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.

Jim Thompson, CEO of Talo Analytic International, Inc. has served as Independent Engineer for financial institutions on approximately $6.5 billion in pulp and paper projects in the United States in the last twenty years.  No one individual has done more of these projects (about twenty unique projects).

Paperitalo Publications, a subsidiary of Talo Analytic International, Inc., has the highest ranked publications in the pulp and paper industry worldwide, PaperMoney and Nip Impressions.  Additionally, Paperitalo Publications operates the only regular podcasts to the industry, Pulp & Paper Radio International.  If you want to market to this industry, there is no better value and effectiveness available than this source.