by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Though Realtors may tout “quality of life” as a selling point in Jacksonville, site selectors and corporate executives who choose where large companies will move have different priorities in mind.
That’s from a Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce official who spoke last month to the Women’s Council of Realtors at San Jose Country Club.
A trade magazine, Area Development, recently surveyed corporate executives and site selection consultants on the major location factors.
The executives’ top factors in 2010, in order:
• Highway accessibility.
• Labor costs.
• Tax exemptions.
• Occupancy or construction
costs.
• State and local incentives.
• Corporate tax rate.
• Availability of skilled labor.
• Inbound and outbound
shipping costs.
• Energy availability.
• Cost and availability of
buildings.
Compare that to the site selection consultants’ choices, in order:
• Labor costs.
• State and local incentives.
• Highway accessibility.
• Availability of skilled labor.
• Energy availability and
cost.
• Proximity to major
markets.
• Tax exemptions.
• Occupancy or construction
costs.
• Corporate tax rate.
• Availability of buildings.
Missing from both this year: quality of life.
“Quality of life did not make the list because they tend to separate those factors based on whether or not employees will be relocating as part of a project,” said Broderick Green, director of business development at the Chamber’s Cornerstone Regional Development Partnership.
But ‘quality of life’ is a big reason why people move to Florida.
“So, the fact that the people who make these decisions don’t even rank quality of life in their top ten means our message has to change,” he said. “You certainly want to highlight those things, but you don’t want to lead with them.”
Green spoke of “Quality of place,” which he defined as the intersection of a strong business case and the amenities of a great place to live. That’s a more comprehensive way to market this region to potential individuals and businesses, he said.
“Keep in mind that businesses are making a location decision and therefore the factors they consider are very different if the CEO is moving or they intend to hire the workforce mostly from the local labor pool,” said Green.
The Cornerstone initiative is the private, nonprofit division of the Jacksonville Chamber that works with area cities to attract business.
“The site selection process has changed significantly,” said Green. “Several years ago, it would take longer for a project to happen because they had to call for information and we’d fax it to them. Now most of that information is on the Internet. By the time we get the call, we are on the short list.”
Along with being on the short list comes a shorter time to respond to their needs.
“Their goal is to eliminate sites as quickly as possible based on how quickly you respond, how accurately you respond and, most importantly, if you have the basics of what they need,” said Green. “If you have that, you make it to the next round. Ultimately, you get to the point where they say they will be in town in a few weeks and want to look at 15 sites in one day.”
Green said Northeast Florida has certain strengths that historically have been really good for this area.
“Distribution and logistics are a prime example of that because of where we are. Financial services, life sciences and insurance are strong here,” he said. “Those are things we tend to lean on and move forward on very aggressively.”
A misconception of Northeast Florida region is that this is the place to retire, not to work. That’s not true, said Green.
“The median age for our region is 37, which is much closer to the national average, considering the entire state of Florida’s average is 40,” he said.
According to Green, the Chamber is nw working on about 55 prospects.
“The majority of the projects we see are manufacturing, office/commercial projects and warehouse distribution,” he said.