1. Service of Bearing Resources
Site Identification
Service of Bearing Resources

2. my philosophy “In fact, we showed it to a prospect on Friday”
The site identification service identifies good and viable economic development sites that the EDO could work on for the next couple of years getting ready
Getting the property under control, etc.
As an example, a while back, I ran into a person that worked for a regional partnership and asked;
What ever happened with that site I had identified for you guys?
It was a couple of years after I had performed the study for them
His response was
“In fact, we showed it to a prospect on Friday”

3. first review GIS
I first investigate a county’s GIS website and identify sites that COULD be worthy of being investigated as an economic development site
At this stage, I’m simply interested in larger parcels and access

4. identify locations that COULD be a viable ED site
My investigation thus far has simply produced several sites, 10 in this example, that COULD be an economic development site
At this stage, the number of sites hasn’t yet been narrowed-down

5. Narrow-down number of sites
Then I obtain input from the local economic development people

6. Speak with the locals
The local EDO may be aware of circumstances that render a site to not be worthy of investigating
The local’s input is taken into account and the exact sites that are worthy of being investigated are determined

7. wetlands
Investigate wetlands using the National Wetlands Inventory

8. floodplain
Investigate the floodplain using FEMA

9. Rivers and streams
Investigate rivers and streams using the National Wetlands Inventory

10. Topography
Investigate topography. The picture to the side is from the USGS, but many county GIS websites have a topography layer which may be more detailed

11. Getting arms around topography
In an effort to quantify a site’s topography, I developed a simple algorithm which takes a site’s relief, and divide that by a site’s developable acreage
The algorithm results in a ratio
Relief is defined as the highest elevation of a site minus the lowest elevation

12. Topography Algorithm

13. The scoring of Topography will change based on the area
The area from this example was from a coastal county where EVERYTHING is flat so topography was already good on every site

14. Utilities
I conduct telephone conversations with water and sewer, electric, natural gas, and telecommunication utilities to simply understand WHAT infrastructure is currently in place.
Who is the contact

15. Very Important aspect
I talk to, via telephone, the land owners and determine IF they’d simply be willing to conduct a conversation with the local economic development organization about selling their property.
If they indicate “yes”, the site continues to remain a viable site
If they tell me to “go jump in a lake”, the site isn’t a viable one at this time (but may be later)

16. Scoring the sites
A “weight” is assigned to each attribute that was investigated
1 through 5, with 5 being the highest
The particular attribute being investigated for a site is then “scored”
“weight” x “score” = a weighted score
Summarize all the weighted scores for a site
The higher the total weighted score, the better the site is

17. Scoring the attributes

18. Closer view

19. The outcome - Convey to the EDO Which sites are optimum
From the scoring spreadsheet, the sites can then be “ranked”. The ranking indicates the ones which are the best ones
With the example to the side, the EDOs time is MUCH better spent on developing the Caston or Nelson sites
They’re simply wasting their time if it’s on the Graham or Abbey sites

20. An opinion from someone in Economic Development
During an investigation of a site, Pros and Cons are denoted
Provides an experienced “set of eyes”

21. Example of the information on a site

22. Example of the information on a site

23. The deliverable
Hard-copy notebook with details of investigation including maps
Electronic copy of notebook with details of investigation including maps
Conduct a conference call to discuss results
Continued support from someone who has been in the economic development industry for 16 years