The Hinesville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is comprised of Liberty and Long counties, has been ranked in the top echelon of areas that attracted industry last year by a national magazine.

Site Selection magazine ranked Hinesville in the top 4% (sixth) among the 160 communities with between 50,000 and 200,000 population and in the top 2% (third) among those communities on a per capita basis. The magazine counted nine projects that decided to locate or expand in the area.

“We knew we had an extraordinary year in 2023,” Ron Tolley, CEO of the Liberty County Development Authority, said. “It is heartening to have our highly competitive and successful efforts confirmed and recognized by a premier national organization that focuses on our industry. Kudos to our hard-working staff for a job well done!”

The 70-year-old Atlanta- based magazine has ranked states and metropolitan areas annually since 1988, based on new and expanded corporate facilities as tracked by the proprietary Conway Projects Database. Site Selection, published by Conway Data, is the senior publication in the corporate real estate and economic development fields. The magazine’s yearly analyses are regarded by corporate real estate analysts as “the industry scoreboard.”

Site Selection editor in chief Adam Bruns said the database focuses on new corporate facility projects with significant impact. New facilities and expansions included in the analyses must meet at least one of three criteria: (a) a capital investment of at least $1 million, (b) at least 20 new jobs or (c) at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area. Hinesville MSA’s projects vastly exceeded these requirements.