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Small and Professional
We talked about confidentiality last month. I want to take that to the next step this month.
Your community is caught between trying to show enough interest in a prospect and being professional in your approach. I think it is safer to err on the side of a small group of representatives.
You should pick your team carefully if local politics allow. I think a welcoming team should be no more than 3 or 4 people. Besides the Economic Development Professional, it should include one appropriate politicians (with absolutely no assistants along), one financial person from the community and one business person, or, perhaps the top administrator at the local hospital.
They should rehearse their roles ahead of time. You know, who is going to talk about taxes and incentives, who is going to talk about the overall business climate and so forth. And, of course, in their rehearsing, they need to learn all they can about the prospect.
If you have time, the team should meet and rehearse two or three times in the two weeks coming up to the visit. And, you, the Economic Development Professional, should have the authority to replace team members if you think the chemistry is not right.
Such a team will best serve your community. It will help alleviate the fears of violated confidentiality that we talked about last month.
Happy hunting! If there is anything I can do for you, please call me at 678-206-6010. | 
