Site Selection magazine’s annual ranking named Savannah number one Top Metro by total projects with population 200,000 to one million (tied with Toledo, Ohio) and number one Top Metro by projects per capita. The rankings were announced on March 1.
In announcing the rankings, Site Selection said, “Savannah, Georgia vaults all the way into Site Selection’s top spot for Tier 2 Metros (tied with Toledo, Ohio) after finishing No. 12 in last year’s rankings. Further cementing its accomplishment, the port city on the Atlantic claimed the top spot for Tier 2s in our new Per Capita rankings.”
“Site Selection magazine is one of our industry’s top publications and this is a great way to reinforce to site selectors, consultants and others in economic development that the Savannah Metro region is the best place to expand or locate,” said Savannah Economic Development Authority President and CEO Trip Tollison. “We are truly humbled that we were ranked number one in two categories and want to thank those companies that chose to expand or locate in the Savannah Metro.”
Site Selection’s Top Metros rankings are based on accumulations of major capital investments in corporate end user facilities within a given core-based statistical area (CBSA) or metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the Census Bureau. Qualifying projects are tracked by Site Selection’s proprietary Conway Data Projects Database, which qualifies investments that meet at least one of three criteria: a minimum $1 million capex; 20 or more jobs created; or 20,000 sq. ft. or more of new space.
The Savannah Metro is defined as Chatham, Bryan, Bulloch, Effingham, Liberty, Wayne and Long counties.
In the ranking, Site Selection also noted the Port of Savannah, Gulfstream Aerospace, growth of e-commerce and recent developments like the Savannah Chatham Manufacturing Center.