World Economic Development Alliance (WEDA) will be exhibiting at NPE 2015 in Tampa, FL, March 23-27

Dallas, TX February 25, 2015– The World Economic Development Alliance (WEDA) will be exhibiting at NPE 2015 in Tampa, FL, March 23-27, 2015. NPE, sponsored by SPI, The Plastics Industry Trade Association, is one of the largest and best attended plastics trade shows in the US. WEDA will be exhibiting on behalf of the alliance’s members at booth S10035. Visit wedanet.com.

“NPE is a great event. All of the real movers and shakers in the plastics industry will be there from around the world. We are always proud to promote our members’ communities to growing and exciting communities.” – Eric Kleinsorge, CEO, WEDA

NPE2015: The International Plastics Showcase is the world’s most important plastics trade show and conference of the year—bringing together every sector of the plastics industry, including end markets. Showcasing the latest technology, trends, equipment and running equipment for every phase of plastics processing, you are sure to find your solution. Join us in Orlando. Make great things happen. – From the NPE website, npe.org.

“During the event, WEDA staff will be conducting surveys during the event to help us to create a report on the strength and growth of the plastics industry. We will also be working with companies from around the world to try to reshore companies to the United States.” –Eric Kleinsorge, CEO, World Economic Development Alliance

ABOUT WEDA
The World Economic Development Alliance (WEDA) has been helping companies and economic development organizations connect with each other for over 18 years. WEDA is the only proven, full-service consulting firm specializing in assisting corporate site locators find new sites and economic development professionals create new jobs for their communities. WEDA executives have assisted hundreds of companies in locating their new facilities which has resulted in thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in capital investment. For more information about this topic, please contact Eric Kleinsorge at 214-420-1490 ext. 1 or email at eric@wedanet.com.

What are Your Real Target Markets? – An Economic Developers Quick Guide

Every economic developer has a list of their target markets. Nearly every list includes things like aviation, advanced manufacturing, automotive and medical devices.

These are great industries, but for many, if not most, communities, these phrases mean nothing.

Take advanced manufacturing – what exactly does that mean? What industries are those? What are the company names? In fact, as a mission and a goal, that phrase means very little.

Creating your target list includes looking closely at your area’s real assets and avoiding wishful thinking.

What are your area’s real assets? If you in a significantly agricultural, you already know that. Some of the less obvious assets are things like market needs. Rather than simply making a list, you should take a look at what you area needs. For example, if you have several data driven companies, like insurance companies or call centers, do you have a local data center to meet the need?

You should also look at complementary industries, as well as suppliers. One industry that has seen some excellent growth is the industrial coating market, but this industry will almost never appear on an economic developer’s list.

The European Union has created a great classification system that really makes it easy to look at the listing of manufacturers and figure out what level you are working with.

High-technology manufacturing

Division 21 Pharmaceuticals

Division 26 Computers, electronic & optical products

Group 30.3 Air spacecraft

Medium-high-technology manufacturing

Division 20 Chemicals

Group 25.4 Weapons & ammunition

Division 27 Electrical equipment

Division 28 Machinery

Division 29 Motor vehicles

Division 30_X_30.1_30.3 Transport equipment excluding ships, boats, excluding air & spacecraft

Group 32.5 Medical & dental instruments

Medium-low-technology manufacturing

Group 18.2 Reproduction recorded media

Division 19 Coke and petroleum products

Division 22 Rubber and plastic products

Division 23 Other non-metallic mineral products

Division 24 Basic metals

Division 25_X_25.4 Fabricated metal products excluding machinery

Group 30.1 Ships and boats

Division 33 Repair & installation machinery

Low-technology manufacturing

Division 10 Food

Division 11 Beverages

Division 12 Tobacco

Division 13 Textiles

Division 14 Clothing

Division 15 Leather products

Division 16 Wood products

Division 17 Paper products

Division 18.1 Printing

Division 31 Furniture

Division 32_X_32.5 Other manufacturing excluding medical and dental instruments

Having a list like this allows you to see a broad cross-section of manufacturing laid out before and lets you really think through the best options for your area.

Several services offer to do industrial analysis reports. This is a great report to have done, but don’t be deceived by companies that offer to do this for you for $30,000 or more. This is realistic a report that can be done for $5,000 or so. It is possible that a really extensive report will include lots of survey, etc. but most are simply based on a local economic information.

The World Economic Development Alliance specializes in keeping informed and sharing that information. WEDA can provide an industrial analysis report at a reasonable price, providing insights into how to market to these companies as well.

Creative Incentive Ideas for Economic Developers

Incentives are all the rage in economic development. Many communities believe that this only means that you need to hand a company cash to locate in their area.

There are other alternatives. Below is a list of possible incentives that can be included in a proposal to a company. Some of these are obvious, others have been creative ideas that some economic developers have used to attract companies.

• Free land – This is fairly common, but it can be a huge asset. Offering free land that is owned by the city or the county can be a great way to attract companies. One important thing to also do is to abate the local property taxes for a period. That allows the location to be very inexpensive during the critical first few years.
• Property tax abatements – Allowing a period when taxes on the properties are not paid can be a wonderful relief for businesses. These annual expenses on a significantly improved property can be a great deal of money.
• Employment tax abatement – One of the most difficult parts of a new location is finding a great group of employees. Employment tax abatements can allow a company’s employees to avoid payroll taxes for a while. This helps to increase the employees’ income and might entice a high quality of worker to the company.
• Free building financing – The expense of financing construction can be prohibitive. If a community is able to put up the money, a company can save a great deal of money over having to pay interest, etc. on the construction of their building.
• Free airport transportation – This is a very creative way to attract a company. If your community is a significant distance from a major airport, you can offer to transport clients, executives and other visitors from the airport to the factory. This can be done by a local car company in town or through a contracted company near the airport. The cash expense might seem high, but the return on a simple gesture like this can be huge.
• Cash investments – This is a bit different from simply giving a company cash. Investing in a business can be a great way to attract the company without simply giving away the money. Also the community might realize a profit from the investment.
• Sales tax abatement – Many companies pay a sales tax on the items that they purchase. Refunding that amount, applying it as credit toward property taxes or simply not collecting the local portion a sales tax can be a huge benefit. This is another expense that can be reduced from the company’s balance sheet.
• Marketing cooperative – Helping a company market themselves and their products can relieve a significant expense. For many companies, adding cash to the bottom line is as good as a cash investment. This is a creative way to expand the company’s long-term reach while not having a huge expense for the economic developer. It is also a powerful way to promote your region as well.
• Marketing inquiry assistance – Helping a company find potential clients can be a massive help. If they are able to locate to your area with several local customers in hand, this can help defer a lot of expense and convince their board as to which location they should choose. As the local experts, finding those potential clients can be very easy.
• Business fee reductions – Business license fees, occupancy fees and lots of other small fees can represent a lot of cash for a business as they find a new location. These are usually expenses that are received by the local government so they can be very easy to defer or eliminate. Often all it requires is simple change in local codes.

Site Selection A to Z – A Quick Reminder List of Things to Look For

WEDA has put together an A to Z list of things to look for during the site selection process.

Some of these items will seem obvious, but they are listed to remind you to look at certain aspects of the move. Simply use this list as a review of potential items and ideas as you move through the process of selecting a new site for your company.

Please see the attached PDF for a printable version.

For more free assistance with site location, please free to contact us at bob@wedanet.com or 262-955-2482.

Site Selection A to Z Tickler