Web Site Wonders – Liz Harris, chief executive officer of the Flathead County Economic Development Authority in Kalispell, Mont.

Navigation and cutting-edge software are key features incorporated in today’s economic development organization’s Web sites. Discover why these enhancements speed up and improve the site selection process corporations undertake.

By Cecilia Mills

http://www.gcx-online.com/gcx/article.asp?magarticle_id=481&mag_id=1

(Many thanks to Kerry Schaefer of the Montana Chamber of Commerce for passing this along- Russ)

In 2001, the office of economic development for Tucson, Ariz., spent $78,000 revamping its Web site and added a robust commercial property section. By doing so, a manufacturer looking to relocate used this Web site to discover that tax incentives and a site would be available in Tucson’s Empowerment Zone, an area designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote neighborhood commercial revitalization.

Today, most companies have a Web site and expect many customers to look for information by using the Internet. Whether it is researching a new car or a place to live, the Internet is often the first place people do their research.

Today, a site selection consultant’s first stop in the fact-finding process is to visit an economic- development-related organization’s Internet site. A growing company looking to locate in a new area can visit a Web site and search for demographic data, tax incentives, photos of available sites, and make use of the newest geographic information system applications.

Companies on the hunt should look for Web sites that include the latest and accurate data, the latest mapping tools, high-quality photos and good design. Data on workforce development programs, education, site availability and transportation access, among other site search criteria, should be available with a few clicks of a mouse.

One such site is found at http://www.flatheadport.org. Liz Harris, chief executive officer of the Flathead County Economic Development Authority in Kalispell, Mont., says her organization’s Web site lets users know that northwest Montana is not just a good place to vacation, but it’s also a great place to work. The Web site provides relocation and economic analysis reports as well as links to available property sites and facilities.

“Our Web site is the most critical communication tool because it breaks down the barriers of time and distance,” Harris says. A user can find out whether industrial and commercial properties are available with details on square footage, acreage and sale or lease status.

Harris says this year, a chief executive who vacationed in Whitefish, Mont., moved his business from Tennessee, once he learned about the availability of land and labor — and overnight delivery services in the area.

Harris says traffic on her organization’s Web site has been steadily increasing. Following a marketing campaign, Harris says she saw an increase in traffic of 3,000 percent. Most clients who contact her office have typically already looked at the Web site. “People who call are much more informed,” Harris says. She says her small staff can assist people more easily this way.

Harris still prepares customized proposals, but she may send them via e-mail instead of mailing hard copies. This is not just to reduce paper, but also to maintain a competitive edge. She believes that by the time contact is made, Flathead County is probably in competition with a few other areas.

Dean Whittaker, president of Whittaker Associates of Holland, Mich., concurs with Harris. He says one of the advantages to using the Internet in site selection is that corporations are able to prescreen locations, and even develop short lists of locations. He says that by the time a company contacts an economic development organization, the community is already a leading destination.

Whittaker notes that 85 percent of site selection searches begin on the Internet. He says corporations are getting savvier in their Internet site searches. “In our conversations with site location consultants, they say they want wage info and things they can’t find anywhere else on locations,” he says. “They don’t want to be bothered with population numbers and other demographic information they can easily get elsewhere, such as from the Census Bureau or the Department of Labor or the Department of Commerce.”

He says companies involved in an Internet site search should approach the process with an idea of the questions they want answered already lined out. “Go to sites that act as central repositories, which can provide a quick start as far as an overview,” Whittaker notes. Companies should look for information on available properties, labor availability, the quality of the labor force and wages rates.

Whittaker also notes that companies should look for economic development Web sites that feature geographic information systems (GIS). “This is a fairly unique and expanding activity where it actually gives the spatial relationships of the info, and maps the demos in terms of commute patterns and drive times and the labor availability by geographic area,” he says.

Whittaker says companies should remember a couple of points about using the Internet for site selection. “Not all the information can be found by going to Google and doing a search. Google only catalogs about 17 percent of the Internet.” He recommends site consultants and companies use portal Web sites such as state development agencies and utility companies when searching for locations.

Another thing to keep in mind is that 30 percent of the Internet provides duplicate information. He says in his training classes, where he provides economic development organizations with tips on how to organize their Web sites to attract the attention of companies, he conducts a scavenger hunt. Participants look up information, such as the unemployment rate of Ottawa County, Mich.

“They discover five different answers,” he says. “The reason is because they have obtained the information from five sources, and those pages were put together at five different points in time. Be careful of the source and the timing of the information. Make sure the information is dated and sourced if you want to rely on the information.”

It’s About the GIS

GIS Planning is a San Francisco-based consulting company that provides GIS technology services. It uses tools that incorporate user-defined searches for available sites and buildings, demographic analysis reports, business competition/synergy cluster information and dynamic mapping. For example, users can select a location and be shown an aerial map with the specifics of commute patterns, labor availability and surrounding businesses.

“Everybody has vacant land,” says Anatoli Ubalde, the company’s chief operating officer, “but what is geographically unique?” By seeing more than a list of available properties, the consultant gets a sense of place. It’s still about location, location, location, Ubalde says. “The Internet eliminates the transaction cost of time,” Ubalde says.

Recently, GIS Planning employed its Zoom Prospector software to enhance Web sites for economic development organizations in Tucson, Ariz.; Kirkland, Wash.; and Chattanooga, Tenn. The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s Web site is a portal to the city’s convention and visitors bureau and to its economic development site. By clicking on the Site and Building selection tool, the user is actually sent to a site hosted and updated by GIS Planning. The user can then look at a variety of manufacturing, industrial and commercial sites in Hamilton County, Tenn. In addition, to attract international business, the Web site offers the information in five languages besides English —Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

Another organization, the Dayton (Ohio) Development Coalition, decided to spend about one-third of its Web site design budget on GIS in 2003 after surveying site consultants about its Internet effectiveness. Dayton’s Web site also uses Procure to tap into a statewide system of available properties. Procure is a Web-based database system used to store information about available industrial, commercial, retail and office real estate. In addition, community information can be stored to correspond with each property record.

After about a year of running the new Web site, Harry Bumgarner, the coalition’s director of strategic partnerships, says the Dayton Development Coalition has noticed an increase in new business recruiting. “Several companies have contacted us looking for a building or site via the Web site,” he says. “Instead of having to go to a file folder, we know right where to send them to on our Web site.”

Growing companies should understand that communities are constantly adding enhancements to their sites to make your search easier. For instance, the Lawrence (Kan.) Chamber of Commerce has recently revamped its Web site. Users will find available properties and are able to evaluate their utilities, infrastructure, pricing and surroundings.

The “Sites and Buildings” link connects to the Location One Information System in Kansas City, Mo., which maintains a searchable economic development database providing information for businesses looking to expand. This particular link provides a list of all available commercial properties in Douglas County, Kan. By selecting one of these entries, a site consultant will see an overview with a description of the land and details of the cost and zoning. A map and a printable flier are also available for downloading.

“We will have staff updating the site daily,” says Lynn Parman, vice president of economic development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. A contract with the University of Kansas Public Research Institute will give the organization the latest information on labor market data that will not be available elsewhere. Parman says that the Web site may also feature a “shopping cart” for wages. Site selectors could build a wage portfolio based on real wage estimates for a variety of positions that they need to fill.

Other cities are also using the latest data to set themselves apart in the site search. Dallas is making it easier to sift through many layers of data. Site selectors will have access to labor market data that is gathered by the North Central Texas Council of Governments for the entire Dallas/Ft. Worth area. This data gives a view of whether 100 chemical engineers, for instance, could be hired in a particular five-, 10- or 15-mile radius. A mapping tool can be focused on a small area with corresponding data on labor force and transportation systems. “This allows us to tell the regional story to a much bigger audience,” says Lyssa Jenkins, vice president of business and research for the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

By using the Internet for site searches, companies will find Web sites with efficient tools that allow them to answer their questions about labor, facilities and sites, infrastructure — the list goes on. Although the Internet enables small and large economic development organizations to create a splash, make sure the information is up to date and accurate. Also look for sites that feature GIS tools that will allow you to learn more about a site or facility than just its square footage.

Cecilia Mills is a freelance writer from Lawrence, Kan. She can be contacted at .

For more information on the organizations mentioned in this article, visit:

Chattanooga (Tenn.) Area Chamber of Commerce, http://www.chattanoogachamber.com

Flathead County (Mont.) Economic Development Authority, http://www.flatheadport.org

GIS Planning, http://www.gisplanning.com

Greater Dallas (Texas) Chamber of Commerce, http://www.dallaschamber.org

Lawrence (Kan.) Chamber of Commerce, http://www.lawrencechamber.com
Whittaker Associates, http://www.whittakerassociates.com