Great Lakes Region Forecast to Lead the Nation in Grassroot Industrial Plant Construction in 2005

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Currently, there are 112 active grassroot capital projects worth $15.2 billion scheduled to begin construction in fiscal year 2005 in the Great Lakes region. Those numbers place the Great Lakes region as the front-runner among U.S. industrial market regions, in regards to grassroot projects, both in terms of number of projects and dollars to be spent.

These significant numbers represent over 50% of the anticipated $30 billion in capital and maintenance work that is currently planned for the Great Lakes region for this year. For details see January 6, 2005 news article - Great Lakes Region to Top $30 Billion in Capital and Maintenance Spending in 2005. Despite the recent trend in the automotive and other industries to move south, where state governments and communities are offering insanely large economic development packages for companies to build in their areas, the Great Lakes region appears to be holding its own.

As the heartland of the U.S. manufacturing industry, the Great Lakes can offer almost every type of manufacturing opportunity. From power plants to chemical processing to automotive manufacturing to biotechnology, the region has it all, and the companies behind the region are once again acknowledging the benefits of building new facilities in the area.

For 2005, as with most years in recent memory, the power industry will once again lead the pack with grassroots plant spending expected to top $11.6 billion in the region. Some of the larger projects being planned for this year in the power industry will include the proposed $2.1 billion Elm Road generating station in Wisconsin, the $2 billion coal Prairie State energy campus in Kentucky and the $1.5 billion Thoroughbred energy campus in Illinois.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing planned grassroot industrial plant construction starts by industry for the Great Lakes Region.

In addition to the power industry, some other key industries will be spending significant money in the region on grassroot plants in 2005. In the pharmaceuticals/biotechnology industry, the proposed $950 million rare isotope accelerator complex to be located at Michigan State University is anticipated to begin construction in 2005, as well as a proposed $100 million medicated stent plant in Indiana.

The metals, minerals and mining industry can also boast some serious grassroot plant spending opportunities in 2005, with projects such as a $350 million metallurgical coke plant planned in Ohio and a $383 million hot and cold rolled sheet steel mill planned in Kentucky.

In the industrial manufacturing industry, there will also be some large grassroot projects expected to begin construction in 2005, especially in the automotive sector. Some examples of automotive sector spending include a trio of projects planned for Toledo, Ohio: a $143 million automotive painting plant, a $100 million rolling chassis plant, and a $100 million body weld and assembly plant.

All in all, the spending year for grassroot projects in the Great Lakes region is looking very bright. Provided all of the aforementioned projects, as well as their smaller brother and sister projects, come to fruition, thousands of jobs and millions of dollars will be pumped into the respective state, county, and city economies, as these projects move to the construction stages.

For more information on the plants of the Great Lakes region that are spending both the capital and maintenance money in 2005, please take a look at Industrialinfo.com's Great Lakes Online Plant Directory, which provides access to over 6,800 operational plants in the Great Lakes region employing over 1.8 million people. The Great Lakes Online Plant Directory includes plant locations, interactive plant maps and driving directions, key management contacts, the plant owner's name, address, and phone numbers, plus the SIC codes for each plant.

For more information on the automotive industry in the Great Lakes region and all over the United States and Canada, check out Industrialinfo.com's Automotive Database. This database provides access to over 1,400 operational, planned, engineered and under construction plants related to the automotive industry. This includes both the assembly plants and their respective tier suppliers. Each plant record gives access to plant locations, interactive plant maps and driving directions, key management contacts, the plant owner's name, address and phone numbers plus the SIC codes for each plant.

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