As seen in The Daily Telegram’s Business Column on Sunday, November 1, 2016
Bringing it back to Lenawee, for site selectors and stakeholders alike
Tim Robinson, CEcD and EDFP Director of Operations at Lenawee Now, submitted the following piece to The Daily Telegram’s Business Column regarding his recent meeting with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). His travels with Jim Van Doren, Executive Director at Lenawee Now, to the IEDC’s Annual Conference brought back a game changer to Lenawee— an app applying big data to site selection and quality of life information.
What does this mean for Lenawee, its residents, and its business? Tim lays it out for all of us: this new app can be utilized by our community as a whole—the Greater Ann Arbor Region—to develop, attract, and maintain a quality in Lenawee that is ideal for business and perfect for life.
Original Business Column article
Tim Robinson, CEcD and EDFP Director of Operations at Lenawee Now
Sunday, November 1, 2016
The Daily Telegram, Business Column
On the occasion business matters take us outside of Lenawee’s borders, we like to make sure it is for instances that will provide value for our community.
In early October, Jim Van Doren and I spent four days with economic developers from around the world at the International Economic Development Council’s Annual Conference. It was an opportunity to learn directly from our industry peers how challenges are being addressed by practice, policy, and technology.
One of the biggest lessons of the conference was regarding the way business properties are being searched for by businesses and site selectors. No longer are these parties interested in visiting multiple websites to gather information; rather, they want a single source of information. This is where big data firms bring some great options to the table.
We learned of a new tool that will allow us to showcase the county and its individual communities by way of an app. After downloading the free app, a user can view the geographic area’s infrastructure-driven data along with supporting quality of life information. This tool isn’t limited to site selectors as users; it’s also great for our stakeholders to use.
An additional perk is access to a large amount of data showing consumers’ spending habits. With it, we can generate reports for local communities working on retail development strategies. This tool doesn’t come without a price tag, of course, so we are approaching our Greater Ann Arbor Region partners to invest as a group. The tool could be a game changer, time saver, and tremendous service.
Implementing this tool will take time. A value we can pass on to our communities and local businesses immediately is a call to check your website. A marketing session at IEDC revealed that too often, site selectors are finding websites with hidden or no contact information. There is also a lack of clarity as to the state in which a city/county is located. Site selectors or not, make it easy for your customers to find you! If you have time to dive deeper, make sure that it is easy for your customers to navigate your site and find the information they need.
Additional notes of interest from the annual meeting include:
- Talent attraction and retention is the main economic development issue across the country.
- Crowdfunding, as pioneered here in Lenawee County, is an increasingly more important tool nationwide.
- Lenawee Now is a leader in its demographic for marketing efforts specifically due to its website content, social media presence, and attraction pieces.
On behalf of Lenawee Now, I thank you for the opportunity to represent Lenawee County at this event. It is pleasure to know we measure up so well against our peers but even more so to know we can come home with ideas to continuously improve. We’re looking forward to 2016 being another great year in making Lenawee County ideal for business and perfect for life.
Tim Robinson, CEcD, EDFP
Director of Operations, Lenawee Now