Business Facilities - November 2007 - (Page 39)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TRENDS By Karim Khan IEDC Announces 2007 Winners The International Economic Development Council recently announced its 2007 winning member organizations—including those with the best Web sites for your research needs. I f you’ve begun the process of selecting a new location for your business, you’ve undoubtedly become familiar with one or more of the many economic development organizations that serve their communities. These organizations, whose jurisdictions range from individual sections of a city to an entire nation, have their own umbrella organization: the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). This nonprofit membership organization aims to help economic developers do their job more effectively and raise the profile of the profession. Every year during its annual conference, IEDC presents awards to some of its outstanding member organizations. In 2007, the conference was held in Phoenix, AZ over several days in September. Each award category is judged by a panel of industry luminaries including site consultants, senior economic developers, and several times over the past five years, an editor from Business Facilities. The list of winners is a long one, and can be found on the IEDC Web site, www.iedconline.org. In the box to the right, we’ve summarized the 2007 IEDC Annual Conference award winners in a category that every executive looking for data on locations has experience with: Web sites. If you want to see what IEDC considers to be the best Web sites this year among its members—the state-of-the-art in sites catering to your needs as a site selector— fire up your browser and read on. BEST GENERAL PURPOSE WEB SITE (locations with population greater than 200,000) Winners (tie): www.treoaz.org – Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (Tucson, AZ) and www.choosemilwaukee.com – Milwaukee 7 (Milwaukee, WI) Description, TREO: To meet the needs of a rapidly growing region, Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (TREO) was formed to serve as the lead economic development agency for the greater Tucson area and its surrounding community partners. Description, Milwaukee 7: The Milwaukee 7 is a regional, cooperative economic development partnership of the seven counties of southeastern Wisconsin. ChooseMilwaukee.com, the region’s economic development Web site, includes an interactive map tool to search available land and buildings in the region. Aerial satellite images and street-level photos of prospective locations are combined with detailed property information and statistical data compiled around a property’s location, including population, household income, business competition, worker skills, and education. The site also offers extensive data and links that highlight the Milwaukee region’s business resources, demographics, educational institutions, housing, recreation, arts, entertainment, and more. BEST GENERAL PURPOSE WEB SITE (locations with populations from 50,000 to 200,000) Winner: www.bmda.org – Bismarck-Mandan Development Association (Bismarck, ND) Description: The Bismarck-Mandan Development Association Web site is a primary source of economic development information for the Bismarck MSA, the cites of Bismarck and Mandan, and Burleigh and Morton counties. The site provides comprehensive information about the Bismarck MSA in a variety of formats, including the National Data Standards. The site also provides links to partner organizations and agencies at the local and state level. BEST GENERAL PURPOSE WEB SITE (locations with populations less than 50,000) Winner: www.blueashadvance.com – City of Blue Ash, OH Description: The city of Blue Ash, OH is a leading economic force and prestigious business address within the Greater Cincinnati, OH region. The newly created Web site is a one-stop resource geared toward professionals who desire information in the following categories: business climate, site selection (GIS real estate locator), city resources, development information, and lifestyle and culture. The site’s design overcomes the challenge of organizing large quantities of pertinent information in an easy-to-navigate and visually attractive format. BUSINESS FACILITIES 39 http://www.treoaz.org http://www.choosemilwaukee.com http://www.bmda.org http://www.iedconline.org http://www.blueashadvance.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Business Facilities - November 2007

Business Facilities - November 2007 Contents First Words Snapshots Metro Spotlight: Indianapolis Region, Indiana Georgia's Pursuit of Industry Extreme Technology Sites A Tennessee Trifecta A Watershed Moment for Philly Metro Spotlight: Mexico-Texas Border Region High Tech and Aerospace Heat up in Arizona Meeting the Information Technology Challenge IEDC Announces 2007 Winners Corporate Moves: Alabama Northeast Arkansas Scores Major Investments Corporate Moves: Virginia Metro Spotlight: Martinsville-Henry County, VA Renewable Michigan Advertiser Index Ask the Expert

Business Facilities - November 2007

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.