Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov and other international chess champions usually don?t ask for advice on their next move. Veritable lone wolves, they stand or fall on their own wits, skill and strategy. Companies, though, needn?t operate that way in crafting real estate strategies involving multimillion-dollar facilities. In fact, more and more firms are relying on strategic real estate allies. A major collaborative tool in quickly finding the best site is the free information and other strategy-boosting services provided by today?s increasingly savvy development organizations. Consider Site Selection?s 1996 top development groups. They helped companies like Eastman Kodak, Intel, Motorola and National Car Rental find cost-competitive sites last year. Those groups? rapid response to information requests, strong customer service focus and experienced counsel enabled manufacturers, distributors and service firms to seize competitive advantages from New York to Texas and Colorado to Georgia. That quality development assistance also translates into a staggering economic impact. This year?s group of 10 top development organizations attracted an average of US$918 million in corporate capital investments and 6,279 new jobs in 1996. To sift through the many nominations received this year for the top development groups honor, Site Selection weighed new corporate capital investments and new jobs, plus per-capita capital investment and per-capita jobs. The per-capita measures were utilized to provide a balanced perspective on the success of development organizations serving smaller service areas, such as a single city or county. We also reviewed each nomination for evidence of new value-adding services and programs to benefit both prospective new companies and existing firms, as well as economic development leadership, innovation and creativity. Here, then, are Site Selection?s 1996 top 10 development groups. |
Charleston Regional Development Alliance Most two-year-olds? latest accomplishments involve enlarging their vocabulary, using a spoon or perhaps growing a new tooth. But the Charleston Regional Development Alliance (CRDA), established in 1995, has racked up a list of facility-location achievements that?s anything but childish. In fact, the CRDA in 1996 helped attract 2,047 jobs and some $206 million in corporate capital investments to its service area of 522,000. Over its two-year history, the organization has helped lure dozens of new companies and more than 5,000 direct jobs. Charlotte Chamber of Commerce The National Football League?s Charlotte-based Carolina Panthers made it to the 1997 AFC Championship game. Not bad for a team that?s been on the field only two years. But Charlotte itself also had an outstanding ?96 season in business attraction. In fact, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce helped lure approximately 2,300 jobs and some $671 million in corporate capital investments to its service area of 600,000 last year. Empire State Development Slash taxes, eliminate bureaucratic red tape and listen to corporate clients? concerns. That?s what New York State?s done recently, and it?s fueled heady success for Empire State Development (ESD), New York?s lead economic development agency. In fact, ESD in 1996 helped attract some 53,400 jobs and $6.4 billion in corporate capital investments to its service area of 18 million statewide. Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Big. Hot. Impressive. The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce helped attract some $2.3 billion in corporate capital investments and more than 12,100 new jobs to its service area of 1.5 million last year. That?s decidedly big, hot and impressive. STRONG>Georgia Power Co. Every corporate executive knows the value of capitalizing on unique business opportunities. But so do economic development professionals. Development leaders at Georgia Power Co. (GPC) used the 1996 Summer Olympics — a once-in-a-lifetime marketing opportunity — to showcase the Peach State?s numerous location assets through the electric utility?s Operation Legacy program. Operation Legacy is a public-private partnership established in 1994 to use the Olympics as a lure for business investment in Georgia. That program, coupled with GPC?s other development efforts, helped attract some 10,365 new jobs and more than $1 billion in corporate capital investments to Georgia last year — Olympic-sized success for the utility?s service area of 7.2 million. Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce When most Cincinnati residents talk about ?The Big Red Machine,? they?re referring to the outstanding Reds baseball teams of the ?70s, led by players like Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Pete Rose. The GCCC helped attract some $847 million in corporate capital investments and more than 6,700 new jobs to its service area of 1.9 million in 1996 — a home run by anybody?s reckoning. Landing research and development and internationally owned facilities were particular GCCC strengths. Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. Not far from Colorado Springs, Colo., stands Pikes Peak, at 14,110 feet (4,300 m.) one of the highest mountains in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. (GCSEDC), Colorado Springs has reached a different kind of pinnacle. The GCSEDC?s work in attracting some 5,200 new jobs and $650 million in corporate capital investments to a service area of 466,000 last year helped it climb into Site Selection?s top 10 development groups for 1996. Greater Houston Partnership Here?s a truly rhetorical question: How important is it for your firm to move quickly in today?s rapidly changing business environment? The answer, of course, is very important. And it?s the same with development organizations. They also must act fast to serve corporate clients trying to seize windows of business opportunity often measured in mere months. Conjuring up images of the rocket-powered space shuttle, the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) followed a faster-is-better mantra in helping attract many of the 50,000 new jobs created in the Houston area last year and much of the area?s $4.4 billion in corporate capital investments. The GHP serves the Houston metro area?s 3.7 million residents. Greater Richmond Partnership It takes money to make money. The verity of that old adage is reflected in the ?96 accomplishments of the Richmond, Va.-based Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP). Specifically, the GRP parlayed forward-thinking area infrastructure expenditures and its $2.5 million annual funding into almost $1.9 billion in corporate capital investments last year. That stratospheric return on investment also helped generate some 4,748 new jobs for the organization?s 745,000-strong service area. Paris-Henry County Chamber of Commerce This year?s David among Goliaths, the smallish Paris-Henry County Chamber of Commerce (PHCC) racked up giant-sized facility-location accomplishments last year. In fact, the PHCC helped attract more than $42 million in corporate capital investments and 640 new jobs to its service area of 27,888 in 1996. SS Outstanding Development Groups for 1996(listed in alphabetical order)
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