Site Dyanamics launched its latest client site today for Florence County Economic Development Partnership at www.sidyn.com/fcedp.  

“SiteXcellerator gives us the ability to do more with our sites and attract the right site selectors and companies.  The product combines strong mapping with a robust demographics and company database in a very clean and easy to use interface.  SiteXcellerator’s features and benefits set it apart from other solutions and fit our budget.”
– Kyle Edney, Assistant Director, Florence County Economic Development Partnership

SunTech recently announced that they plan to construct a manufacturing facility for modules in Arizona is that will begin production in the third quarter of 2010.  This decision comes after an 18 month search selection process.  SunTech’s decision is further evidence of a domestic location for the solar manufacturing.   This may be driven by the projected growth in demand and pending regulatory support for solar in the US. 

SunTech’s decision was driven by strategic location and incentives.  Arizona has been working to try to pass legislation to recruit and retain solar firms for many years, after falling short in recent years.  The ability to deliver meaningful incentives in the current environment is key to attracting solar manufacturing.

As a site selection professional, I have often said that we have a partnership with the economic development profession in meeting the needs of our clients. We rely on economic developers around the country to support us in identifying sites and buildings by having local policies that will support the operations of our clients. At the IEDC (International Economic Development Council) conference in Reno that concluded last Wednesday, it was apparent to me that in this economy both site selectors and economic development groups are in alignment on many issues. During the site consultants forum I discovered that one of these issues includes the types of projects we are working on in general (more on that in an upcoming post).