2021 Gold & Silver Shovel Awards Recognize State and Local Economic Development Efforts

Although 2020’s global pandemic resulted in some projects being stalled or canceled, the annual Shovel Awards recognize many other new and expanded facilities plans that are on track and expected to create thousands of jobs and billions in investment.

Area Development’s annual Gold and Silver Shovel Awards recognize states for their achievements in attracting high-value-added investment projects that will create a significant number of new jobs in their communities. We asked for information from all 50 states about their top-10 job-creation and investment projects initiated in 2020. Based on a combination of weighted factors — including the number of new jobs to be created in relation to the state’s population, the combined dollar amount of the investments, the number of new facilities, and the diversity of industry represented — five states achieving the highest weighted overall scores were awarded Area Development’s Gold Shovels in five population categories: 12+ million, 8+ to 12 million, 5+ to 8 million, 3+ to 5 million, and fewer than 3 million. Three other states were awarded Gold Shovels for their achievements in the manufacturing sector. Finally, runners-up in each of the above population categories were awarded Silver Shovels.

Read full article.