IAMC INSIDER

hile economic development continues to be high on the priority list throughout business communities, there is little debate that to enter the game one needs a high-priced ticket. Given the nature of many of our businesses and the realization that we are living truly in a global marketplace, it becomes not simply a matter of offering incentive packages to attract business growth, but demonstrating a commitment.

      While incentives can certainly be used to fund or assist with addressing matters of infrastructure required for successful operations of a targeted company, they do little to convince most site selectors that required infrastructure projects will, ultimately, become a reality within required time frames, or even delivered at all. So much of a successful project rides on having necessary infrastructure in place, on time and on budget, I am of the strong opinion that having some of or all of these projects in place and waiting adds a considerable measure of certainty.

      That being said, business communities can easily leverage this into any analysis being conducted by interested companies. This holds true for all required services. For example, with the high cost of energy, a close look at the power grid serving the area is invariably scrutinized in the overall analysis conducted by an interested company. While cost of power itself continues to be a major factor, considerable focus is also given to reliability and redundancy. In addition to ensuring that power flows uninterrupted, sites offering the ability for dual service and/or competing power arrangements show up as major positives in the analysis. This holds true with other services such as gas, water, data and telecom.

      So to this writer, it is becoming ever more important that communities address the notion of “what they want to be when they grow up” and take a serious look at investing the time and capital into the infrastructure serving the area required to attract business.

      If one recognizes that there is a high price of admission into the competitive game of economic development, where the goal is winning, then having a leg up on the competition will go a long way to achieving that goal. So spend time and capital now on important matters such as infrastructure necessary to attract those businesses which are being sought. Utility infrastructure is definitely one of the important matters … no mistake about it.

Peter Garra

IAMC Chair