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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tied for ninth place nationally for the most new or expanded corporate sites in 2011 among like-sized metro areas, according to an industry magazine.

Site Selection magazine, the senior publication in the corporate real estate and economic development field, releases annual analyses of corporate expansion that corporate real estate analysts regard as the industry scorecard, according to a news release.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tied with Shreveport-Bossier City, La., and Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, N.C., as each second-tier metropolitan statistical area boasted 23 new or expanded corporations. Baton Rouge, La., ranked first with 38.

The magazine’s managing editor and local economic development officials attributed the performance to regional cooperation.

Other like-sized Pennsylvania MSAs in the top 10 are Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, which ranked fourth with 28, and Harrisburg-Carlisle, which came in fifth with 27. Second-tier MSAs have populations of 200,000 to 1 million. There are 163 of them in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the 40th largest with 563,331 residents.

Pennsylvania ranked third among states for corporate expansion in 2011 with 453 sites, trailing Ohio with 498 and Texas with 464.

The magazine’s analysis focuses on projects with significant impact. It does not track retail or government projects, schools or hospitals. New facilities and expansions included in the analysis must meet at least one of three criteria – involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, create at least 50 new jobs or add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.

Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry Vice President Larry Newman said there have been several job-creation announcements locally in 2011, including Lord & Taylor in Wilkes-Barre Township and the C3i at CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park East in Jenkins Township.

“I think what the ranking shows is that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area continues to have some fundamental advantages as a business location because of our relationship to such a large percentage of the nation’s population on the East Coast of the United States,” Newman said.

Penny Cannella, president of Penn’s Northeast, said cooperation is a key to success.

“Economic development is not about one organization or one person, it’s all of these things working together. It’s your communities, your schools. We work in cooperation with four counties, NEPA Alliance and all the economic development organizations to meet clients’ needs. That’s the most important thing,” Cannella said.

Bruns said no matter how many economic development agencies there are, “if they’re banding together in a regional way, it bears good results. Having a truly regional approach, not just in marketing, but in the way you communicate with a corporate prospect can work wonders.”