community systems - how site selectors use geographic information systems

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How Site Selectors Use GIS to Evaluate Communities

Smarter Software for Communities

May 6, 2014

2Your Hosts

Ben WrightCEO,

Community Systems

Atlas Advertising

[email protected]/atlasad

Keith GendreauConsulting Manager,

Global Business ConsultingCushman & Wakefield

[email protected]

Guillermo MazierBusiness Development,

Community Systems

[email protected]/atlasad

3Atlas Advertising’s Software Development Group is now Community Systems

4Community Systems’ Atlas One Software Suite

5Community Systems powers intelligent location decisions.

6Who we work with

Community Systems serves over 4,000 communities in 43 states

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2 million unique user sessions per year on over 200 websites

Who we work with

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And 10,000 registered users.

Who we work with

9This includes:

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Data, Technology, and Agency Partners this requires

11About C&W Global Business Consulting

OFFICE INDUSTRIAL RETAIL

• Location strategy and site selection

• Facility network and inventory optimization (St. Onge Company)

• Incentive negotiation

• Facility design and operations improvement (St. Onge Company)

• 3PL advisory services (St. Onge Company)

• Market capacity Studies

• Customer behavior & trade area analysis

• Site analysis

• “Reverse” location study to create marketing interest for a proposed development

• Local and regional occupancy strategies

• Portfolio optimization and rationalization

• Labor and location strategies

• Incentive negotiations

• Workforce deployment optimization

Cushman & Wakefield Global Business Consulting helps clients solve complex challenges that reside at the intersection of business operations and real estate. The results we deliver reduce costs, improve operating efficiencies, and increase revenue for our clients.

12Download the slides, listen to the video, continue the dialogue

• Continue the Conversation: – Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CommunitySys

• View and share the video with your colleagues: http://communitysys.com/News-Media/Webinars/Past-Webinars.aspx

13Offer to Webinar Attendees:Get a free comprehensive assessment from Community Systems. This

assessment will include:

• If you currently have a GIS System, we will:– Review of your current GIS system relative to the benchmarks presented in this

webinar – Provide suggestions to improve performance and overall system value

• If you don’t currently have a GIS system, we will:– Review your website relative to content and features site selectors commonly

use– Recommend ways to improve your website using various elements of GIS

technology.

To receive an assessment, please chat “Assessment Please” into your chat window at any time in the presentation. We will follow up with you after the presentation.

14Questions We Will Answer

1. What percentage of many EDO’s projects come from relationships with Site Selectors?

2. What information do EDO’s typically get asked for from Site Selectors?

3. What is going on in the world of Site Selection? What is changing?

4. What is the specific process of site selection?

5. What information do site selectors really need from you, and what will they get on their own?

6. When will they involve you in the process?

7. What can you do to improve your website and GIS content to serve site selectors better?

15How Site Selectors Are Using GIS to Shorten the Location Evaluation Process:

What percentage of your EDO's current open projects have come from relationships

with Site Selectors?

16Question:

What information are you most frequently asked to provide forSite Selectors?

(Enter answers in chat window)

17Question:

Does your community currently have a GIS system?

18Keith Gendreau

• Based in Minneapolis, MN

• Consulting Manager

• Geographer by Trade. Master’s Degree in Economic Development.

• Specializes in Location Strategy and Labor Analytics for Office and Industrial Projects

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What is going on in the world of Site Selection? What is changing?

20Site Selection Trends• Human capital is the #1 challenge* facing CEOs.

• Labor is typically the largest cost line item on a company’s income statement.

• Thus, focusing only on real estate costs ignores the larger corporate agenda.

• C&W expects the supply demand mismatch in the U.S. to expand in the coming decade

IT’S EXPENSIVE & CRITICAL EXAMPLE LABOR AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL OPERATING COSTS

* Source: CEO Challenge, 2014. The Conference Board

21Site Selection Trends

• Manufacturing site selection is changing because the way we manufacture is changing.

• Proximity to customer demand.

• Proximity to innovation.

• Changes in energy sector supply and prices.

• Automation and robotization further increase efficiency and precision.

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What is the specific process of Site Selection?

23Site Selection Approach

Q. What are the best types of properties for a proposed operation, where are they, and what tradeoffs do they present regarding one time and ongoing costs and conditions, incentives, and timeline?

A. C&W offers a Comprehensive Site Selection service that exhaustively screens and qualifies potential properties, categorizes them according to fit, and overlays the cost, conditions, and incentives differences a business would experience in each location at a detailed level.

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

•Operating cost savings of 20% to 30% versus non-optimal locations.

•Risk mitigation regarding implementation feasibility and timing, labor supply, construction requirements.

•Long-term cost avoidance on labor, utilities, and taxes.

•Reduction of capital outlay associated with a new facility.

•Confidence in meeting implementation timelines.

•Securing optimal government incentives.

24Site Selection Approach

Supply Chain Analysis

Coordinated Sites and Building Inventory

Real Estate Due Diligence

Community and Labor Market Comparisons

Comparative Financial Analyses

Real Estate and Incentives Negotiations

KEY EVALUATIONS LEAD TO… OPTIMAL BUSINESS AND SITE SOLUTION

OPTIMALLOCATION

Business Case Development

25How Projects Select (or Eliminate) Your Community

Early in the location screening process, third-party databases are used due to the volume of locations considered; not community web sites.

Provided by Cushman & Wakefield

26Decision Support Data Sources and Tools

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Mapping

Location specific wage database

Many others (e.g., EIA, Labor Relations Institute, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, etc.)

Comprehensive demographic and segmentation database

Comprehensive Industry employment forecast , population mobility data

Cushman & Wakefield Global Business Consulting maintains the most up to date demographic databases and spatial analysis tools to execute projects.

Advanced spatial data processing


27Identifying Suitable Properties

2 RFI responses received and catalogued.1 Requirements translated to Request for Information (RFI) issued to search area.

3 Properties evaluated versus facility needs and grouped: Retain, Marginal, Eliminate. 4 Property inspections conducted to select

preferred sites. Clients typically attend.


Identifying a comprehensive list of suitable properties involves brokers and economic developers.

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At what stage of your process do you involve an EDO?

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What is the first thing you do when contacting an EDO?

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What recommendations do you have for what EDO’s should have on

their websites?

31General Website Essentials, Part 1

- Search engine appearance on key words. The most common phrases are:- [PLACE] Name- Economic development [PLACE]- Available sites/buildings [PLACE]- Site Selection [PLACE}

- Easy for user to circumnavigate.- Designed for single customer as opposed to multiple (effectiveness for any

one customer segment often diluted).- Site map (menu) reflecting the categories of information pertinent to location

selection, such as:

- Demographics, labor force, wages, training/education, major employers, new/expanding employers, downsized/closed employers, market proximity (regional map), transportation, utilities, environmental, taxes/incentives, establishing a business including permits, sites/buildings, quality-of-life.

32General Website Essentials, Part 2

- “Contact Us” section with descriptive email, phone numbers and key staff.- Links to two “deep-dive” databases:

- Location information that follows national data standards recommended by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Consists of 24 statistical tables, each devoted to a location factor category. Reported at the county and where appropriate MSA level.

- Available site/building profiles with information recommended in the IEDC data standards.

- Provide links to other appropriate sites (e.g., Labor Office).- For marketing purposes, be sure your site is linked to any agency promoting

your area (e.g., tourism, chamber, newspaper, etc.).

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Recommended GIS Content on Economic Development Websites

Existing Building Critical Search (Property Filter) Fields

Location

Minimum & Maximum Square Feet

Minimum Clear Height & Column Spacing

Sale, Lease, Both

Building Type (i.e., Industrial, R&D, Commercial, etc.)

Specialty Feature (i.e., Call Center, Clean Room, Cold Storage, Data Center, etc.)

Zoning

Docks

Rail Served

Max Distance to: Interstate, 4-Laned Highway, Commercial Airport

Previous Use

LandCritical Search (Property Filter) Fields

Location

Minimum Acres

Maximum Acres

Site Zoning

Rail Proximity

Max Distance to:- Interstate

- 4-Laned Highway- Commercial Airport

Brownfield or Greenfield

Configuration & Dimensions

All Utilities On-Site

PROPERTY SEARCH FILTERS


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Base Layer Menu

County and City Boundary

Streets

Airport Runways , Noise Contours, Property Lines

Subdivisions

Zoning & Parcel Boundaries

Water Features (e.g., rivers, ponds, marsh)

Forest / Preserved Areas

Flood Plain

Elevation (10 ft and 2 ft contours)

Future Land Use

Color Aerials Clearly Depicting Easements

Rail (yards, spurs, main lines)

Utilities (to the extent available)

Recommended GIS Content on E.D. WebsitesPROPERTY SPECIFIC INFORMATION


35Question:

Based on this presentation, what are the one or two things you would change about

or add to your GIS system?(Enter answers in chat window)

36

Q+A

37Announcing Atlas InSite, the Fastest Growing GIS System for ED in the United States, now for any budget

Features: • Property Database• Business Database• Data Maps• Communities Maps• Demographic reports

Pricing Configurations:• States and Large Regions

with existing websites• Smart Region/Smart City

Websites• Small Cities and Counties

Latest Feature: Integrated Prospect Proposals using GIS data

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Offer to Webinar Attendees:

Get a free comprehensive assessment from Atlas. This assessment will include:• If you currently have a GIS System, we will:

– Review of your current GIS system relative to the benchmarks presented in this webinar

– Provide suggestions to improve performance and overall system value • If you don’t currently have a GIS system, we will:

– Review your website relative to content and features site selectors commonly use

– Recommend ways to improve your website using various elements of GIS technology.

To receive an assessment, please chat “Assessment Please” into your chat window at any time in the presentation. We will follow up with you after the presentation.

39Thank you and stay in touch!

Community Systems

1128 Grant Street

Denver, CO 80203

Contact: Ben Wright

t: 303.292.3300 x 210

[email protected]

www.Communitysys.com

Cushman & Wakefield

Keith Gendreau

Consulting Manager

Global Business Consulting

[email protected]