Corporate Executive Survey Commentary: Integrating Advanced Technology Into the Site Selection Process
Although training programs and technical colleges are viewed as important, many companies look to find the workforce skills they require readily available in their chosen locations.
Q1 2016
The integration of advanced technology into the site selection process leads to the question, is a community’s workforce keeping up with advanced skills necessary to meet the evolving talent demands of current and future workforces? Capital investment demands of technology also necessitate a strong confidence in the area workforce’s ability to support the facility. The presence of a feeder system, including industry clusters and universities, may ensure a skilled workforce is achievable in the location.
Training programs and the availability of technical colleges in a community are generally viewed as important factors in the survey, but not necessarily very important factors. Companies requiring higher-skilled workforces expect to find those skills readily available in the community as opposed to developing skills via training. [Nonetheless], many state and local governments offer excellent training initiatives that address any gaps between a company’s labor needs and what’s available in local workforce.
Finally, [of those survey respondents planning new domestic facilities], 69 percent plan to open them within two years. This is good news! The survey also reveals approximately half of the new facilities will be manufacturing and/or warehouse-distribution, and more than half (61 percent) of new domestic facilities will create less than 50 new jobs.
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Gary Marx, Managing Director, BlueCap Economic Advisors, LLC
Gary Marx has over 25 years of experience working in the field of economic development, including extensive experience in the areas of corporate relocation, tax credits, discretionary incentives negotiation, and government relations. He has spent the past 10 years focused specifically on state and local government discretionary incentives and tax credits, including six years with Big Four firms Deloitte Tax LLP and PwC, and has assisted many Fortune 1000® clients with projects throughout the United States as well as internationally. Previously, Marx served over seven years with the state of New Jersey's Commerce Department, supporting the Secretary of Commerce and overseeing the state’s business attraction program. He also worked in the economic development departments of gas and electric utility companies in New Jersey and New York. Marx is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and holds a BS in Business and Real Estate from Florida State University.
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