The Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area has been named a top-10 metro area by Site Selection magazine.
Atlanta-based Conway Data, publisher of Site Selection, ranked Baldwin County’s tri-city metro among other areas with a population of less than 200,000 in the magazine’sMarch 2015 online edition.
With nine companies either expanding or locating to one of the three cities in 2014, the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley was tied for fourth place in Site Selection’s ranking. Odessa, Texas topped the list with 18 projects.
Of all the metro areas in the country, Chicago took top honors for the second straight year with 385 projects.
The Daphne-Fairhope-Foley area earned the U.S. Census Bureau distinction of being Baldwin County’s metropolitan statistical area in 2012 when its population surpassed 50,000. It is also one of the fastest growing metros in the United States.
According to Census population estimates between 2010 and 2013, the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metro was the nation’s 14th fastest growing area and second in Alabama. The Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance has reported that the area now ranks 9th in the country.
Top 10 metro areas, with population under 200,000, by number of projects
- 1. Odessa, Texas — 18 projects
- 2. Sioux City, Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota — 17 project
- 3. Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana — 12 projects
- T4. Blacksburg-Christianburg-Radford, Virginia – 9 projects
- T4. Bowling Green, Kentucky – 9 projects
- T4. Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Alabama – 9 projects
- T4. Midland, Texas – 9 projects
- T8. Battle Creek, Michigan – 8 projects
- T8. Gainesville, Georgia – 8 projects
- T8. Jackson, Tennessee – 8 projects