Connecticut Beats Out Massachusetts for Majority of New England 1Q Project Starts

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--When considering New England in terms of industrial capital and maintenance (MRO) investment, Massachusetts is usually the state to beat. Connecticut has done just that for the first quarter of 2010, with 10 projects starts worth $497 million, garnering the bulk of the entire region's total $764 million and 36 project starts (source: Industrial Info's North American Industrial Database), resulting in a respectable average project total investment value (TIV) of $21 million.

Click on image at right for details of planned 1Q10 project starts in New England.

Connecticut can thank the Power Industry for the bulk of its first-quarter activity, with the largest project start being GE Energy Financial Services' (Stamford, Connecticut) plan to construct the $300 million Towantic Energy Center, a 512-megawatt (MW) power plant in Oxford. The Alternative Fuel Industry is expecting construction to start on a $70 million grassroot biodiesel plant in New Haven. CT Biodiesel (Harrison, New York) has hired Barr and Barr Builders (Williamstown, Massachusetts) to build the 50million-gallon-per-year facility.

Massachusetts is running a distant second with a first quarter take of $205 million via 18 project starts. The Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry is delivering the state's largest project of the quarter, with Shire Human Genetic Therapies (Cambridge, Massachusetts) expected to begin the $66 million second phase of the biomanufacturing HGT Project Atlas in Lexington. The project team includes Bovis Lend Lease (Boston, Massachusetts) and KlingStubbins (Cambridge). The state has long enjoyed its attraction to the industry, as evidenced by the decision of NeedleTech Products (Attleboro, Massachusetts) to begin a $10 million renovation of a 52,000-square-foot building in Attleboro and equip it for the production of needles used in procedures such as biopsies and aspirations. Condyne Construction (Quincy, Massachusetts) is handling construction of the project (data derived from Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical & Biotech Tracker - Online Database).

The region's fortunes for 2010 are considerably brighter than they were this time last year. Analysis reveals an actual increase of an unbelievable 454% over 2008 projects starts, which totaled $168 million for six projects. Interestingly, after the projects for 2008 were checked to see if they actually began during the first quarter, Connecticut emerged as the state with the highest dollar investment. The placement was helped by the start of the University of Connecticut's $51 million renovation of the Stem Cell Research Tower at the Farmington Health Science Center campus. Goody Clancy (Boston) served as the project's architect and engineer, with FIP Construction (Cheshire, Connecticut) handling construction to completely renovate the 110,000-square-foot building to LEED standards and equip it for medical research.

The region's remaining states all expect some level of construction activity for the first quarter:

• Maine - three projects with a total TIV $36 million
• New Hampshire - two projects with a total TIV of $6 million
• Rhode Island - two projects with a total TIV of $4 million
• Vermont - one project with a TIV of $17 million

From an industry standpoint, the Power Industry is delivering 10 projects with a total value of $472 million. Alternative Fuels follows with four projects worth $128 million. The Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry rounds out the top three with seven projects representing a total investment of $85 million. The remaining projects were scattered among other industries, including Oil & Gas, Chemical Processing, Metal & Minerals and Food & Beverage.

The New England region would have had an even stronger first quarter if not for the cancellation or placing on hold of seven projects with a cumulative TIV of $167 million. The two projects cancelled included a $75 million project to add a 20- to 30-MW cogeneration unit at Fraser Papers in Millinocket, Maine, and New England Geothermal's plans to build a 10-MW plant in North Conway, New Hampshire. The other five projects are on hold and retain the possibility of being revived in the future.

The region currently has more than 1,500 operational plants as found in Industrial Info's New England Online Plant Directory. The existing plants provide employment for more than 318,000 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 175,000 people in 474 plants. A distant second place falls to the Food & Beverage Industry, with roughly 200 facilities employing nearly 32,000 people. The rest of the operational sites are distributed among other groups, including the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry, with more than 170 sites employing nearly 50,000 people. The Pulp & Paper Industry is on board with more than 170 facilities and 23,000 jobs.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project spending opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.