Jeffrey Mosher spoke with MEDC's Vice President - Global Business Development Tony Vernaci about the site selector industry and how companies growing and expanding utilize this service in making their decision.

When companies are working through the decision where to expand their footprint, they go through a variety of steps and processes to arrive at an optimal conclusion.

This can vary greatly from company to company depending on factors such as….
Their internal skills and resources to analyze the options (both in terms of size and experience) Their experience with multiple operations and making a decision of this nature The compelling reason for considering an expansion to their existing footprint a company may realize they do not have the ability to formalize a fact based, unbiased decision and will reach out for support from an external source such as hiring a “site selector” (consultant) to assist in the analysis. However, these can be very costly options and many companies opt to work through it themselves.

Others elect to utilize the services from a site selector. A site selector will work with their client to understand all of the critical factors for their business and then set out to research what they believe to be the best locations to satisfy those needs.

These factors usually come down to… Proximity to existing & new customers Access to talent Access to the necessary supply chain Overall cost of operation (wages, taxes, utilities etc.) Business incentives (which often receives an overweighed emphasis)

The State of Michigan and others work closely with the site selector community to get feedback on how we are doing through their viewpoint and ways to improve. Michigan has made significant improvements over the last 3-5 years. Mostly in areas such as….
Almost always #1 on the list----
Quality talent and talent pipeline through local technical schools and universities
-Effective tax rate
-Overall operating costs
-Density of industry
-Advancements in technology
-Business friendly environment

This is a very important effort for the MEDC and they continue to receive very positive feedback. The results speak for themselves but several other states are serious competitors and we can never be satisfied with our current progress.

For more knowledge, news, and insights visit

www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com