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Retailers Scrambling to fill Storefronts

IncSmart Massachusetts (Small Business and Startups) - Fort Point in Boston is getting new lifeline.  GE and Amazon are moving staff into their new offices. Amazon to bring 900 employees, and GE will bring 800 employees.  Neighborhood foot traffic will increase substantially in 2018.  Along with GE offices, GE is planning on opening a museum and a coffee shop.  The demand for commercial storefronts is causing an increase in rents for tenants on this once empty neighborhood.  The Boston Planning & Development Agency is also awarding five grants totaling $50,300 to groups at Ft Point for art and education that will benefit the general public. 

Toyota and Mazda Assembly Plant

IncSmart Tennessee (Small Business and Startups) - Tennessee may benefit from a joint investment of Toyota and Mazda new assembly plant.  Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp plan to spend $1.6 billion in a joint venture auto manufacturing plant in the US. The production capacity of 300,000 vehicles. The plant is scheduled to begin operations by 2021.  Toyota will acquire 5.05 percent stake in Mazda.  Mazda will acquire .25 percent stake in Toyota. 

India will need 2,100 New Aircraft

IncSmart Kansas (Small Business and Startups) - Boeing research shows growth for Kansas aerospace industry.  India alone will need 2,100 new commercial aircraft over the next 20 years.  This projects India’s 20 year demand as part of Kansas and the supply side industries effected by Boeings growth.  The area is home to notable aerospace and defense OEMs, including Boeing, the Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, Bombardier Learjet, Cessna, Spirit Aerosystems, and Airbus Americas.

New Fulfillment Center Under Construction in Livonia

IncSmart Michigan (Small Business and Startups) - Amazon is building a new warehouse and fulfillment center in Michigan.  The new regional center is under construction in Livonia.  The $90 million center is expected to open this fall.  The goal is to be ready by the holiday season.  The center is more than 1 million square feet, with 96 truck docks.   If Amazon hires 350 new employees by December 31, the company will receive a $2.6 million performance grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund. The grant grows to $7.5 million if 1,000 employees are hired by the end of 2020.

Utah based Purple will Become First Publicly Traded Mattress Startup

IncSmart Utah (Small Business and Startups) - Utah based Purple, will become the first publicly traded mattress startup. After they complete a merger with a publicly traded investment shell company, they will have a a valuation of $1.1 billion dollars. The company Purple was a small business startup in January 2016.  The shell company called GPAC went public in July 2015.  They soon began looking for acquisition targets, and Purple made the growth possible.

Pressure on American Labor Markets

IncSmart Texas (Small Business and Startups) - Nationstar Mortgage,  a Dallas based mortgage company, is bringing its call center operations back to the Texas.  Customers have spoken and corporations are listening.  They want to hear a familiar voice when they call for support.  Nationstar Mortgage has more than 3 million customers with home loan mortgages.  Dallas has the second largest number of call center employees in America, only outpaced by the Atlanta metro metro areas.  Most call centers support ?nancial services and health care industries.  Reshoring will come from India, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.

Waikiki Shopping Center Goes Upscale

Oshkosh Corporation to replace Humvees

IncSmart Wisconsin (Small Business and Startups) - The United Kingdom will spend over $1 billion to acquire a fleet of 2,747 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles.  Britain has won State Department approval to buy JLTVs from Wisconsin based Oshkosh Defense LLC in Oshkosh Wisconsin.  Oshkosh Defense LLC will be the principal contractor and will provide minimum contractor support until Britain can transition to internal support.  The sale also includes B-kit armor, spare tires and fording gear. 

Restaurants and Hotels Needed for Ark Crowds

IncSmart Kentucky (Small Business and Startups) - Two new major attractions are open in Northern Kentucky.  The Creation Museum and now the completion of the Ark Encounter.  10,000 visitors in one day , are coming into Kentucky and Ohio from all over the world.  A state commissioned study predicted that the Ark Encounter would draw 325,000 visitors the first year. The Ark reached that figure in less than three months. The Ark Encounter occupies 800 acres in Williamstown, Kentucky on Interstate 75. The site is 40 miles south from Cincinnati. 

German Discount Grocer Investment in New Regional Headquarters

IncSmart Georgia (Small Business and Startups) - German retail giant Lidl is making moving to Georgia.   Georgia is the gateway to the Southeastern market and Atlanta is the leading city.  The Georgia Economic Development team helped in bringing Lidl to Cartersville, which is Lidl's fourth distribution center in America.  Lidl, the German discount grocer, will create 250 jobs and invest $100 million over the next five years in a new headquarters and distribution center in Cartersville. 

German Automaker Plant in Spartanburg

IncSmart South Carolina (Small Business and Startups) - BMW is expanding once again in in South Carolina.  Bavarian Motor Works will invest an additional $600 million to expand its South Carolina plant.  This expansion will create 1,000 new jobs over the next four years, bring the total number of employees to the Spartanburg plant to 10,000 people.  The new investment, will be added to the $7 billion dollars already committed to South Carolina.

Boeing Will Move Hundreds of Jobs from Seattle to Mesa

IncSmart Arizona (Small Business and Startups) - Boeing is moving hundreds of jobs from its Seattle plant to Mesa Arizona.  The move will be ongoing and take between 2 and 3 years.  The Mesa facility currently employs over 3500 people.  The Mesa plant is producing Apache Attack Helicopters.  The Boeing Company BA was just awarded a modification to a foreign military sales contract worth $410.9 million from the U.S. Army Contracting Command from the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. However work for this deal will be carried out in Mesa.

$500 Million Investment in Waller County

Downtown Hartford Abandoned Buildings