How do economic development deals get done?
St. Clair EDC
Don Smith, chairman of the St. Clair Economic Development Council speaks on economic development.
- Bryan Davis[1]
- Reporter- Birmingham Business Journal
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Twitter[3]
There are a lot of ways economic development deals get done.
They almost never get done without the cooperation of multiple agencies and elected officials, even if that means some of the agencies and officials are kept in the dark about certain aspects of the project.
It all starts when a company decides to expand or move its operation, and the process typically ends with an announcement in the chosen community.
For St. Clair Economic Development Council chairman Don Smith[4], the request for information (RFI) can come from a variety of sources.
“Many times we're contacted either by a real estate agent, someone from the state Department of Commerce, the BBA (Birmingham Business Alliance). or site selection consultants,” Smith said in his Pell City office, located on the campus of Jefferson State Community College. “They will say, 'I have a project. We're looking for this amount of space or we're looking for this amount of acreage. We need you to put together the best proposal you can.'”
At that point in the game, Smith and his staff know little about the company that has requested the proposal. They go to work to answer the request as quickly as possible, and they try to find out as much about the industry and company as they can.
“We have very limited information on what the company wants, but we always put our best foot forward,” Smith said. “As we learn more about the company and research it, we will hone our proposal.”
The nature of economic development is that everyone wants to be in the know. That includes citizens and elected officials.
But sometimes, the economic developers are working in the dark, trying to provide as much information to the mayors, councilmen, state officials and country commissioners as they can.
Bryan Davis covers real estate, retail and manufacturing for the Birmingham Business Journal. Click here to follow him on Twitter.[5]
References
- ^ Bryan Davis (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Don Smith (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Click here to follow him on Twitter. (twitter.com)