Editor’s Note: “The Economic Development Side” originally appears in the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce’s weekly member e-newsletter. It is written by Rhonda Dishner, the Economic Development Alliance’s executive assistant.
“The Risk of Complacency” was the primary focus for the 2018 Fall Forum of the Site Selectors Guild, which was held Sept. 10-12 in Greenville, South Carolina. The forum brought together economic developers and location consultants from “around the globe.”
Among participants was Lou Ann Nisbett, CEcD, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County.
Due to a limit on attendance, only 196 economic development professionals were allowed to register for this event. Nisbett made a point of being among that group because of the forum’s excellent opportunities for making connections and sharing ideas.
Founded in 2010 and promoted on its website as being composed of the “world’s leading location strategists,” Site Selectors Guild has a membership of 44 of the foremost consultants, half of whom were registered for the forum. Many of those were program speakers.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The 2018 fall program was designed to draw attention to the adverse effects of complacency where key community components in economic development are concerned. Sessions touched on negative impacts resulting from not moving forward or keeping up to date on such factors as Investments in Quality of Place, Using Incentives, Infrastructure Assets, Social Impact Issues, and Global Competition for Investments and Jobs.
When the program about the risk of complacency was being developed, forum organizers had no idea that a potential Category 4 hurricane — Florence — could be barreling toward the coastline of the Carolinas just as the event was drawing to a close.
As it happened, Nisbett noted, the impending catastrophic storm helped her — and possibly other attendees — better understand the ramifications of complacency and the dangers of becoming aware but doing nothing.
Even though Greenville is inland and more than 200 miles from the Atlantic coast, there was the potential on Wednesday for delayed or canceled flights home. So, the majority of attendees reconfirmed plane schedules and got on the move — to leave behind the risk of being stranded.
Later, after having arrived home safely, Nisbett reported hearing some very useful facts and strategies at the forum, despite the fact that the weather was a constant concern for everyone.
In conversations with site selectors, she also learned that, more and more, they are utilizing deep-dive web searches as their primary method of investigating communities for prospective projects. If information is out there — good or bad — they will find it. Even before a community knows they are looking.