Site Selectors Guild Awards Program

Previous Award Winners

• Projects with a Purpose: Baldwin Preparatory Academy, Alabama’s first career-tech high school, opened in 2024 for approximately 800 students in grades 10-12. Developed by Baldwin County Public Schools in partnership with the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance (BCEDA), this $100 million facility offers 12 career pathways and simulates a real-world work environment. The academy’s innovative approach includes active industry involvement, providing funding and curriculum support. With strong community and business partnerships, the academy aims to address workforce challenges, foster economic growth, and prepare students for future careers.
• Community Innovation – Building a Better Business Climate: Oakland County’s Business Retention & Growth team launched a Tech Collaboration initiative in 2024, focusing on IT/Computer Services, Research, Engineering and Design, and Robotics Integrators. This initiative aimed at small business innovators to access industry leaders, education resources and workforce opportunities, such as the Edu2B networking events held at various universities and colleges. These events provided a platform for businesses to network and exchange ideas, whether it be through apprenticeship or workforce training. The initiative emphasizes ongoing engagement and expanding the network beyond existing services

2024 Award Winners:

• Projects with a Purpose: Jefferson County Development Corporation led the attraction of Manner Polymers to Mount Vernon, IL, USA, where the company established the world’s sole polymer manufacturing facility powered by renewable energy. The company’s investment in solar solutions allowed for its transition to renewable energy while maintaining cost-effectiveness, ultimately setting a precedent for sustainable business practices in the region as well as a global industry benchmark for sustainable manufacturing practices.
• Community Innovation: The Greater Richmond Partnership is part of a community consortium leading the charge on the region’s Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) cluster, which aims to reshore manufacturing and ultimately bring more affordable medications to Americans. The effort has secured more than $100 million in federal, state, local and private funding, landed a $27.8 million laboratory testing facility and earned designation by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration as one of the nation’s 31 Tech Hubs to drive regional innovation and job creation.

2023 Award Winners:

• Projects with a Purpose:  PartnerTulsa led the transformation a 120-acre site into the Peoria-Mohawk Business Park, a hub of opportunity for generations to come in the historically disinvested North Tulsa. Seeking to build a foundation for sustained economic growth in the community, $10 million was invested in addressing site readiness and infrastructure enhancements and a $43 million Tax Increment Funding (TIF) District was established to promote homeownership and neighborhood rehabilitation in the area surrounding the business park.
• Community Innovation:  The Florida High Tech Corridor led development of Cenfluence, a cluster initiative to growth regional industry networks that diversify Central Florida beyond tourism. Cenfluence provides free support to 100+ cluster member companies and is one of only 20 North American cluster management organizations recognized by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform for fueling high tech industry growth.

2022 Award Winners:

• Projects with a Purpose: Project Phoenix
  This project fit the criteria of a site selection project with job retention, capital investment and competitive environment but definitely delivered a more important benefit of returning important health and emergency care services to this community. The reopening of this hospital brought high paying jobs back to the community along with creating a healthier and safer community and improving the Quality of Life for all residents and visitors. Studies have shown that recruiting new physicians to a community has the equivalent economic impact of $2M per new doctor. This project is unique and perfectly represented the purpose and mission of this award.
• Community Innovation: Rung for Women
  Rung recruits women, with a focus on women of color, and eliminates barriers keeping women from advancing in their careers including coaching, childcare, healthcare, mental health counseling, financial education and access to healthy living resources. Rung enrolls two cohorts a year totally 200 women in the 10 month program. This programbegan prior to COVID and the increased impact of COVID on women has only elevated the importance of this program. This is truly a unique program and the fact that it was in place prior to COVID demonstrates a community improving the opportunities for their residents that became an imperative need in the last two years. This community is a step ahead on the recovery focusing on the piece of the population that was exponentially impacted by the pandemic.

2021 Inaugural Award Winners:

• Projects with a Purpose: In July of 2019, Diageo North America selected Lebanon, Kentucky as the home for their new $130 million state-of-the-art bourbon distillery. At the groundbreaking, local energy supplier Inter-County Energy Cooperative with support from Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives began discussions with the global beverage company about the potential of powering this new facility with green energy. Diageo announced in June of 2020 that their new distillery would be all-electric and carbon-neutral, making it one of the largest green energy projects in North America.
• Community Innovation: For years, the Erie metropolitan area was the largest in the United States not served by a community college. Led by the community coalition Empower Erie, the Erie County Council approved the development of a community college for the county in June 2017. In August 2020, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania formally approved the Erie Community College – the first new community college in Pennsylvania since 1993. Operations will begin in September 2021. This project seeks to increase workforce preparedness and improve financial access to high-quality education for the Erie community.