The Leader - January/February 2009 - (Page 67)

EC ONOM IC D EvEL OPM ENT IN ThE NEWS Progress: GrOWTh CONTINuES, DESPITE ECONOMIC DOWNTurN Wal-Mart Commits to Powering 360 Sites in Texas with Wind Wal-Mart has inked a four-year deal with Duke Energy to help power hundreds of its stores using wind energy, according to the Washington Post. The accord is expected to provide up to 226 million kilowatt-hours of power annually to about 360 stores and distribution centers throughout Texas, or about 15 percent of the total electricity used. The purchase is also expected to result in the reduction of approximately 139,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and is the latest step in the company’s three-year effort to transform itself into a more sustainable business. Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. hopes that the retail giant will ultimately be 100-percent supplied by renewable energy. 2005. This job creating financial support is designed to encourage location, expansion and growth of life sciences companies and related jobs in New Jersey. Funds for these projects are provided by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA). In an effort to expand and streamline State support for technology and life sciences a new initiative called Technium was introduced in 2005. This EDA initiative provides customized, streamlined, long-term assistance as these businesses advance through their life cycles of growth. 1,000th outlet in the country, according to the Chicago Tribune. The latest store was opened in Dongguan, which is located in China’s Guangdong province. The fastfood giant joins other such other foreign consumer companies as Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in focusing on emerging markets like China, where retail sales increased 22 percent last month. JPMorgan Spends $349 Million to Buy Land for New London Offices JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay US$351 million for land to construct a new London headquarters, according to the International Herald Tribune. The seller was Songbird Estates, the majority owner of London’s Canary Wharf financial district. The deal enables America’s second-biggest bank to build a 1.9-million-sq.-ft. (188,000-sq.-m.) tower in stages for a completion no earlier than 2012. Under the agreement with Canary Wharf’s owners, who will handle construction of the new offices, JPMorgan can scale back the project. Nordex to Build Wind Turbine Plant in Arkansas Nordex USA, Inc., a manufacturer of wind turbines for geographic regions across the globe, announced plans to locate its U.S. manufacturing facility in Jonesboro, Ark. Nordex will invest approximately $100 million in the new facility, which will employ 700 people. Nordex’s Jonesboro operation will be an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that will comprise every component of a wind turbine except the tower, including the manufacturing of rotor blades and the assembly of nacelles. The facility will have a target annual assembly capacity of approximately 750 megawatts (MW), with planned production to start by January 2010. New Jersey Initiatives Promote Life Sciences Growth Recently, Novo Nordisk, a world leader in hemostasis therapy, announced it would open a first-of-its-kind hemostasis research center in New Jersey. This cutting edge facility which will focus primarily on discovering new pharmacological targets for hemostasis and related complications is representative of the continued vitality growth and of life sciences companies in New Jersey, the “Medicine Chest of the Nation.” One factor in their decision was more than $230 million in financing assistance, business and tax incentives, venture fund and real estate investments that were made to life sciences and technology companies in Economic Development Community Launched The CoreNet Global Economic Development Community held its first meeting at the Orlando Summit in November. For more information about this and other Communities of Interest, go to www.corenetglobal.org. McDonald’s Plans for China McDonald’s Corp. has announced plans to open 175 restaurants in China next year after celebrating the grand opening of its 2 0 0 9 ThE LE ADE r 67 JANuArY / FEBruArY http://www.corenetglobal.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - January/February 2009

The Leader - January/February 2009 Contents Leadership Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Mergers and Aquisitions Assessing Green Building Performance Measuring Space You Actually Use Global Trends in Sustainable Real Estate Whirlpool’s Lee Utke Northmarq’s Kevin Farrell Plastics: Hoping for Resiliency in Resins Regional Profile: Heartland Holding Strong Industry Profile: Ascendas Brings New Age Business Space to Asia-Pac Industry Tracker From the Applied Research Center Discovery Forum Findings Capital Corner Career Development Young Leader Economic Development in the News Learning Spotlight Connect With CoreNet Global Index of Advertisers A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars

The Leader - January/February 2009

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