Energy Industry Drives Alaska’s 2008 FDI Investment Gain

Thank you for the positive comments on the release of annual state level FDI data. I am very grateful for the generosity of fDi Intelligence in making the data set available to the public.

Brand America is in trouble, and FDI attraction is a strategy with the potential to accelerate economic recovery. But, in order to successfully implement an FDI attraction strategy it is important to understand state level historical performance and to track progress annually. In my 33-years of experience managing brands, the adage of “You get what you measure” has been validated time and time again.

Some of the comments I received have called out the 2008 Alaska data as extremely interesting. I decided to contact fDi Intelligence to better understand that particular data point. Here is the explanation provided:

“In regard to the Alaska data – this is primarily due to the following project that was announced in 2008:

TransCanada (Canada) is investing 30.00 Bn $ in USA in the Coal, Oil and Natural Gas sector in a Logistics, Distribution & Transportation project

TransCanada Corp. has won final approval from Alaska state legislators to build a natural-gas pipeline from the North Slope to Canada, where it would connect to a distribution system for markets in the contiguous United States. With costs estimated up to $30 billion, the gas line could be the largest capital project in North America in the coming years. TransCanada’s plan envisions a 48-in.-dia line capable of moving 4.5 billion cu ft of natural gas daily that would run 1,715 miles from a treatment plant at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to central Alberta. There it would be integrated with TransCanada’s system to provide access to U.S. markets.”

Thank you again to fDi Intelligence for providing the above information. Understanding why data moves in a particular direction is very important to creating an effective FDI attraction strategy. Is there a consistent geographic source of FDI investment that might guide your outreach promotion? Are you being more effective in attracting FDI from companies in specific industry segments? These are some of the questions that can be answered by working with fDi Intelligence to create customized analytical reports.

One thing you can do to help strengthen Brand America is share the URL for the data set with your economic development colleagues and local economics professors. Generating awareness of the data set is important to ensure widespread use. I would also appreciate it if you would share your impressions of the data by leaving a comment to this blog post. Thank you in advance.

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