Robert Pittman of Janus Economics Addresses Breakfast Attendees April on 24th.

During the weekend long visit to all three counties, the consultants were able to experience Monroeville's commemoration of the 50^th Anniversary of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and also view the local production of "To Kill a Mockingbird," performed by The Mockingbird Players.  

The consultants attended a reception prior to the play at Dr. John and Laurie Johnson's home. In attendance were the consultants; Wiley Blankenship, President/ CEO of Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Authority (CGEDA); Robert Ingram of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance (BCEDA) and wife Barbara; Pete Black of Alabama River Pulp (ARP) and wife Patsy; Heather Coleman of ARP; Judge Greg and Terry Norris; Mayor Mike Kennedy and his wife Cindy; Nisa Miranda, the Director of the University Center for Economic Development (UCED) at The University of Alabama; Linda Vice, Director of the Southwest Alabama Tourism and Film Office; and Glen Haab of the Monroe/ Monroeville Economic Development Authority and his wife Melissa. After the production, the consultants attended the reception at the Old Courthouse Museum Grounds where they had the opportunity to meet additional people from the region. 

"We spent Thursday to Sunday with the site consultants," said Blankenship; "The comments I received regarding the familiarization tour were very positive. The consultants were able to see many of the assets of Escambia, Conecuh and Monroe Counties and conduct a wind shield tour of the region. They were able to familiarize themselves with regional buildings and industry as well as experience the flavor and culture of our communities. The consultants were thrilled with 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and shared with me as late as Sunday how much they enjoyed the chance to see the play and enjoy the opportunities that came along with it."

A breakfast sponsored by PCI and Wind Creek Casino and Hotel was held with the consultants on Saturday, April 24^th at 8:15 am at the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in Atmore, AL. Around 20 people were in attendance including Atmore Mayor Howard Shell, Monroeville Mayor Mike Kennedy, industrial development members from all three counties and all regional economic developers.

At the breakfast, attendees heard information regarding what companies look for when choosing a community and how our region can be better prepared for consultants or companies conducting site location decisions. Many important topics were covered at the breakfast that the Coastal Gateway region should be aware of.

Robert Pittman of Janus Economics stressed the importance of having local incentives on paper. He said communities have to be competitive when it comes to incentives. Local incentives come into play at the back end of a project once a company or site consultant has narrowed their selection down to 2 or 3 communities or regions. A community is not "buying" a project by having incentives ready and available according to Pittman. "Incentives cannot make a bad site or community good. You must still have the labor force, business climate and appropriate site for the project in order to make the short list. But, incentives must still come into play," said Pittman. Pittman encouraged attendees to take a look at their community or region's incentives and make sure that they are competitive with other communities.The consultants also shared some secrets to success in economic development with attendees.

According to Pittman, a region should fine-tune the "3 P's in economic development" which are product, promotion and patience.

The first is for a community or region to develop a good product. You must have a community that companies want to locate and work in, especially, if pre-existing employees of the company will be re-locating.

Pittman said, "A lot of times communities look at themselves through rose colored glasses. Why wouldn't a company want to re-locate here?  Look at your community as an outsider and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses". Communities need to spend as much time developing their product as any other traditional economic development methods such as recruiting, business retention, expansion and new business start up. 

The second P is promotion. Rural communities must market themselves. Pittman, being from rural Georgia, is very passionate about rural economic development. Rural communities often rely on the state and local utilities to bring in prospects and do not market themselves.  "Let me praise regionalism. It is more difficult for an individual community or county to mount the type of marketing campaign or attend the appropriate trade shows. But, collectively as a region, you can have representation from the Coastal Gateway do some of the important marketing activities individual communities can't do," according to Pittman.

Pittman also said that all city and county budgets are limited."If you get together collectively and identify types of industry i.e. entrepreneurs, distribution centers, advanced manufacturing and look at the requirements of these companies and say what can we do? What is the biggest bang for our buck that we know we have a shot at? What can we do as a region?" Pittman says communities should do their homework and eliminate recruitment of industries that they cannot attract and then maximize dollars towards recruiting industries that they can realistically bring in.

Jennifer Tanner of Janus Economics said "You are not just competing with Alabama, but with the world". Pittman said this is why regionalism is more important now than ever. "I like Alabama's Coastal Gateway region. The name says where you are located and that you are the gateway to the coast. The name tells other counties a lot about you as opposed to a local name. That's one reason regionalism is so important," said Pittman.

The consultants have very specific information that they prefer in community marketing pieces. Erin Henderson of The Aetos Group said that as a site consultant she prefers a community or site to have a one to two page marketing piece that contains information on the front page letting her know if it is shovel ready, the utilities, size, water, sewer, power, transportation infrastructure, proximity to interstates or highways and telecommunications, etc. It is highly important to have this information as well as any local incentives on paper.Quality of life information is important to have on paper if a community has economic focuses on tourism. However, Henderson said from her standpoint quality of life information is not as important on a marketing piece unless employees of a company choosing a site are looking to re-locate with the region.

According to all of the consultants there are many important factors in marketing your community to a company. A good transportation network is important but it does not have to be an interstate. Also, it is essential to have prepared sites. For example: Is the site shovel ready?  Does it have utilities? Labor force is often the deciding factor for a company deciding between several communities. Anything your community can do to market your labor force should be done.

Robert Ingram of the BCEDA said a lot of initial cuts in site selection are now made based on Internet findings.  Ingram said that a region's prime marketing piece should be their website.  Henderson furthered the point by stating that every property or site in a community should be on the web. 

The final P in economic development for a region is patience.  According to Pittman, it takes a while to implement an economic development-marketing plan and come up with a targeted industry strategy. Pittman said regions should "do their homework, create a shared vision for 5-10 years and put it into a strategic plan.You will win if you do that".

The consultants also discussed some major trends they are seeing in rural economic development. Pittman said "we are at a crossroads in rural economic development.Low scale manufacturing from twenty to thirty years ago is not going to come back so communities need to completely re-think themselves. High scale manufacturing is here and alive. Rural communities can be highly competitive in advanced manufacturing."

Small companies are also a good target for rural communities because they can often do work anywhere. As long as a community has Wi-Fi, cell phone coverage and a proximity to an airport a rural community can attract small companies. 

In addition to targeting advanced manufacturing and small businesses, communities need to put more emphasis on identifying specific industries that will be attracted to their community. Communities need to look at their labor force and unemployed population with skill sets and match this with requirements of industries in the marketplace. As previously mentioned, it is extremely important to have a skilled labor force.Pittman said from what he has seen of our region, we have some good community college level education. He stressed that the Coastal Gateway region must have programs to train people in advanced manufacturing in order for the region to be competitive. Pittman went on to say that "once the area has the training, it can go on to target potential companies for the region".

The consultants also discussed the significance of speculative buildings in rural communities. Pittman said that spec buildings are important if a community is "development ready". Many site searches begin with the want for an existing building because of a need for speed. According to the consultants, a spec building in a rural community should typically be 30,000 - 50,000 sq. ft. 

Robert Ingram said that the height of a spec building is extremely important. He said a community should not even consider building a spec with less than a 27 ft. eave or at least expandable to that height. He also stressed the importance of having enough grounds outside of the building for potential use. It is also important to keep up the grounds and treat the spec building "like a spec house" said Ingram.

In Pittman's observation, 85-90% of specs developed will attract a new company or enable an existing industry to expand within 2-3 years.The 10-20% of specs that do not sell may remain sitting for two reasons:

1)     The building is out of proportion or does not fit the community (too small or large, odd shape, ceiling too low).

2)     There is something else wrong with the community (lack of trainable labor, poor educational system, proximity to markets).

A "spec building becomes a calling card for your community," explained Tanner. Even if a spec building sits for several years, you are still going to generate multiple leads and it is worth the initial cost. Blankenship said "about three months ago we started sending out the 'Monthly Pipeline Report' which documents leads or active projects for all available buildings or sites within the region.Through the pipeline report, I can tell you what inquiries have been made" on all regional spec buildings.

Tanner said that if your community does not have a spec building and plans on building one to contact your state economic development association and find out what building sizes are currently selling.

The consultants also spoke about how a community as a whole can effect economic development. Pittman said that it is difficult to attract a business to transform a community. The best thing for a community to do is determine what kind of business they want; make their community attractive for that type of industry and then "you will get it".

Pittman said that citizens within a community should follow two factors for success in economic development: The local leadership should have a good understanding of economic development and the general population should have some understanding of economic development and what it takes. Henderson agreed by saying that "if a community has an anti-growth attitude, it can hurt the community as a whole". Henderson expounded on this point by saying that communities must give their economic developers the freedom to make decisions.

Robert Ingram said that a community cannot be successful if it does not have a love and passion for economic development. Ingram said, "The economic developers in this room know and love their communities. If a potential company is talking to a Marshall Rogers who loves and knows their community versus someone who doesn't, they can tell the difference. Ya'll are fortunate to have these kind of economic developers in the region". 

CGEDA has held meetings with the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and the BCEDA to discuss cross-marketing and plan industrial site consultant visits to Clarke and Choctaw Counties with a target time frame of June 2010.

The Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce held a tourism roundtable discussion on Tuesday, April 20^th from 7:30 to 9:00 am at the Escambia County Industrial Development Authority. Around fifteen local citizens were in attendance including Atmore Mayor Howard Shell; Sheryl Vickery, Executive Director of the Atmore Chamber; Jennifer Chism, Marketing Manager of Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority; Robert Thrower, Cultural Director/ THPO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians; and Lisa Reynolds, President of the Atmore Chamber.Participants provided valuable input on ideas to increase the tourism base in Atmore.Discussion topics included the City working closer with other counties in our region to cross-promote tourism.

Linda Vice, Director of the Southwest Alabama Tourism and Film Office, offered very insightful and productive information for the region based on her past successes.Vice said, "I think the tourism roundtable was a great step in getting the Atmore area organized to promote its assets. It is great that the town and the Poarch Creeks are coming together to coordinate assets. Tourists are looking for a variety of experiences. It takes planning and cooperation to get things done. Kudos to the Mayor, Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development, the Poarch Creek Tribe and the interested businesses in Atmore for beginning their planning process. When all partners come to the table, everybody brings something important. When everybody gets on the same page, great things happen for a community"!

Wiley Blankenship, President/ CEO of Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Authority (CGEDA), and Laurie Swift, Director of Marketing Relations, were asked to attend by Atmore Chamber President Lisa Reynolds.Although the staff at the CGEDA does not specifically deal with tourism, they were asked to give their opinions and ideas on how increased tourism could benefit Atmore and our region economically. These meetings are expected to continue and could potentially grow into a larger endeavor for the entire region. 

Alabama Lifestyles Expo Update

CGEDA sponsored a booth at the Alabama Lifestyles Expo in Orange Beach on February 11^th, 2010. The local chambers of commerce were invited to participate in order to promote the tourism aspects of their communities.

The Expo attracted almost 2,000 attendees with a makeup of people who are looking to re-locate, retire and tourists.There were 65 exhibitors who took the opportunity to showcase what sets them apart.

Annita Magee, Office Manager of CGEDA, received a spreadsheet from Mr. Bill Meadows with the Alabama Lifestyles Expo containing the attendees from this year's expo. She reviewed it and worked out some percentages and we thought you may find the following informative.  

In total, there were attendees from 38 states and Canada.  A total of 1,834 people attended the event. Approximately 75% (1,366) were from the following states: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI and Canada. This suggests that the bulk of the expo's attendees traveled through the Coastal Gateway region to Gulf Shores, etc. if traveling by car.

Participating regional chambers for this year's expo were Marlo Anderson and Amy Prescott of the Southwest Alabama Chamber of Commerce, Sheryl Vickery with the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, Marshall Rogers with the Escambia County Industrial Development Authority and LaKesha Womack with the Evergreen/ Conecuh Chamber of Commerce.

"Our communities are great places for retirement. We are the Coastal Gateway. So as retirees leave Florida (statistics show that they are leaving) we still have the climate they are looking for plus we have small towns that are ideal for a retiree's lifestyle. We are already getting a lot of retirees who have roots to the area. We need to take this one step further and invite other retirees to come and see what we have to offer. Retirees usually come with financial assets and disposable income. This is another form of economic development," explained Linda Vice.

By sponsoring the afore-mentioned Alabama Lifestyles Expo booth and through other ongoing promotions, CGEDA increases opportunities for our region's tourism revenue by assisting the local chambers and cities.