The Leader - July/August 2008 - (Page 48)

g lo B a l I N N o v a t o r ’ s a W a r d f I N a l I s t rea l e stat e Ma NageMeNt TVA’s Shortcut to Success: A Catalog of Sites for Large-Scale Industry By JohN Bradley aNd BIll adaMs T he Tennessee Valley Authority’s Megasites Program is a catalog of certified Megasites – large properties ready for heavy industrial development – in the seven-state TVA service area. The program is designed to make it easier for automotive manufacturers or other large industries to quickly find an optimal location for a new plant. TVA knew that a corporation could spend months investigating a property that eventually turned out to be unsuitable for its needs. In today’s supercompetitive marketplace, that is far too much time and money lost. Site selectors cannot run the risk of entering into an agreement only to have the process derailed later on by contested property issues or environmental concerns. the solutIoN the challeNge The Megasites Program began in 2004 when TVA became aware that a number of high-profile automotive expansions would occur within five to ten years and that the southeastern United States would be a strong contender for these plants. To get ahead of the curve on the issue, TVA asked the question: How can a community differentiate itself strongly enough to earn consideration for one of these big projects? TVA became convinced that the best approach was to create a program that would certify properties as being “industry-ready” for development. It decided to engage a consulting firm well-versed in the automotive location process to act as an independent administrator of the program. After issuing requests for information from more than 200 consultants and interviewing a top tier of those, TVA chose McCallum Sweeney Consulting (MSC) of Greenville, S.C. MSC was charged with establishing the certification criteria, evaluating potential Megasites in the TVA area, and certifying those that met the standards. MSC’s certification standards were very stringent and involved a 242-point questionnaire, extensive site studies, and utility provision plans. Each site received a detailed review that addressed the areas of land security, utilities, environmental effects, transportation, labor, geotechnical issues, and zoning. During three rounds of site reviews from 2004 through early 2007, MSC studied and visited some 30 sites. Nine met the exacting requirements of the program. the results The impact was phenomenal. Even before the ninth site was certified in early April 2007, two Megasites had already been sold: the le ade r 48 J u ly / a u g u s t

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - July/August 2008

The Leader - July/August 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Organizational Design Accommodating Growth Responding to the Challenge EMEA's Building Energy Rating TVA's Shortcut to Success ANZ Banking Group’s Jane Hamilton Tractus Asia’s Dennis Messeroll Arizona’s Greg Weiner Workplace Design Workplace Directory The Texas Report Industry Tracker Discovery Forum Findings Career Development Congratulations to 2008 Corenet Global Award Winners! Young Leader Economic Development in the News Connect with Corenet Global A Look Ahead

The Leader - July/August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.