Economic Developer “Dinosaurs” Vs. Fast Internet Information (cont.)

Data communication case studies

• Out-service your competition
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce provides a well-known case of using Web site data to attract a major company by out-servicing its competition. According to Chamber President Roy Williams, “Dell made a major announcement about a new campus-style customer care center in Oklahoma City. They looked at 122 cities and the critical factor to Dell was their access to a sustainable workforce.”

After hearing from other EDOs that it would take over two weeks to compile this workforce information, Dell’s corporate real estate team was delighted when the Chamber was able to put together the data in less than 30 minutes from its GIS Web site. “OKCEDIS.com helped us show Dell the specific labor force attributes at multiple sites within central Oklahoma. Had we not had this Web site tool, we would have struggled to put those pictures together for Dell,” said Williams.

The Dell project was expected to have cumulative economic impact in the range of $764.7 million at the over 2,000-employee facility.¹⁰

• Economic development in your pajamas
Expansion Management told how one of the largest site-location projects of 2005 got started.¹¹ SeverCorr searched for two years and thought it found the right site for a new plant, only to discover that regulations made the location too costly. After tucking his kids into bed, Eddie Lehner, SeverCorr’s CFO, was on the Internet and went to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Web site. From the comfort of his home computer, he found information that led to his company’s future location. Geographic analysis mattered when considering the location, and TVAsites.com was an important factor in choosing the location. The power of quick access saved SeverCorr nine months in the location process.

The $850 million, 1.2 million-square-foot plant was expected to employ 450 workers with a $70,000+ average salary. Over 1,000 additional jobs are expected to move to the region from related companies.

• Business retention facts over fiction
Data tools are important not just for business attraction, but also for helping businesses expand within your community, as San Francisco discovered using its Web site. “A San Francisco-based business was looking to expand and was being pressured to move out of the city because no location could accommodate their needs.We used SFprospector in a meeting with the CEO and their real estate advisor to demonstrate there were numerous spaces which could accommodate their expansion. SFprospector opened up the CEO’s thinking … He ultimately decided to grow his business in San Francisco,” said Todd Ewing, then managing director of the San Francisco Center for Economic Development.

The project will retain 400 jobs from a company worth $680,000 in value to San Francisco each year and $30 million to the local economy.¹²

• Rural and small communities are big on the Web
Small and rural communities in particular can benefit from the Internet because it provides a better opportunity for them to show up on the radar of expanding and relocating businesses. These communities were often overlooked because they were unknown, even if they had the right mix of geographic advantages and labor needed by a business. Today, they can provide convincing data with a Web site that looks as professional as those of big cities.

“A company out of California called FMM Corporation was looking for buildings in Oregon, went on OregonProspector.com with their specs, and found the perfect building in La Grande. They relocated, and attributed it to OregonProspector.Working for the State of Oregon, I serve 36 rural communities, and OregonProspector allows them to compete nationally,” said Jill Miles, national business development officer for Oregon.

Don’t get run over on the information superhighway

The quickest way to get run over is to look the wrong way when you cross the street.¹³

Too many economic developers are looking backward and are trying to resist the Internet information age and how it has changed the rules for the way businesses get information about their community.

Instead, economic developers need to look in the direction of current trends and future expectations when navigating the information superhighway – otherwise, they’ll get run over. And if you are betting on who will survive the crash of economic developer dinosaurs versus the information superhighway, time will show that the dinosaurs become extinct.

GIS Planning is the leader in economic development Web site geographic information systems (GIS) that foster enhanced site selection, job creation, and employment growth. For more information, visit www.gisplanning.com. For a more detailed version of this article, visit please www.gisplanning.com/eda.htm.

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¹⁰ Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.
¹¹ “Surfing the Web Leads Startup Company to Find its Site,” by Ken Krizner. Expansion Management. 11/05.
¹² Todd Ewing, former Managing Director of the San Francisco Center for Economic Development.
¹³ Business Week. News and Insights Commentary. March 19, 2007.