Corporate Site Selection R.I.P.? No — But There's A Twist

by Rob DeRocker

First the good news about corporate site selection: The Great Recession has neither killed it nor put it on life support. Two years after the official start of the longest and most geographically comprehensive economic downturn since the 1930s, many if not all location advisors claim to be busy. Some say their levels of activity are more intense than ever, as they log eight-hour conference calls and enough frequent flyer miles to go the moon.

But even with what appears to be a stabilized financial system and an uptick in investor confidence neither these consultants nor the economic development professionals who compete for their attention are breaking out the champagne anytime soon. Corporate expansions have been replaced by corporate contractions, with the resulting consolidations likely to produce a few winners but more losers for some time to come.

Even with that, financing is an issue, and for that reason among others even the companies that are loading the gun are taking a longer time to pull the trigger. The pressure on cash-strapped states and cities to put cash on the barrelhead to keep what they have — let alone expand — is greater than ever. Beyond incentives, contending communities are coming under ever more careful scrutiny. A surplus of workers is no longer much of a competitive advantage, although an abundance of qualified labor remains a big plus.

Green shoots? They can be found in green energy, with many consultants saying their siting assignments for wind, solar and other renewable energy projects is taking up a large percentage of their time.

Those were the big takeaways from a canvassing of corporate location advisors and real estate executives I conducted by e-mail, phone and in person in September and October. Some two dozen of these professionals — some busier these days than others —responded to the open-ended query, “how the recession has changed the site selection process in ways that are likely to prevail for the foreseeable future?” More here.