Boyd Development Successes

Noteworthy Boyd Economic Development Programs Over the Years

Mercer County Department of Economic Development– Boyd was hired to design an economic development strategy for its home county of Mercer in Central New Jersey in the late 1970s.  Boyd coined and popularized the phrase “Route 1 Corridor” to help attract office development along Route 1 which at the time was primarily sod farms and cheap motels.  Today, it is full of office parks and high tech R&D centers. Boyd reported to an interesting head of development for Mercer County at the time:  Chris Kenan, the son of George Kenan, the Princeton academic and diplomat that did much to orchestrate our country’s Cold War Strategy with Russia following WWII.

The World Bank – Boyd was retained to identify and assess opportunities for call centers in developing countries around the globe.  Boyd has been very active in the call center industry over the years, providing site selection assistance to JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, Progressive Insurance, PNC Bank, Dell, HP, Visa International, Discover Card and others.  Boyd Co. founder John H. Boyd is a recipient of Call Center Magazine's “Call Center Pioneer Award"  for the firm’s trend-setting body of work in this field.

The Government of the District of Columbia  – Boyd was hired by iconic Mayor Marion Barry during the 1980s to help craft a redevelopment strategy for the New York Avenue Corridor which at the time was the major industrial area of the nation’s capital. The Corridor is now home to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center,  Capital One Arena and numerous hospitality venues.

The Howard Hughes Corporation in Las Vegas – Boyd research and counsel helped attract new office development to this iconic developer's major Summerlin mixed-use community, including Expedia, Bank of America, Williams-Sonoma, Allegiant Airlines and others.

The Investment Properties Division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – Boyd provided research and counsel to this global Salt Lake City-based real estate organization affiliated with the Mormon Church. The Mormon Church owns vast acreages of commercial and industrial real estate around the U.S. and the world and, in fact, is the single-largest private sector landowner in the state of Florida.

The State of Indiana – Under Governor Mitch Daniels (and recently retired  president of Purdue University),  Boyd carried out a highly successful multi-year program aimed at attracting corporate headquarters offices to Indianapolis. Boyd's corporate headquarters initiative for Indianapolis helped secure new head office operations of Appirio Inc., Cummins Engine, Angie’s List and a major Charles Schwab expansion. Boyd also provided polling services, research and advice to the Governor's Office on Indiana's historic adoption of Right-To-Work legislation, the first state in the Midwest to do so.

The Mohave Indian Tribe in Arizona –  Boyd provided research and counsel to the tribal leaders on the development of an industrial park and provided liaison with Bureau of Indian Affairs officials in Washington, DC, regarding program support, water rights and funding for broadband and workforce training.

The City of North Las Vegas – Boyd provided research and counsel to the City’s economic development unit targeting the growing logistics sector.  Boyd’s initiative helped to attract the one million sq. ft. distribution center of national retailer TJ Maxx and as well as subsequent other warehousing facilities in North Las Vegas, now recognized as one of the leading distribution hubs in the West.

The State of Iowa – Under Governor Terry Branstad (the longest serving governor in U.S. history and former  U.S. Ambassador to China),  Boyd carried out a successful program aimed at attracting agricultural biotechnology operations to the environs of Iowa State University in Ames.

Province of New Brunswick – This unprecedented eight-year engagement helped establish New Brunswick cities like Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton as call centers capitals of North America.  Boyd reported to visionary Premier Frank McKenna (now Vice Chair of TD Canada Trust and former Canadian Ambassador to the United States).  Boyd’s research and counsel helped to attract call centers and help desks of IBM, Xerox, Marriott, TD Bank, Air Canada, RMH Teleservices and others to the Province.

The Nevada Development Authority – This multi-year engagement  saw Boyd provide research and counsel to NDA’s highly successful program to attract new, non-casino corporate investment and jobs to the greater Las Vegas market.

Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce – Boyd’s research and counsel helped leverage FedEx’s major presence in Memphis in order to attract additional distribution warehousing investment and jobs to the greater Memphis market.

Quincy, Washington – Boyd helped design and implement one of the most successful data center industry attraction programs in North America. The program helped Quincy (pop. 6,000) in Eastern  Washington’s Grant County secure new data center operations of Microsoft, Yahoo, Sabey, Intuit, Vantage and Boyd client Dell.  This initiative also helped to attract  the $100 million plant of SGL Automotive, a joint venture of carbon fiber manufacturer SGL Group (Wiesbaden, Germany) and automaker BMW Group to Grant County’s Moses Lake.

ChooseNJ –  Boyd provided consulting support to this statewide development organization in New Jersey focusing on the booming distribution warehousing industry.  Boyd research and counsel were utilized in the successful courting of several major logistics projects to the state, one being  national retailer  Five Below’s massive one million square foot distribution center in Salem County.

Adams County Washington - Boyd was retained to assess and document food and beverage industry site selection advantages of this Eastern Washington State County.  Boyd findings were used in the County’s presentation to McCain Foods helping to convince the food giant to expand operations in the Adams County community of Othello, known as “The French Fry Capital of America”. The coveted McCains project translated into a $300 million investment, 170,000 sq. ft. of new manufacturing space and 80 new production jobs.

NC Biotech - Boyd was hired by this statewide life sciences development organization to assess competitive advantages of North Carolina vis-à-vis other global hubs of the biomanufacturing industry.  IQVIA’s 700-worker expansion in Durham was a significant early win for the state during this multi-year Boyd engagement.  Boyd research and counsel has been utilized by NC Biotech in a number of successful biotech and pharma industry attractions to the state.

Newark, NJ – Boyd was called in by Newark native, philanthropist and United Nations Envoy, Ray Chambers,   to assist the city attract the high profile Amazon HQ2 project.   Leveraging Boyd research data and counsel,  longshot Newark made the final Amazon HQ2 list which provided a valuable springboard for national promotion of New Jersey’s largest city.  Boyd research and support also helped Newark attract the headquarters offices of WebMD.

The State of Tennessee – Boyd was retained the state’s Department of Economic & Community Development to provide research and counsel on the design of business attraction strategies for Tennessee’s major metropolitan areas of Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga.  In Nashville, Boyd worked with one of the South’s legendary economic development professionals -  Fred Harris of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the namesake of the  Fred H. Harris Professional of the Year Award presented annually to a member of the Tennessee Economic Development Council for outstanding achievement in the field.

Finance Montreal – This Montreal, Quebec-based economic development organization retained Boyd to provide research and counsel to help identify, reach and influence global financial services organizations to consider locating operations in Montreal.  This multi-year engagement included preparation of a several global reports and project-specific research and promotion support.  In the growing fintech sector, Boyd support helped in the establishment of Montréal FinTech Station, a workspace in downtown Montreal near the financial district dedicated to fintech start-ups.  Boyd analytics also assisted in the attraction of the  New York-based fintech company, The Guarantors, which expanded its international footprint and opened its first office outside of its New York headquarters.

Sioux Falls Development Foundation – Boyd was brought in by this prominent economic development organization serving South Dakota’s largest city to help launch its initial community betterment campaign, termed Forward Sioux Falls.  Boyd’s research and counsel helped to distinguish Sioux Falls as a location of choice in the Upper Midwest for new corporate investment and jobs.   Boyd’s outstanding work was rewarded with a series of one-year contracts spanning over a two-decade period.

Kingston, Ontario – A Boyd target industry program focusing on food processing underwritten by the regional Ontario East Economic Development Commission helped to attract China-based Feihe International's infant formula plant to Kingston, Ontario.  The City of Kingston’s Economic Development Corporation later hired Boyd to provide data and counsel targeting the electric vehicle industry.  Boyd research assisted Kingston in its successful attraction of Brussels, Belgium-based Umicore which is building a  $1.5-billion ($C) electric vehicle battery materials plant in Loyalist Township just outside Kingston.

DeBartolo Development - The DeBartolo name has been an icon in the real estate industry for more than seven decades. Since the beginning, when legendary entrepreneur Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. pioneered the first shopping mall concept, DeBartolo’s legacy has been synonymous with success from shopping malls to five Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers.   Given its interest in expanding its portfolio in the booming logistics sector, DeBartolo retained Boyd to identify superior sites in multiple U.S. regions for new distribution warehousing development.

Boyd Development Clients

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