and talent,” Ginn says. “Plus, it needed the land to manufacture the product.”

The Charleston metro area is trying to use the Boeing facility, along with an existing cluster of seven other OEMs and 15 supplier-companies in the aerospace/aviation industry, to grow the sector.

Another emerging sector for the metro area, wind energy, will get a boost later this year with the launching of Clemson Univ.’s Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing Facility (WTDTF), as part of a growing energy R&D complex.

As the largest of only three such facilities in the world, the facility will be fully operational by the end of 2012. The nearly $100 million project (a $45 million federal grant and $53 million in matching funds) is a joint partnership between the Dept. of Energy, Clemson Univ., state and local agencies, and private-sector companies. While it will be the world’s largest quality control center for offshore wind turbines, Ginn says it will accommodate other industries as well, including aerospace and automotive, which have similar composite needs as the wind industry.

The metro area also is trying to grow the advanced security/information technology sector. Efforts to increase this sector are helped by the presence of the Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR Atlantic) in the region, which attracts a number of Dept. of Defense contractors and private-sector software companies.

Ginn describes the Port of Charleston as the biggest asset to the region and state of South Carolina. It is one of the busiest container ports in the Southeast U.S. Cargo valued at more than $50 billion was transported through the port in 2010.

South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA), operator of the port, plans to invest nearly $1.3 billion during the next decade on capital projects. The agency’s fiscal year 2012 capital plan calls for $81.7 million in the development and enhancement of new and existing facilities.

To support the expected surge of post-Panamax ship traffic once the Panama Canal expansion is complete, a post-45-foot deepening project is underway.

Charleston also counts its workforce as one of its primary business strengths. According to a September 2011 article in the Wall Street Journal, the Brookings Institution, using 2010 U.S. Census data, said the Charleston metro area had the greatest percentage-point increase in the nation during the past decade in the portion of residents who hold bachelor’s degrees, growing 6.9 percentage points during that time period to 31.9 percent.

The South Carolina Technical College System operates readySC, which provides well-trained employees to qualifying companies that invest in the state. readySC includes recruiting, screening, and training in a comprehensive process that is tailored to a company’s needs. The South Carolina Technical College system is comprised of 16 community-based technical colleges throughout the state.

“We’re a market that is attracting new talent but also has a good base of educated residents,” Ginn says.

Richmond has East Coast location advantages

A well-educated workforce is also a business strength of the Richmond, Va., metro area. Thirty-one percent of the workforce has a college degree (the second highest concentration in the South behind Raleigh, N.C.), and an additional 20 percent have either attended a four-year college or community college. “It’s a skilled, educated workforce,” says Greater Richmond Partnership’s Wingfield.

It is also a workforce that has experience in advanced manufacturing, thanks to the presence of DuPont, Honeywell, and Philip Morris. “People are used to working two- and three-shift operations,” Wingfield notes.

Based on its location and the workforce, the Richmond metro area is targeting five industry sectors for growth: healthcare services, including biotechnology, medical devices, and life sciences; logistics; advanced manufacturing, including aerospace and electronic assembly; professional and creative services; and FIRE (fire, insurance, and real estate).

The Virginia Biotechnology Research Park and a teaching hospital on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth Univ. are helping to expand the metro area’s capabilities in healthcare services.

Eleven Fortune 1000 companies call Richmond home—one of the highest concentrations in the country on a per capita basis. Their presence is the foundation for a significant business support system—legal, accounting, banking—that is based in the area, Wingfield notes.

The metro area, located about 100 miles from the Northern Virginia-Washington, D.C., area, also targets government-related agencies looking for a location for redundant backup data centers. Amtrak connects Richmond and Washington, and the region is developing a high-speed rail system.

Richmond’s East Coast location and low cost of doing business makes it a potential site for European companies pondering an expansion into the U.S. “Europe is just five or six hours away [from Richmond] in terms of time zones,” Wingfield says. “The ports [in Norfolk and Portsmouth] are just two hours away, as is Dulles [International Airport]. It’s a soft landing for a European company looking toward the U.S.”

Richmond also benefits from the stability of the commonwealth of Virginia. The costs of living and business are moderate, and the commonwealth hasn’t raised the corporate income tax rate (6 percent) since 1972. “We’re not trying to balance the budget on the backs of businesses,” Wingfield says.

Workforce training assistance in Virginia is provided through the Virginia Dept. of Business Assistance’s Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP). VJIP provides customized recruiting and training services to companies that are creating new jobs or experiencing technological change. The program offsets a company’s recruitment and training costs and connects it with all available resources to help with workforce development efforts.  wt