ACS Energy Leadership

Denver, CO

The Denver MSA is the 18th largest metro economy in the United States. Denver’s economy is based partially on its geographic position and its connection to some of the major transportation systems of the country. Because Denver is the largest city within 500 miles (800 km), it has become a natural location for storage and distribution of goods and services to the Mountain States, Southwest states, as well as all western states. Geography also allows Denver to have a considerable government presence, with many federal agencies based or having offices in the Denver area. Along with federal agencies come many companies based on US defense and space projects, and more jobs are brought to the city by virtue of its being the capital of the state of Colorado. The Denver area is home to the former nuclear weapons plant Rocky Flats, the Denver Federal Center, the Denver Mint and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Education

The educational services market is large and growing with several types of opportunities available for franchisees. There are approximately 58,113 establishments in the industry which earn a combined $19.4 billion dollars in revenue. The industry is largely fragmented, the fifty largest companies represent just 30% of the total revenue in the industry. There ere 55.1 million students attending school in grades K-12, all of whom are potential clients for educational services – and that number is expected to increase to 74 million. The vast majority of revenue in this industry comes from tuition or program fees. Gross profits tend to range from 60-90% depending on the location and particular course, and net profit averages out to between 2-10%. Increasing company size has helped consolidate operations in the educational services field – helping to lower fixed costs and improve overall operational efficiency, both of which are very important to keeping businesses in the field healthy and profitable. Finding qualified instructors in any field is becoming increasingly challenging; it is important to inquire about this when researching potential companies. There is a potential danger to some areas of the field in future competition from online training courses, which are growing more and more popular as technology spreads. In addition, businesses face competition from free online resources and computer software. Overall, however, the field is expanding, educational services in the United States are forecast to grow by 5% per year over the next five years.

El Segundo, CA

El Segundo, CA, with a population of 16,839, is a city within the county of Los Angeles in the state of California. El Segundo (“the second” in Spanish) earned its name by becoming the second Standard Oil refinery on the west coast. In 2017 the city scored a landmark, celebrating 100 years of innovation, leadership and growth. El Segundo is ideally located: it sits next door to Manhattan Beach and close by the other South Bay sister cities of Hermosa and Redondo Beach–an ideal location in which to thrive for any business and its employees. El Segundo is a city with roots in refinery, aerospace and manufacturing innovation that’s developed into a technology hub of world-class businesses involving high-tech engineering, advanced information technology, data systems, and digital media. Representing the oil industry in El Segundo’s is Chevron’s main west-coast oil refinery, which was established in 1911. El Segundo is recognized as the aerospace capital of the world, with manufacturing industries like Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin headquartered there. Over half of all satellites and vehicles currently in space were manufactured in El Segundo, CA. Technologies used around the world, such as DIRECTV, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, and Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) are products conceived and built in El Segundo. In addition to manufacturing industries, El Segundo has been the chosen location for Los Angeles United States Air base. A further example of a non-manufacturing business is Just Fab, a personalized retail shopping organization with more than four million users which has chosen El Segundo as its home base. Each of these enterprises provides employment for thousands of individuals. El Segundo continues to be sought after for new projects. As an example, The Point, a new $80 million retail center began its development in 2015 and will introduce chef-driven restaurants intertwined with specialty shops, adding to the existing fun and adventure one would expect from a beach-side city. The foregoing presents but a small snapshot of the value El Segundo brings to the state of California. The city’s geographic link with prominent aerospace, manufacturing and oil refineries are examples of large corporate enterprises, but it is also the home to many entrepreneurs and start-ups companies, such as Chef’D, the first company to fulfill food orders on a national basis. Additionally, El Segundo’s strong infrastructure, fiber optic network, and skilled workforce make it an ideal setting for leading engineering and tech firms such as Computer Science Corporation, IBM and Oracle, just to name a few. El Segundo is centrally located near Los Angeles International airport with easy freeway access to downtown Los Angeles and is just minutes from the state’s mile-long coastline. El Segundo, having celebrated 100 years of innovation and leadership, appears robustly primed for another 100 years or more of continued growth and industry leadership.

Los Angeles, CA

The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, video games, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the western United States. The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the fifth-busiest port in the world and the most significant port in the Western Hemisphere and is vital to trade within the Pacific Rim. Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, healthcare, and transportation. The city is home to six Fortune 500 companies. They are energy company Occidental Petroleum, healthcare provider Health Net, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminium, engineering firm AECOM, real estate group CBRE Group and builder Tutor Perini.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the production of merchandise for use or sale using labor and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. In a free market economy, manufacturing is usually directed toward the mass production of products for sale to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more frequently directed by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In mixed market economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation. Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the production and integration of a product’s components. Some industries, such as semiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication instead. The manufacturing sector is closely connected with engineering and industrial design. According to some economists, manufacturing is a wealth-producing sector of an economy, whereas a service sector tends to be wealth-consuming. Emerging technologies have provided some new growth in advanced manufacturing employment opportunities in the Manufacturing Belt in the United States. Manufacturing provides important material support for national infrastructure and for national defense. On the other hand, most manufacturing may involve significant social and environmental costs. The clean-up costs of hazardous waste, for example, may outweigh the benefits of a product that creates it. Hazardous materials may expose workers to health risks. These costs are now well known and there is effort to address them by improving efficiency, reducing waste, using industrial symbiosis, and eliminating harmful chemicals. The increased use of technologies such as 3D printing also offer the potential to reduce the environmental impact of producing finished goods through distributed manufacturing.

Retail

Retail is the sale of goods and services from individuals or businesses to the end-user. Retailers are part of an integrated system called the supply chain. A retailer purchases goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers directly or through a wholesale, and then sells smaller quantities to the consumer for a profit. Retailing can be done in either fixed locations like stores or markets, door-to-door or by delivery. An increasing amount of retailing is done using online websites, electronic payment, and then delivered via a courier or via other services. Rising GDP growth, burgeoning population, greater disposable income, and increasing consumer spending are combining to drive the Global Retail industry and opportunities for retail segment players. The market is forecast to reach an estimated $20,002 billion with a CAGR of 3.9% over the next five years. The retail industry comprises establishments engaged in selling merchandise or commodities for personal or household consumption, mainly consisting of apparel and accessories, technology, food and beverages, home improvement, specialty, pharmaceuticals, and others. Recently, as developed nations begin to emerge from recession, their economies recover, and unemployment rates begin to fall, the market segments are experiencing some renewed growth. The retail industry is highly fragmented and is dependent on macroeconomic factors such as GDP, disposable income, and consumer spending. Asia Pacific (APAC) dominates the industry, representing 35% of the global market. The APAC retail industry is expected to drive the market and grow at the highest rate among all regions. The global economic recession, inflation, and high unemployment rates are some of the challenges that are negatively affecting the retail industry. Conversely, some factors that are likely to boost sales in the industry include urbanization, technological growth, increase in product demand and selection, and the continued popularity of online purchasing. A combination of factors such as demographics and consumer spending habits impacts market dynamics significantly.