{"id":22533,"date":"2026-06-17T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stocks-future.com\/?guid=d6a852bdffccea5370d518bffc309453"},"modified":"2026-06-17T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T17:30:00","slug":"area-development-announces-2026-state-shovel-awards-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/?p=22533","title":{"rendered":"Area Development Announces 2026 State Shovel Awards Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\nNorth Carolina earns Platinum Shovel honors as states compete for transformative manufacturing, semiconductor, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and data center projects<\/p><br\/><a href=\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20260617457793\/en\/363130\/5\/ADLogoGerri.jpg\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20260617457793\/en\/363130\/5\/ADLogoGerri.jpg\" \/><\/a><br\/><a href=\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20260617457793\/en\/363130\/5\/ADLogoGerri.jpg\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20260617457793\/en\/363130\/21\/ADLogoGerri.jpg\" \/><\/a><p>NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Area Development has announced the winners of its <a  href=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.areadevelopment.com%2FGold-Shovel-Econdev-Awards%2Fq2-2026%2F21st-annual-area-development-shovel-awards.shtml%3Futm_source%3Dbusiness_wire%26utm_medium%3Dpr%26utm_campaign%3D2026_gold_shovels&amp;esheet=54555653&amp;newsitemid=20260617457793&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=2026+State+Shovel+Awards%2C+recognizing+the+most+impactful+economic+development+and+job+creation+projects+across+the+United+States&amp;index=1&amp;md5=4f30e1476c1e06cd6a614249cb743c84\" rel=\"nofollow\" shape=\"rect\">2026 State Shovel Awards, recognizing the most impactful economic development and job creation projects across the United States<\/a>.<\/p><p>\nThis year\u2019s awards reflect one of the most competitive industrial investment environments in recent memory, with states landing transformative projects in semiconductors, aerospace, life sciences, clean energy, automotive manufacturing, logistics, and digital infrastructure.<\/p><p>\nThe 2026 Platinum Shovel Award was awarded to the state of North Carolina for its extraordinary breadth of investment activity, including major wins in aerospace, life sciences, automotive manufacturing, transportation, and technology. The state\u2019s project roster was led by JetZero\u2019s planned $4.7 billion blended-wing aircraft manufacturing facility in Greensboro, expected to create more than 14,500 jobs.<\/p><p>\n\u201cThis year\u2019s winners reflect a new era in economic development competition,\u201d said Area Development Editor Andy Greiner. \u201cStates are no longer competing only on cost. They\u2019re competing on speed, infrastructure readiness, workforce quality, energy availability, and their ability to execute large, complex projects under increasingly difficult conditions.\u201d<\/p><p>\nNew for 2026, Area Development introduced a standalone Data Center Project of the Year category in recognition of the unprecedented scale of AI and digital infrastructure investment reshaping the national economy.<\/p><p>\nGold Shovel winners included:<\/p><ul class=\"bwlistdisc\">\n<li>\nTexas<\/li>\n<li>\nVirginia<\/li>\n<li>\nArizona<\/li>\n<li>\nIndiana<\/li>\n<li>\nMississippi<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>\nSilver Shovel winners included:<\/p><ul class=\"bwlistdisc\">\n<li>\nNew York<\/li>\n<li>\nFlorida<\/li>\n<li>\nOhio<\/li>\n<li>\nGeorgia<\/li>\n<li>\nTennessee<\/li>\n<li>\nSouth Carolina<\/li>\n<li>\nAlabama<\/li>\n<li>\nUtah<\/li>\n<li>\nKentucky<\/li>\n<li>\nIdaho<\/li>\n<li>\nKansas<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>\nThe full feature explores the projects, industries, and investment trends shaping the industrial economy in 2026, including semiconductor reshoring, AI-driven infrastructure expansion, advanced manufacturing growth, and the continued evolution of workforce and energy strategy.<\/p><p>\nThe 2026 awards also highlight the widening definition of what constitutes a transformational economic development project. While advanced manufacturing remains central to state competitiveness, this year\u2019s rankings were equally shaped by hyperscale data centers, AI infrastructure, logistics facilities, and major corporate headquarters expansions.<\/p><p>\nArea Development introduced a dedicated Data Center Project of the Year category this year in recognition of the unprecedented scale of digital infrastructure investment reshaping the American economy. Projects from Amazon Web Services, OpenAI, Microsoft, Vantage Data Centers, QTS, and others underscored the growing importance of power, fiber connectivity, water access, and speed-to-energy as defining competitive factors for states.<\/p><p>\nAt the same time, the Manufacturing Projects of the Year reflected the breadth of America\u2019s industrial resurgence. Major wins in aerospace, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, and raw materials investment demonstrated that the nation\u2019s industrial revival is no longer concentrated in a single geography or sector. From JetZero in North Carolina to Micron in Idaho and Amkor in Arizona, states competed for projects expected to shape regional economies for decades.<\/p><p>\nSee more at <a  href=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.areadevelopment.com%2FGold-Shovel-Econdev-Awards%2Fq2-2026%2F21st-annual-area-development-shovel-awards.shtml%3Futm_source%3Dbusiness_wire%26utm_medium%3Dpr%26utm_campaign%3D2026_gold_shovels&amp;esheet=54555653&amp;newsitemid=20260617457793&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=www.areadevelopment.com%2Fshovels-2026&amp;index=2&amp;md5=632b512196e6d659add10d7f0d2356b0\" rel=\"nofollow\" shape=\"rect\">www.areadevelopment.com\/shovels-2026<\/a>.<\/p><p>\nAbout Area Development<\/p><p>\nArea Development is the leading publication for corporate executives, site selectors, and economic development professionals involved in facility location, expansion, and investment strategy.<\/p><br\/> <b>Contacts<\/b> <br\/><p>\nAndy Greiner\n<br\/>Editor, Area Development\n<br\/><a  href=\"mailto:agreiner@areadevelopment.com\" rel=\"nofollow\" shape=\"rect\">agreiner@areadevelopment.com<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Carolina earns Platinum Shovel honors as states compete for transformative manufacturing, semiconductor, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and data center projectsNEW YORK&#8211;(BUSINESS WIRE)&#8211;Area Development has announced the winners of its 2026 State S&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infos-businesswire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22534,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22533\/revisions\/22534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stocks-future.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}