Site selection has become an increasingly competitive process in the U.S., as hundreds of regional and state economic developers fight to qualify for investors’ coveted “short lists” by complementing their regional strengths with a host of innovative strategies.
Unfortunately, the desire to get noticed is sometimes mired by regional complications, 10/12 Industry Report details in a feature in its new quarterly issue.
In Louisiana, developers have been sounding the alarm as of late, as they fear that increased economic burdens placed on business by state government will make their task of attracting and/or retaining industry immeasurably more difficult.
This was perhaps summed up best by Louisiana Chemical Association President Dan Borné, speaking at the Petrochemical Engineering & Construction Conference in New Orleans earlier this summer.
Borné placed the blame squarely on state government for potentially jeopardizing billions of dollars in industrial investment, saying recent actions have resulted in $2 billion in additional taxes for the state’s business community.
“We at LCA are concerned about all of the factors that impact investment, but this change in business climate, and how government looks at business in Louisiana, has evolved into a situation that we think will severely impact our state,” Borné says. “You can’t sugarcoat that.”
His comments reflect the concerns of many regional and state economic developers, who must compete nationally with hundreds of other municipalities and regions to attract business.
“It’s less of a site selection process than it is a site elimination process,” says Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson. “Those that make these kinds of decisions have many options before them, and move through them very rapidly … so it’s easy for a site to fall into a disqualified status.”
Given Louisiana’s current economic environment, Pierson says the state’s “ace in the hole” continues to be LED’s Certified Sites program, which qualifies potential industrial sites based upon zoning restrictions, title work, environmental studies, soil analysis and surveys. The sites certified through the program are 180-day development ready and have had substantial due diligence studies performed.
The program separates Louisiana from the pack, and Pierson hopes to expand it to further increase its impact, though he admits that Louisiana’s budget woes might force him to tap the brakes.
“We certainly have had some restrictions in terms of challenges that the state is facing, so we’re not advancing the Certified Sites program as rapidly as we would like,” he adds. “However, we still have enough resources to undertake this effort, and it’s in the planning stages to broaden the program.”
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