ACS Leadership Development

Atlanta, GA

The Atlanta metropolitan area is the eighth-largest economy in the country and 17th-largest in the world. Corporate operations comprise a large portion of the Atlanta’s economy, with the city serving as the regional, national, or global headquarters for many corporations. Atlanta contains the country’s third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, and the city is the global headquarters of corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, AT&T Mobility, UPS, and Newell-Rubbermaid. Over 75 percent of Fortune 1000 companies conduct business operations in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and the region hosts offices of about 1,250 multinational corporations. Many corporations are drawn to Atlanta on account of the city’s educated workforce; nearly 43% of adults in the city of Atlanta have college degrees, compared to 27% in the nation as a whole and 41% in Boston. Delta Air Lines, the city’s largest employer and the metro area’s third largest, operates the world’s largest airline hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and has helped make Hartsfield-Jackson the world’s busiest airport, both in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft operations. Media is also an important aspect of Atlanta’s economy. The city is a major cable television programming center. Information technology, an economic sector that includes publishing, software development, entertainment and data processing has, garnered a larger percentage of Atlanta’s economic output. Indeed, Atlanta contains the fourth-largest concentration of information technology jobs in the United States.

Chicago, IL

Chicago has the third largest gross metropolitan product in the United States. The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification. Chicago is a major world financial center, with the second largest central business district in the United States. The city is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Seventh District of the Federal Reserve). The city and its surrounding metropolitan area are home to the second largest labor pool in the United States with approximately 4.25 million workers. In addition, the state of Illinois is home to 66 Fortune 1000 companies, including those in Chicago.

Dallas, TX

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has one of the largest concentrations of corporate headquarters for publicly traded companies in the United States. The city of Dallas has 12 Fortune 500 companies and the DFW region as a whole has 20. Comerica Bank and AT&T located their headquarters in Dallas. Irving is home to four Fortune 500 companies of its own, including ExxonMobil, the most profitable company in the world and the second largest by revenue, Kimberly-Clark, Fluor (engineering), and Commercial Metals. Additional companies headquartered in the Metroplex include Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, RadioShack, Neiman Marcus, 7-Eleven, Brinker International, AMS Pictures, id Software, ENSCO Offshore Drilling, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Chuck E. Cheese’s, Zales and Fossil. Corporate headquarters in the northern suburb of Plano include HP Enterprise Services, Frito Lay, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and JCPenney. Many of these companies – and others throughout the DFW metroplex – comprise the Dallas Regional Chamber.

St. Louis, MO

St. Louis is home to dozens of companies listed on various stock exchanges in the U.S., with market capitalizations ranging from over $500 thousand to more than $40 billion. Among these public companies, Greater St. Louis is home to 19 Fortune 1000 headquarters, of which 9 are Fortune 500. Greater St. Louis is also home to some of the nation’s largest private companies, several listed among Forbes’ America’s Largest Private Companies such as: 16-Enterprise Holdings; 59-World Wide Technology; 65-Edward Jones; 66-Graybar Electric; 72-Apex Oil; 141-McCarthy Holdings; and at 180-Schnuck Markets. According to data compiled by the St. Louis Business Journal in 2014, St. Louis’s 25 largest international companies had international sales of over $129 billion in 2013. St. Louis companies are also ranked nationally as best places to work, most innovative, and Inc. magazine’s list of America’s 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies 2015 ranks include 41 companies based in the St. Louis metropolitan area; 20 St. Louis-based firms ranked in the top 2,000: St. Louis is also home to many aerospace and aviation companies including Gateway Jets, Advanced Aerospace Technologies, Aeronavdata, Bickel Air, Ellason Weather Radar, Fregata Systems, GKNAerospace North America, Saberliner Services, Valent Aerostructures, Northrop Grumman Systems, and Summit Air. The State of Missouri is a top 10 state for aerospace manufacturing attractiveness according to a 2015 report by PwC, and it is home to major companies such as GKN Aerospace, LMI Aerospace and PAS Technologies. On the defense side two major facilities of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security including their military aircraft headquarters, numerous logistics contractors supporting the Defense Logistics Agency, and Scott Air Force base is located just across the Mississippi River in Illinois. Access to both coasts, major international and domestic airport access, a highly skilled workforce and attractive tax structures make St Louis a very strong candidate for future growth in virtually all manufacturing and industry sectors. The fuel for this growth will come from a highly trained and motivated work force, heavily dependent on leadership to sustain growth into the future.

Tampa FL

The City of Tampa strives to serve the business interests of both small and large businesses across a broad spectrum of industry sectors. A favorable tax structure, quality infrastructure, development incentives, and a strong labor force are just a few of the features that make Tampa a top choice for business innovation and development. Over the past few years, Tampa has welcomed a number of new and expanding businesses to our community and the Department of Economic and Urban Development stands ready to assist you and your business endeavors: Infrastructure and Utilities; Transportation of Goods & Services; Financial Incentives and Small, Women and Minority-Owned Businesses. Tampa is one of the major business hubs in Florida. It is the home to technical companies such as Tech Data, Jabil Circuit, Well Care Health Plans and Publix. Twenty percent of Florida larges companies are located in the Tampa Bay Area. While Tampa may not be as big as some other major Unites States cities it is among one the most divers economies. The city and state government are very business focused and supportive. A large number of local universities provide a stable and well education workforce.

Washington, DC

Washington has a growing, diversified economy with an increasing percentage of professional and business service jobs. The gross product of the Washington Metropolitan Area makes it the fourth-largest metropolitan economy in the United States. The federal government accounted for about 29% of the jobs in Washington, D.C. This is thought to immunize Washington to national economic downturns because the federal government continues operations even during recessions. Many organizations such as law firms, independent contractors (both defense and civilian), non-profit organizations, lobbying firms, trade unions, industry trade groups, and professional associations have their headquarters in or near D.C. to be close to the federal government. Tourism is Washington’s second largest industry. Approximately 18.9 million visitors contributes to the local economy every year. The District also hosts nearly 200 foreign embassies and international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization. The District has growing industries not directly related to government, especially in the areas of education, finance, public policy, and scientific research. Georgetown University, George Washington University, Washington Hospital Center, Children’s National Medical Center and Howard University are the top five non-government-related employers in the city. Four of the largest 500 companies in the country are also headquartered in the District.