New England Region Industrial Investment Report: Capital/MRO Project Starts for Fourth Quarter of 2007 Grows 10% to $1.4 Billion

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In terms of industrial project starts, the New England region will close out the year ahead of 2006. Encompassing Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, the region is forecast to begin construction on 40 capital/MRO (maintenance) projects carrying a total investment value (TIV) of $1.4 billion, an increase of 10% over the fourth quarter of 2006. Last year, the region began nine projects worth $1.2 billion during the quarter.

Click on the image at right to view the 4Q07 New England Region Industrial Project Analysis

The TIV for the quarter has only increased 10% percent over last year, despite the fact that there are considerably more projects in 2007. Industrial Info is tracking $35 million worth of projects - a big decrease from the $143 million in the fourth quarter of last year - scheduled to begin before the end of this year. The main reason for the huge disparity in average project TIVs can be attributed to the small number of individual projects coupled with last year's fourth-quarter start of the Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY ) (New York, New York) grassroot biologicals manufacturing plant project in Devens, Massachusetts, skewing the numbers with its potential $1.1 billion TIV.

Entering the final three months of the year, Massachusetts continues its yearlong lead in the region for both project activity and TIV. The state has 17 projects with a TIV of $843 million scheduled to begin construction during the fourth quarter of this year. This figure translates to an average TIV of $49.6 million. Again, the high average TIV was helped along by the inclusion of a high-dollar project - Harvard's $500 million Allston Science Project Phase I. For more details, see Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker.

In terms of TIV, the Harvard project pushed the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry to the lead in the region for the quarter, with the group expecting a $669 million TIV spread over six projects. Following in second place, Transmission (Oil & Gas) has $391 million forecast to begin in the form of eight projects.

Click here to go to Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical & Biotech Database.

The forecast capital/MRO activity includes everything from the construction of grassroot plants to general upgrades and maintenance. In some cases, new plant construction will add to the region's existing 1,600-plus operational plants as found in Industrial Info Resources' 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 Industry, which employs more than 200,000 in nearly 600 plants. A distant second place falls to the Food and Beverage Industry, with roughly 200 facilities employing nearly 34,000. The rest of the operational sites are distributed among other groups, including the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry with almost 150 sites employing more than 50,000 people and the Pulp and Paper Industry with more than 180 facilities and 27,000 jobs.

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