2004.5.1
Site selectors do location
work. When asked to elaborate we see that most questions focus
on the
relationship site selection has to enterprise
development.
Site
selectors generally start out working with resource
and service provider who are in position to supply them location
data. Economic
development networks are important to them. See the US
economic development directory list by
states in Site Location Assistance.com for an example of
resources that such networks provide. When they begin gathering data
from place
of interest, site selectors usually focus on broad categories
of information, such as: (1) demographics,
including learning about human
resources and support for workforce
development;
(2)
place
data, a .network catch-all expression that covers
what surrounds specific
real
estate sites or available
buildings that they ask about; (3) transportation
infrastructure and services; and, (4) communications
infrastructure. As a
site selection project progresses, informational wants and needs are expanded.
site selectors work with items of project specifications:
Items are grouped under the definition selection
criteria in the .network glossary. A short
list of less than 30 items for site selectors to work with is available in
a previous issue of The Resource Report which also has a link to
a source of over 1,200 items referred to as site selection data standards.
The resource paper, An introduction to the Enterprise Development Process is
appended with examples of items from a form used to request site selectors'
wants and needs. Access to additional examples of items from questionnaires
used to obtain project specifications is available in the SLA Tool Box CLICK
HERE for a directory.
Questionnaires used to obtain information about site selection project
specifications are used by location data suppliersguide
to the various types of data suppliers.
When local development representatives and
other location data suppliers are given a project profile, one of
the fist things they look for is project status. The Network recommends
that site selectors introduce their projects as being in one of
three stages, with the first as tentative which can mean that the
feasibility of moving through to completion as planned (project
fulfillment) is not yet decided.
Presenting a site selection project as preliminary also indicates
that its feasibility is yet to be determined but that data gathering
for an enterprise developer to make the critical decisions is underway
along with the necessary networking to discuss things with service
providers and other outsiders called upon to assist.
An active project may be referred to as hot! Time is of the
essence and field work is being done when a site selection project
is at this stage.
site selectors often work discreetly:
Before the enterprise
developer ever puts on the site selector's
hat or hires a consultant to
do location
work, he needs to make
decisions about what plans are to be confidential. If the question
is why? CLICK
HERE.
FYI: Data gathering services that go along with the Site
Selection Directory provide protection for confidential plans and act
ivies. It's even possible to publish a project
profile on the Web for free in order to discreetly
gather location
data and identify contacts to
work with afterward without revealing your identity.
back
2004.5.2
enterprise developers are involved will all kinds of site selection projects:
Enterprise developers make plans and move forward with projects
for expansions, relocations and new-ventures.
Some specific types of projects are exampled below. Publishing
a project
profile on the Web for free in order
to gather location
data and identify contacts to
work with afterwards is available through the Site
Selection Directory for all types of enterprise
development projects.
 headquarters/office
back
office/telecommunications work center
service
center or product assembly operation
warehouse
or distribution operation
light
manufacturing operation
heavy
manufacturing or process industry operation
store-front
wholesale, retail
commercial
services or other service center
hospitality,
food service or leisure-time industry
acquisition
of an on-going enterprise.
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2004.5.3
project
timeline:
A project timeline may be nothing more than drawing of a line with
dated ticks that represent targets for making decisions or taking
actions. The lengths of
time mentioned under the three project
status listed in The Resource Report, 2004.3 are
based on observations during over 30 years of involvement in location
work. Timelines may be included with any one of these status and,
for example be as simple as the ten
steps for site selectors provided in
the Site Selection Directory.
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2004.5.4
a
location data checklist:
To be sure that you receive what you want when requesting a location
package you should either provide a project
profile or list
of the information you want item by item. For example, state that you want
...
[ ] tax
information and incentive offers incentives
[ ]labor
area profile(s)labor
force / work force / demographics
[ ]a list
of local contacts for servicesservice
providers / resource providers
[ ]worker
recruitment/training services/programsworkforce
training
[ ]government
regulations / authorities that need to be contactedgovernment
[ ]a
location profilecommunity
profile
FYI: If you are planning to provide a location
data supplier with selection
criteria you may to review four
essential categories of information that experienced site selectors
know they need to find out about presented in An
introduction to the Enterprise Development Processpage
up for a link to the resource paper.
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2004.5.5
prospect
information is an economic developer's way of saying he knows something
about or wants something, such as a project profile, from a prospect.
definition of prospect information
back
2004.5.6
introduction of The Resource Report:
The original news release about the name
change from .networking and why is published
below. Since the news release was issued
the presentation of The Resource Report as a newsletter is emphasized
even less but webpages remain published with their original address strings
so that .network users are not inconvenienced by dead ends. If you have a
problem or question, please contact us.
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