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Users
of The Network must be able to gather information
about places
of interest. There are various types of contacts offering
to supply it. In other words, there are various
types of location data suppliers. There
are also several types of networks that
you may want to know about. Select the two previous links
or scroll this page to
learn more.
types of contacts that supply information about locations:
The
Network is for finding
contacts as well as locations.
Contacts in position to supply information about places
of interest are called location
data suppliers. Some data suppliers
provide services, such as site
location assistance. See About
Site Selection to learn more.
location data suppliers are ...
 area
and local development representatives
chambers
of commerce
data
brokers
libraries
publishers
of business periodicals and directories
real
estate and site location consultants
some location data suppliers make their information available
through ...
websites
and publications, such as community profiles
find location data suppliers in ...
economic
development networks
enterprise
development networks
site
selection networks
networks that are a combination of all three of the above ally
networks
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about area development representatives as location data suppliers:
Area
developers are typically economic
developers. They
may work for ADOs (regional
development agencies) or businesses, such as banks, real estate firms
and electrical utilities or other energy
suppliers, that prepare and supply community
profiles. They are resource
and service providers. In the latter case, an area developer may
be first asked to supply information in support of an economic
development opportunity for a location, after
that services, i.e.,
prospect assistance. CLICK
HERE for information about the various
types of networks and directories used for finding area developers
and their contact
data.
about local development representatives as location data suppliers:
See the definitions of local
development representative and location
development representative. The latter may be the same as the
area development representative described above; i.e., he or she
may be a contact for a number of places. The
distinction is that a local development contact typically represents
one place as its economic
developer. Given that economic development takes place in a
location, it
can be said that the local development representative is where
the rubber
meets the road. Sooner or later it is suggested that prospects deal
with a local development contacts. Locations
seeking economic development by taking a best
practice approach and having a designated contact in
place are, as a rule,where enterprise
developers and site
selectors should turn first for information. CLICK
HERE if you want to know about the various types of networks and
directories used for finding local economic development representatives
and their contact
data.
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about chambers of commerce as location data suppliers:
Chambers
of commerce are likely the best known sources of location
information. Their roots go back beyond industrial
development or economic
development organizationssee
Wikipedia's
comments on chamber of commerce history. Also, the resource paper,
Tourism
as Economic Development: A Brief Guide for Communities and Enterprise
Developers, begins with a scenario of how a chamber of commerce
came to be. Area
and local development contacts (see comments about
them above) are often found operating
out of or associated with chambers of commerce. For guidance
on how to find a chamber of commerce representing a location of interest
to you see the answer
to the question: What's the best resource
for finding and contacting a chamber of commerce?
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about libraries as suppliers of information about locations:
The
advent of the Internet gave public libraries and those in institutions
of higher education unprecedented opportunities to reach beyond
their traditional service areas and to step into a larger role of assistance
to their communities. Location
data suppliers alert to the new outreach of libraries now take
them into partnership. Many local libraries
online have
now become additional distribution points for community
profiles. Librarians are able to better cooperate with development
organizations so that they can guide outsiders to appropriate
local contacts in
addition to providing them economic
development data.
CLICK
HERE for more about the expanded role of public libraries online.
CLICK
HERE for more about the role of colleges and universities and
their libraries.
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about data brokers as location data suppliers:
See the definition of location
information broker in the Enterprise
and Economic Development Glossary. Data brokers do little or no analysis,
rather they offer information for sale after they gather and reorganize or
repackage information available from other sources. Use a consultant if
you want analysis. Much of the information that location data brokers provide
comes from sources that offer what they have available for free. A
broker's website that is apparently no longer available once made the following
statement: (BizsitesDATA information is) ... compiled
from many independently published sources rather than the local area representatives
who are promoting investment ... includes sources which openly publish the
data for free, such as government statistics, plus other sources such as commercial
databases or research providers with related fees and usage restrictions.
It should be pointed out that information about places
of interest has to be gathered locally before it is taken
to a second tier where statistics can be generated. Enterprise
developers and site
selectors should give serious consideration to gathering location
data at the source.
It should also be pointed out that there are non-broker services available
for gathering information from places
of interest. For example, The Network offers such
services through the Site
Selection Directory. one reason an enterprise
developer or site
selector would use SSD information gathering service is confidentiality. Another
reason would be same time by giving the task to someone who already
knows the network of location
data suppliers.
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about consultants as location data suppliers:
Any type of management
consultants may be available to collect location
data. Commercial
and industrial real estate professionals often take
on the role of site
location consultants. The difference
between management consultants and a hired site selector with skills
is generally
that the latter has a network
in place and ready to tap into. The difference
between a data
broker and skilled consultant is that the latter will cap
off information
gathering with analysis. In the case of the site location consultant,
the cap-off is comparative
analysis.
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about publishers of business periodicals and directories:
Print
media once played a larger role in the search
for location
data suppliers than it does today, specifically when it comes
to gathering information for comparative
analysis. The Internet now offers
cost efficiencies and saves time. Printed materials continue to be important.
Places
seeking economic development have settled on image
advertising in business
periodicals, leaving it to their websites
to promote specific information using links to items
of location data to guide prospects. Promoting
real
estate sites and available
buildings though print
media advertising. including flyer mailings, seems as
popular as ever.
Business
periodicals can be separated into those with editorial
content of interest to a
national
or international audience and those that focus on regional or local interests.The
Network attempts to maintain lists of
both types, for example, see its list
or publications dedicated to enterprise and economic development and
real estate. Also, see its lists
of more general business periodicals that accept economic development
advertising.
The Network regularly
receives regional and local business publications. Sometimes other publications
with editorial content and news reporting about enterprise and economic
development are sent
to us. All business-oriented publications
received are gleaned for information to help build The Network. Links
are created to contact
data for publications without cost or obligation.
Also, the Enterprise
and Economic Development Library lists various publications
that can be used as resources, including
general references.
EMAIL a URL
address string for the website of a publication you would
like to suggest be listed in The Network as a resource. The
email address shown below is not a link; however, you can use it. Simply,
type the
initials GRC followed by a colon in the subject line of your
email. After that copy and paste the publication's name or website address
in
the subject line. Place either the publication's web address or
name in the memo section of your email and add any other comments you
care to make. CLICK
HERE to send a publication by regular mail.
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about websites and publications, such as community profiles:
According to surveys of business
decision makers the majority of them
seek
... location
data from
websites when
engaged
in site selection (source
of quote). You query online for a place
of interest in order to
find a contact in
position to provide information about it, for example, using the search
engine at the top of this page.
CLICK
HERE for suggested search-text to help you find a location data
supplier.
CLICK
HERE for an explanation of community profiles as location
data resources.
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