With the recent approval of the site plan and abatements for the proposed data center in Warren County there has been a lot of discussion in the community regarding how economic development projects are vetted and reach the final approval stage.
Recently The Record sat down with Greater Warren County Economic Development Council consultant Steve Etcher and Missouri Partnership Chief Executive Officer Subash Alias to discuss economic development in the region and the state.
Etcher said the types of projects that Warren County goes for are driven by the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council, a public private partnership. Etcher said the plans in Warren County began over 10 years ago looking at certain properties around the county for locations that are best used for industrial purposes. He said then work begins with local governmental entities to prepare them for this economic development.
Etcher said that in Warren and Montgomery County the economic development entities in the two counties will not even talk to a company that doesn’t pay at least 120 percent of the average county wage.
“Our ultimate goal is to increase prosperity and we can’t do that with the status quo,” he said.
Etcher said from the analysis done to determine what companies would best suit the area five targeted industries were identified: manufacturing, agriculture and ag services, food production, technology and advanced manufacturing, and logistics and distribution.
Alias, whose organization is a public-private economic development partnership entity, said that his organization focuses on attracting new companies into the state. Alias said the companies that Missouri Partnership seeks to attract are businesses such as corporate services, manufacturing and distribution and research and development.
Alias said a lot of projects brought into the state recently fall into the general manufacturing category, approximately 75 percent of all projects. Another huge component is distribution centers, he said.
One of the goals of Missouri Partnership is to go out and elevate the profile of Missouri to decision makers, Alias said. As part of that work the organization makes contact with site location consultants who provide the bulk of projects that ultimately locate in the state.
Alias said that the goal of businesses looking to locate anywhere in the country is not so much to select locations, but to eliminate locations that do not fit what they are looking for.
“If you have what they (businesses) are looking for, there is no guarantee you are going to win the project but you will stay in the hunt longer,” Alias said. “If you don’t have what they are looking for you are out.”
He said Missouri Partnership gets the leads and then provides those leads to its partners around the state like officials in Warren County.
“We ask our local partners, we need this many acres, it has this many jobs, it needs this kind of electric load, water/wastewater infrastructure and local groups will package that,” Alias said regarding the process of how projects are distributed to local partners.
Alias said as the local entities package what they have available that information would be sent to the business to see if there is further interest in locating a project.
Step two would be a potential site visit to a specific location or locations throughout the state.
“The site visits are where we roll out the red carpet,” Alias said. “We want to put our best foot forward.”
Etcher said that when leads are sent out statewide, a project is given a code name to protect the confidentiality.
“That is not to be secretive,” Etcher said. “That is to protect our confidentiality.”
Etcher echoed what Alias said with respect to local entities packaging what they have to provide to businesses. Etcher said as part of the development of any package he will work with local county governments and municipalities regarding zoning requirements and restrictions so that information can be provided to respective companies. During this process the county or municipality may not know the exact scope of the project as no project has yet been sited at a location.
Alias said this information is provided so that businesses can determine if the requirements meet what they are looking for at a site.
With respect to why business identities are kept confidential in the early stages of a project, Alias said there are a number of reasons to support confidentiality. One is that companies don’t want to reveal what they are doing until they are ready to reveal it.
“They don’t want to show their hand to their competitors,” Alias said. “That is probably the biggest reason.”
Businesses also don’t want land prices to rise dramatically if they hear a blue-chip company is looking at a location. Another reason is to not concern current employees of a move to another location, he said.
“They also don’t want everyone and their brother calling them, selling them copiers and office furniture,” Alias said.
Alias said company confidentiality is not designed to keep the public in the dark.
“The intent is to follow the client’s wishes,” Alias said. “Because the moment we start revealing who companies are, that is an elimination data point and communities get eliminated for opening their mouths.”
The longer the state and local entities can stay in the running for a project, the better the odds of eventually winning a project. Missouri Partnership has a success ratio of 12 percent of all potential projects, Alias said.
Etcher said that the primary goal of what he and Alias do is to “increase prosperity”
“Change is inevitable,” Etcher said. “The question is what kind of change do you want?”
Etcher noted that the goals of local economic development entities and the state is to ultimately be strategic about what projects they bring in. He also noted that their focus is on larger businesses not retail businesses. Alias seconded Etcher’s analysis.
“We focus on the top of the food chain,” Alias said. “If you attract manufacturers other businesses will show up.”
Alias noted that people often overlook the larger economic development projects that pave the way for retail growth, recognizing only the end result – expanded dining and shopping options – once those major developments have taken hold in a community.
