Melissa is an exceptional partner in regional economic development. Her ability to coordinate seamlessly with Alliant Energy ensures that Winnebago and Worth counties are always positioned for growth. She is proactive, deeply knowledgeable, and highly collaborative- bringing her into a project early is a guarantee that things will move forward efficiently and successfully.
— Chad Hansen , Alliant Energy
Speed Built In—The Real Differentiator for 2026 Site Selection Projects
9 Jan 2026
News
At the start of 2025, the mood around industrial investment was unmistakably confident. Capital was available. Incentives were abundant. Projects were being announced across nearly every sector of the economy. On paper, companies appeared to have more location options than ever.
By the end of the year, that sense of abundance had largely evaporated.
What Area Development’s reporting revealed over the course of 2025 was not a slowdown in ambition, but a collision with reality. Again and again, across sectors and geographies, site selection stopped behaving like an optimization exercise and began to resemble something closer to constraint management. The question was no longer which location offered the best mix of cost, incentives, and access. It became which location could actually deliver — on time, at scale, and without late-stage surprises.
Click here to read the original article from Area Development.
More Topics
Building Momentum for Iowa Business in 2026
Jan 8 2026The start of a new year is always an exciting time. It is a chance to reflect, set goals, and build momentum for what is ahead. At ABI, we are energized by the possibilities for 2026 and the opportunity to continue serving our members across Iowa.Having completed my first full...
For much of the past decade, defense, aerospace, and maritime manufacturing were discussed as strategic priorities more often than they were treated as operational ones. In 2025, that changed.Federal funding accelerated. Reshoring efforts gained urgency. Supply-chain security moved from talking point to mandate. Across the country, communities competed to position...
Glance at the energy news these days and there’s no getting around the fact that the U.S. is going all in in another nuclear energy wave. The federal government has also swung back from renewables, backing other routes to energy diversification.On December 1, the Trump administration and U.S. Department of...