ACS Leadership Improvement

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.

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.

Louisville KY

Louisville is a competitive, authentic, global city, home to UPS WorldPort and a center for advanced manufacturing and logistics, as well as among only a dozen U.S. cities that have all five major performing arts groups. As the hometown of Muhammad Ali, Louisville punches above its weight and its 750,000 population. Midwest or South? Both! With its Midwestern sensibilities and southern hospitality, Louisville is the regional economic hub and cultural and artistic heart of 24 surrounding counties in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the U.S. population, it’s also a strategic location for thousands of companies, including large corporations and growing startups. The city is home to the Kentucky Derby and the world’s great bourbons, from Maker’s Mark to Jim Beam to Woodford Reserve, all distilled in the Louisville area. Louisville’s reputation as a hub of innovation for food and bourbon (in addition to other spirits) has earned it accolades from far and wide, including Zagat, which named Louisville as a top foodie destination in the world. Logistics, advanced manufacturing, health care, and more!…Louisville’s business strategies focus on areas of strength where large numbers of companies already are successful in Louisville. Ford and GE are experiencing major growth in advanced manufacturing, and the wealth of logistics operations make it easy for them and similar companies to continue to excel.

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.