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Advice on Attracting the Right Companies to Your Community

You want to be as attractive as possible for businesses looking to relocate or expand their operations. However, you have a great deal of competition. Not only does your community need to compete with other cities within your state, but you need to compete regionally and even nationally. More and more, companies are looking at the national scene when determining where they want to locate their new presence, or build their new headquarters. How do you ensure your community is on even footing with or a step above other competitors?

 

Workforce and Amenities

One of the most important considerations when it comes to attracting businesses to your area is to ensure that your workforce population matches their needs. Is your area’s population made up of younger, tech-savvy workers? Is it comprised of skilled experts? Is there plenty for residents to do and enjoy in the area? Can they work and play within close proximity to home? These are important questions to answer when considering what industries to target.

First, businesses relocating to your area will need to supply at least some of their staffing needs from the immediate area. Obviously, you need to be able to provide the right type of workforce. Second, most businesses will be relocating at least some of the staff that will work in the new location, and they will want to ensure that there’s enough dining, nightlife, shopping, and recreation amenities nearby for all their employees to enjoy.

 

You Can Tell a Compelling Story about Your Location

What sets your location apart from another in the same state? What about in a neighboring state? One on the other side of the country? Business owners and decision makers need to know how your area stacks up in comparison to your competition, and you need to ensure that you’re using accurate data to tell that story. Of course, this means knowing what data matters most to those you’re trying to attract.

The good news is that while there is variation from one business to another, most will be primarily interested in the same figures. These include economic performance, areas of business development in the city, the labor pool available, and other related data. You need to do more than just provide a spreadsheet with relevant factoids, though. You need to take that data and use it to craft a compelling story that highlights why your community is the best choice.

 

Know Your Strengths

Of course, before you can craft a compelling story that puts your community front and center, you need to know what makes your area great for relocating or expanding businesses. A SWOT analysis can help you identify strengths and weaknesses. For instance, you might find that such an analysis shows that your area’s strengths are a significant concentration of smaller, organic farms, which would make partnering with restaurants, specialty grocery stores and the like the best path forward.

You might find that your strengths include significant wilderness areas nearby, which might make working with adventure-oriented organizations, wildlife protection groups, and others the best choice. You could find that your area is rich in year-round wind, which could indicate that partnering with an alternative energy company focusing on wind generation the better choice.

The point is that you need to know your strengths, weaknesses and areas of development before you attempt to attract businesses. You should not attempt to be everything to everyone – know what companies will benefit the most from setting up shop in your community, and then target those.

 

Offer Attractive Perks

Many communities that successfully attract businesses do so by providing them with incentives. In numerous instances, this involves tax incentives or cash perks. However, it can include other things, and can even work to bolster your community’s growth and success.

Consider what could be accomplished by offering an incentive on buying a house in the city to employees relocating with the business. That would definitely be an attractive option for businesses seeking a new area to call home, and to their employees, but it would also benefit your city’s housing industry.

This is just one example – perks can be almost anything that offers value to the businesses you’re attempting to attract, and to their employees, while minimizing the cost to your own community. In a best-case scenario, these perks can be a win-win.

 

In the End

Ultimately, there is no “surefire” way to attract new businesses to your community. However, there are things you can do to stack the deck in your favor. Start by knowing your community’s strengths, and marketing toward industries where those strengths are valued and vital.