Surveys of branch plant location have found labor availability as the prime factor in the choice of a new site. Other research has shown that manufacturing employment generally shifts toward areas with suitable labor. Although State and local taxes are an issue, particularly in the Northeast, and environmental regulations are an issue in the Northwest, it is clear that the labor concern is generally paramount and likely to become more so as advanced technologies spread. Another concern, particularly among advanced technology manufacturers located away from major urban areas or in areas with poor schools, was attractiveness of the area to managers and professionals. Small towns cannot be expected to have urban amenities, but some urban amenities, such as good health care and education systems and up-scale restaurants are supportable in rural regions.
Rural regions vary in the extent that they take advantage of their own rural amenities.
This may reflect the intense inter-local competition that is often generated when an outside firm is seeking a location for a new plant. But it suggests that smaller plants may be under-served. Advanced technologies and management practices appear to be widely beneficial. Other things being equal, plants adopting these technologies are more likely to have gained jobs in the past 3 years, to provide worker training, and to provide higher wages and more benefits. Technology adoption is not an issue for large branch plants.