Editor’s Note

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Consultants

^•^•^SITEGuide

Dear Consultant,

Once again we are pleased to provide you with our Consultants Site Guide: The Site Location Handbook to Leading Corporate Locations, which is produced in conjunction with our 2009 Consultants Forums held in Louisville, Kentucky, (May 31–June 2) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (December 6–8), and a special Consultants Forum: Renewable Energy, Dallas, Texas (Oct. 26–28). Since consultants cannot be familiar with — or visit — every location, we are bringing them to you through the profiles on the pages that follow.

According to many economic analysts and industry groups, the negative near-term outlook may finally give way to a gradual recovery later this year and next. They believe the effects of the federal government’s stimulus package, tax cuts, growth in consumer spending, and recent improvements in the stock market offer signs of hope. As your client companies position themselves for the growth that is expected to follow, be ready to help them take advantage of the many opportunities offered by the profiled organizations.

The web and e-mail addresses of these organizations are provided on the Contents page. You can also access an electronic version of this publication at www.consultantssiteguide.com, or go to our online property database — www.fastfacility.com — to immediately satisfy your client companies’ facility needs.

A special feature describing “The Location Strategy Decision Chain” is included in this issue as well. Larry Moretti, a veteran consultant to corporate end-users, economic development groups, and others who make business deployment decisions, offers his advice on the role of key groups involved in location selection. The 2009 Consultants Site Guide also features the results of our 5th Annual Consultants Survey (published in the December 2008/January 2009 issue of Area Development magazine). You can find this survey online, along with our 2008 Corporate Survey of our readers, by logging onto www.areadevelopment.com/corp-SurveyResults.

Please send your comments or questions about this guide to me at gerri@areadevelopment.com so that we can continue to work in partnership with you to serve industry’s needs.