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Siouxland Region Ranks Tops in Nation for Economic DevelopmentSIOUX CITY, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota - The Siouxland region ranks first in the nation for economic development, according to results released today by a leading corporate real estate publication based in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.
Ron Starner, General Manager of Site Selection magazine, was in Siouxland to announce that the Sioux City, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota metropolitan region won the 2007 economic development competition for communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000 people. Starner made the announcement confirming Siouxland had the highest number of qualifying economic development projects at a luncheon attended by approximately 150 business executives and community leaders.
During the 2007 calendar year, Siouxland led its population category with 23 qualified projects, outpacing second place Morristown, Tennessee, which tallied 15 projects. In a prepared statement, Mark Arend, Editor in Chief of Site Selection, stated "The Sioux City metro area's eight-project lead over the runner-up metros in its tier proves that the economic development strategy in place is highly effective. Clearly, the region has the workforce, infrastructure and business climate required by industrial site seekers."
Despite weakening economic indicators in other parts of the country, the Siouxland region's agri-business and food processing-based economy is presently exhibiting signs of resilience and vitality that other industrial sectors and geographic regions are lacking. 2007 marks the second straight year that Site Selection has ranked the "Top Ten" communities in the nation based on a tiered system reflecting population size. "We are thrilled to be ranked first among our peer communities throughout the United States and to receive this hard-earned recognition from such a respected economic development trade publication," stated Glenn Ivarsen, Chair of the Regional Economic Development Partners group, an association of regional economic development professionals. Site Selection's rankings evaluated the tri-state region, which is also known as the Sioux City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Communities included in the MSA are Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; South Sioux City, Nebraska; and Dakota Dunes and North Sioux City, South Dakota. The counties of Woodbury, Dakota, Dixon, and Union also comprise a portion of the Siouxland MSA. In the rankings, each of Siouxland's five municipal communities, four counties, and three states contributed at least one project to the collective total demonstrating strong regional balance and evidence that the tri-state area is well-positioned for continued economic expansion. In 2006, the Siouxland MSA cracked the Top Ten by tying for third place in its tier category. Noting the leap from third to first place in 2007, TSI President Debi Durham observed, "We have some of the hardest working and most dedicated people in the country and this ranking, in many respects, is a tribute to the work ethic, education, and productivity of our local employees." In addition to praising the local workforce, Durham complimented the efforts of the region's professional economic developers, who she said share in the credit for the ascendance to first-in-the-nation status. Based on the 2007 results, Siouxland is one of only two Top Ten communities in its category located west of the Mississippi River. The Sioux City metro's score of 23 projects in 2007 is so sizeable that Siouxland would have ranked in the Top Ten for communities in the next tier category up, those communities with populations between 200,000 and one million people.
