More from DCI’s “Winning Strategies” Survey: Corporate Executives’ Perceptions Of EDO's

Sixty-five percent of respondents indicated that they have worked closely with economic development organizations (either on the state, regional or local level) while working on a location decision. That breaks down as 62% of midsize company executives, 55% of large company executives and 94% of location advisors.

Generally, the respondents have favorable impressions of the economic development community. When respondents who have worked with economic development groups rate their overall impressions of the organizations on a scale of 1 to 5, economic development groups earn a mean score of 3.7.

Over time, corporate impressions of economic development groups have fluctuated slightly. In 2005, the mean score was 3.81, up from the mean in 2002, 3.54, the lowest rating in any survey year. In 1999, economic development organizations were given a rating of 3.77 and in 1996, the rating was 3.73.

In the 2008 survey, economic development organizations received an average score of 3.61 from large company executives, 3.71 from midsize company executives and 3.72 from location advisors.

To explore when the initial contact with an economic development group occurs during the site selection process, the survey asked respondents to choose from five options:

 During the initial screening of all possible locations, to request preliminary data.
 After we have developed a shortlist of potential communities, to request specific data or arrange site visits.
 After the field has been narrowed to a few finalists, to negotiate incentive offers.
 After a location has already been selected, for assistance in identifying a suitable building/lot.
 We would not contact an economic development organization at any stage in a site location search.

The most frequent response was “After we have developed a shortlist of potential communities, to request specific data or arrange site visits” with 40% of those surveyed selecting this option.

This differs slightly from the pattern of responses when the question was asked, for the first time, in the 2005 version of the survey. We did not find evidence of a shift by site selectors to contact economic development organizations later in the selection process – a change which many in the industry anticipated.

There are differences among the three subgroups of the 2008 survey. Location advisors are more likely to utilize the services of an economic development organization (only 1% indicated they would not contact an economic development organization at any stage), and are more likely to contact one earlier in the site selection process.