With 373 facility deals, Illinois’ largest city easily outdistanced its closest competition — second-place Houston with 255 projects and third-place Dallas-Fort Worth with 178. Atlanta (164) and Detroit (129) rounded out the top five.

When Michigan became the 24th right-to-work state in December 2012, conservatives hailed it as a sign the Rust Belt state was "open for business," union workers decried the law as "union busting" and labor leaders vowed to use it to quash Republican Governor Rick Snyder's reelection bid in 2014. A year later, the impact of the law remains up for debate.

Despite a slow growing economy, the world's seemingly insatiable demand for data is driving demand for data center capacity.

Princeton-based Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Company LLC, announced Wednesday the appointment of Patrick Kenney as senior counsel.