When the 2007 data is compared to the same time frame in 2006, New England has reason to boast over this year's 135 percent jump in TIV! During the first six months of 2006, $1.5 billion was invested among 50 projects. Last year's average project TIV was $30 million, almost 50 percent less than 2007.
Massachusetts was still on top in the region last year, with the same number of projects, 27, albeit with a slightly lower total TIV of $1.1 billion. Connecticut has made great strides since last year, when it placed a very distant second with a total TIV of just $186 million for five projects. Two of the region's largest projects to begin in the first half of 2006 were the still-controversial $200 million National Biocontainment Laboratory in Boston and a $175 million Walgreen's distribution center in Windsor, Connecticut.
For 2007, the largest project from the first six months is technically, not in any state, but 22 miles offshore from Boston. That would be the construction of a $900 million floating storage and Regasification unit (FGRU). Connecticut Light & Power claimed second place for the region with the beginning of construction on a $700 million project to connect three substations.
Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of project spending by industry.As far as distribution of projects in the region by industry, the Pharmaceutical-Biotech group was the resounding leader, with just over $1.1 billion TIV being spent on nine sizeable projects (reference: Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database). Contributing to that total are impressive projects like Lonza's $220 million expansion of its Portsmouth, New Hampshire biologics plant and Boehringer Ingelheim's continued investment into its Ridgefield, Connecticut research campus, which could eventually top $500 million.
The new plant activity will add to the region’s existing 1,600 operational plants as found in Industrial Info’s New England Online Plant Directory. The existing plants provide employment for 360,000 people in the region. With all of the major industrial groups represented in the region, the majority of existing operational plants are claimed by the Industrial Manufacturing sector, which employs 214,000 in 583 plants. A distant second place falls to the Food and Beverage industry, with an existing 207 facilities employing nearly 34,000. The rest of the operational sites are distributed among other groups, including the Pharmaceutical – Biotech Industry, with 146 sites employing over 50,000 people and the Pulp and Paper industry is on board with 184 facilities and 27,000 jobs.Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns. For more information, visit www.industrialinfo.com.
