No longer is it sufficient to have parcels of land with great development potential to attract new business into a community. In today’s site selection landscape, companies want a faster process with solid, predetermined reports on environmental, cultural, and archaeological conditions, zoning, availability of utilities, proximity to transportation and suppliers, and the presence of a qualified workforce.
In addition, they want a community with a quality of place that welcomes the opportunity to partner in a business venture and establish a strong, ongoing relationship.
“The decision-making timelines for these companies are much more compact than they used to be, from one year to three to four months,” said Christopher Lloyd, Director of Infrastructure & Economic Development for McGuireWoods Consulting, LLC in Richmond, Virginia and Site Selectors Guild Board member.
“Companies are moving very quickly to make decisions. The longer it takes to develop, the more expensive it gets. It’s compressing the time frame you have for making decisions and getting a building built. The more shovel ready a site is, the easier you can meet those timelines.”
Both Lloyd and fellow Site Selectors Guild board member Larry Gigerich, Executive Managing Director of Ginovus in Indianapolis, Indiana, agree that Fulton County thoroughly understands today’s site selection dynamics and demands. “You have a sophisticated EDO (Economic Development Organization), support from the county, and they’ve been proactive in identifying sites, infrastructure and utility cost,” Gigerich said.
“With these compressed timelines, it’s really important for communities to be ready and prepared for opportunities. I think Fulton County has done a good job of being prepared and pulled together in responding to opportunities when we bring them.”
Even with increasingly fewer sites available for development and a growth in pandemic-driven industrial investments, competition is steep for communities looking to bring new companies into its environs.
This is one of the reasons that the Fulton County Center for Regional Growth has been proactive in identifying sites and more importantly, making the investment to obtain Shovel-Ready Certification from the FAST NY program, an initiative of Empire State Development designed to increase New York’s shovel-readiness.
A 250-acre site, with 97 acres in the Town of Johnstown and 143 acres in the Town of Mohawk on New York State Route 30A is an example. The county has secured and committed the resources for the work that needs to be done to obtain Shovel-Ready Certification.
In today’s marketplace, communities that may have potentially appealing sites but have not completed the advanced studies required to make the parcels development-ready are automatically ruled out when site selectors start their searches. “You’re not even going to be considered unless you’ve done some of that prerequisite work,” Lloyd said.
According to the Site Selectors Guild’s 2024 report, “The State of Site Selection,” 96 percent of members believe that access to shovel-ready sites has a substantial impact on the future and feasibility of a building project. Eighty-two percent strongly agreed that shovel-ready sites with ample infrastructure capacity are the top drivers in the site-selection process.
Currently, properties that fulfill these requirements are becoming scarcer. For this reason, Fulton County has persistently and thoroughly pursued preparing sites that meet these criteria, working with engineering firms for study and evaluation as well as utility providers on securing adequate electrical power, wastewater treatment, and other necessary infrastructure requirements.
Though development readiness plays a prominent role in decision–making, there are other critical factors that companies must consider when choosing a place.
With the availability of sites that meet companies’ needs and timelines dwindling and development costs rising, businesses have been forced to look farther out from population centers to suburban and rural areas.
This has translated to an increase in the importance of a community’s quality of life. “Quality of place is a really important underpinning for talent attraction and retention,” Gigerich said.
Fulton County is attractive to potential businesses, as it is nestled in the foothills of the Adirondack Park and all the recreational venues that it provides. The county also has a strong arts community that offers a wide variety of activities in a range of genres.
In addition, the county continues to develop quality housing that is extremely affordable compared to urban areas. Access to medical care is significant in the county, with two major healthcare systems operating there.
In addition, Fulton County takes its workforce development seriously, employing a highly collaborative and cooperative approach to ensure that employers have the workforce they need to excel.
Gigerich points out that a community may have a really good site, but if it lacks the workforce talent, it is not going to be an attractive option. Recognizing this, educational entities throughout the county, from public schools to community colleges, partner with the business community to build a steady pipeline of skilled workers who can meet a company’s needs.
After preparing itself as a highly desirable place to locate, a community needs to be able to market the area well to site selectors and their clients. Many communities overlook the importance of getting the word out to decision-makers in the investment community.
In addition, Fulton County takes its workforce development seriously, employing a highly collaborative and cooperative approach to ensure that employers have the workforce they need to excel.
Gigerich points out that a community may have a really good site, but if it lacks the workforce talent, it is not going to be an attractive option. Recognizing this, educational entities throughout the county, from public schools to community colleges, partner with the business community to build a steady pipeline of skilled workers who can meet a company’s needs.
After preparing itself as a highly desirable place to locate, a community needs to be able to market the area well to site selectors and their clients. Many communities overlook the importance of getting the word out to decision-makers in the investment community.
“Marketing, being that you have the best site in the world, but if you don’t have a budget for promoting it, it doesn’t do any good,” Lloyd said.
Furthermore, to be competitive, a community must be able to tell its story in an authentic way, Gigerich said.
“A community needs to be able to articulate the community’s vision for the future and show that they’re looking at that long-term horizon, where that community is going to move over the next three, five, ten years.”
With its dedication to creating development-ready properties, Fulton County has done just that, expressing its commitment to businesses in its borders.
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