Site consultants speak out on what moves the needle.
Ever wondered how much weight companies give to quality of life when they are evaluating locations for a corporate facility project? We did. So we turned to the experts to find out. While they admitted that measuring quality of life is not an exact science, they agreed on a few core principles:
- Quality of life is increasing in importance as a location factor, but it will never be the most important factor in corporate site selection.
- Not everyone agrees on how much weight should be given to certain sub-categories of quality of life, but the basic fundamentals that factor into the equation include the following:
- public safety
- quality, supply and affordability of housing
- quality of neighborhoods for employees
- access to good schools for all workers and their families
- access to parks, trails, open spaces and other outdoor amenities
- commute times
- arts and culture
- access to quality retail, entertainment and eateries
- health and wellness
- weather
- air quality
- transportation infrastructure
- Quality of life is most important for projects that involve office workplaces, professional services and other white-collar jobs – particularly in cases where the company may need to recruit talent from other places.
For clarity, three site selection experts and an economic development leader were consulted: Tracey Hyatt Bosman, managing director of Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co.; Sarah White, principal and vice president of site selection at Global Location Strategies; Jennifer Rohen, business incentives consulting practice leader at CliftonLarsonAllen LP; and Jennifer Wakefield, president and CEO of Greater Richmond Partnership.
Asked whether site consultants enter quality-of-life factors into a data model, Bosman says, “Absolutely, but it depends. Quality of life always has a presence during our site search, but the question is — is it a commanding presence or on the fringes? It has a commanding presence in a headquarters or office search. If you’re trying to relocate staff, that’s when you need to have a strong quality-of-life offering to attract people.”
“A location’s alignment with a company’s culture and values — such as sustainability, diversity and civic engagement — can be a deciding factor.”
— Jennifer Rohen, Business Incentives Consulting Practice Leader, CLA
Keeping Score
Do rankings matter? Probably not as much as you think.
“The way we score quality of life is subjective,” says Bosman. “There is no ranking that we rely on exclusively. We look at factors like cost of living; housing offerings; traffic levels; access to public transportation; quality of education; weather and other factors.”
She adds that “we do not use rankings in isolation. It is not 50% of the model or even close to that, but we use it as a factor.”
Sarah White of GLS says, “Yes, we do look at quality of life in the decision-making model. Factors can include housing availability and costs; crime rates; cost of living, etc. One trend I’ve seen over the years is that this used to be weighted the lowest from clients, but it has increased in importance for workforce retention and attraction. Additionally, quality of life is weighted much more heavily for office projects than for manufacturing projects, but it is still very important for both.”
CLA’s Jennifer Rohen said that quality of life matters in site selection for four reasons:
- Talent attraction and retention.
- Community fit and long-term success.
- Incentive negotiation leverage.
- Economic development collaboration.
“Companies increasingly prioritize locations where they can attract and retain top talent,” Rohen says. “Quality of life — encompassing housing affordability, school quality, health care access and cultural amenities — directly influences workforce stability and satisfaction. In CLA’s Business Incentives Consulting (BIC) practice, site selection frameworks include qualitative scoring that accounts for livability factors alongside financial incentives.”
Rohen adds that companies want to do business in places that share their values. “A location’s alignment with a company’s culture and values — such as sustainability, diversity and civic engagement — can be a deciding factor,” she says. “Communities that invest in parks, public safety and education often stand out in competitive site searches.”
Rohen cited an example of a client that had been evaluating Lafayette, Indiana, versus Dallas or Chicago for a regional headquarters. “They ultimately leaned toward Dallas — not because of the highest incentive package, but due to its broader appeal to relocating employees and access to urban amenities.”
Personal Visits Make a Difference
We also wanted to know if the experts had any advice for states and communities on how to sell quality of life to prospects. Bosman shared what works and what doesn’t.
“Marketing around quality of life does not move me, and it does not move the corporate folks either, because you cannot convey it in an ad,” she says. “It has to be personally experienced. If you can get them in the market, that is when you can turn on the quality-of-life pitch. Fam tours can move the needle.”
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is one of the amenities that propelled Richmond to No. 7 in Commercial Café’s “Top U.S. Metros Where Millennials Can Put Down Roots & Thrive in 2025.”
Photo courtesy of Greater Richmond Partnership
Bosman cited two examples: Columbus, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio. “The Columbus fam tour was tied to the Indy 500,” she says. “They kept us in Columbus for the first day and a half. Cummins has a big presence there and has invested heavily in the community. The city punches above its weight class. It has museums and parks. Then we went to the Indy 500 the next day.”
The Toledo visit changed her perception, she said. “When I participated in the Toledo fam tour, I had a fabulous experience on an island just off Toledo — and I didn’t even know they had islands off Toledo. You cannot put that on a post card.”
Wakefield of GRP says that “the first time quality of life reared its head was in 2009 when I worked on the Jet Blue project for the Orlando Economic Partnership. In the last 10 years, companies have been factoring it in because they need employees to relocate.”
Investment in building up Richmond’s natural and cultural amenities has paid off, she says. “Our population of millennials has increased 11% over the last four years,” says Wakefield. “We are adding 36 new people every day. When CoStar Group selected Richmond to be their technology headquarters, quality of life played a big role. A large percentage of their employees now bike or walk to work.”
