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Project Criteria: Quality of Place

Posted April 23, 2008

Project Criteria: Quality of Place

Economic Development Projects evaluate many different types of criteria when deciding on where to make that next capital investment. Projects look at cost of utilities, labor, infrastructure, proximity to raw materials, and the list goes on and on.

What the professional economic developers prepare for are those standard questions referred to above so they can expeditiously reply to each. However, as projects begin to peel back the layers and layers of data needed to address the business expenses of their operational requirements- a secondary phase begins.

This begins the part of the project where relationships are formed and communities try to create linkages to the company.

The relationship formed here can either inspire a company to create mechanisms for their arrival, or create quick exit strategies to have you cut from a project, professionalism and personality makes all the difference in the world.

The professional economic developers know how to best create those moments and bonds that help communities get passed the baseline numbers and to the benefits of their community, quality of place.

Many people mention quality of life. I tend to think quality of life is dependent on who you ask the question of- different strokes for different folks. What I see as being simply a nice amenity of a community might be the ultimate passion of another.

This is why it is important to create that relationship with the project. If you find out that a particular project is an avid fisherman, I think we have something to show them….If the project has a passion for golf, I think we have something to share…. Not everything can be accomplished in a PowerPoint presentation and shuffling a guest from an airport, to a boardroom, and to the hotel- just to make sure they are back at the airport in time to make the next flight.

In other words, winning projects absolutely begins with being able to answer those basic operational “costs”. However, I am willing to bet each successfully landed project can share of a particular moment (and sometimes a lucky moment) when the relationship to the community made the final decision.

The rule is, there is always an exception. In matters of bringing investment into the community and jobs for those underemployed or out of work- my opinion is that it is certainly worth every effort to win those projects. I say let us continue to work through the exceptions and strive for those wins.