Attracting new businesses and adding new jobs is certainly a goal of ours here at One Dearborn, but what does it take to make that happen? In today’s newsletter, we will be giving you a glance into the highly competitive world of site selection.
Site selection starts when a business decides it wants to move, expand, or start up a new operation in a new location. They then begin the search for a location that best fits their needs. They may hire a site selector to narrow down locations, or they may already have one on their team. Either way, this site selector will begin researching locations based on their selection criteria and analyzing that data to compare each site. When a site selector has an area in mind it is common for them to contact the state or city’s official economic development organization to put out an RFI (request for information). Luckily for us in Indiana, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) sends out RFI’s to counties within the state that match an interested company’s selection criteria. Here at One Dearborn, we receive RFI’s from the IEDC and REDI Cincinnati.
As I mentioned before, site selection is highly competitive. According to US Census data the United States has 3,143 counties, 19,485 municipalities and 90,000 taxing jurisdictions. Each one competing with the next for business attraction. So how do we compete? It starts with knowing what qualities companies are looking for in a new site and then marketing those qualities. What are those qualities? Each year Area Development Magazine conducts a diverse and in-depth survey of corporate executives across the globe. Their survey identified the top 10 factors a company considers when choosing a new site. The factors are:
| 1. Availability of skilled labor | 6. Occupancy or construction costs |
| 2. Highway accessibility | 7. Corporate tax rate |
| 3. Energy availability and costs | 8. Tax exemptions |
| 4. Quality of life | 9. State and local incentives |
| 5. Labor costs | 10. Inbound/Outbound shipping costs |
Given these factors, One Dearborn does its best to hone in on our strengths and market our sites as best as possible. Currently, we are working on utilizing a Duke Energy grant we received to create a Dearborn County “Workforce Highlight” marketing video. This video will be sent along with our RFI’s to site selectors interested in Dearborn County. With the availability of skilled labor being the number one factor companies consider we want to be sure we are highlighting our workforce within Dearborn County.
Gage Pace
Economic Development Manager