Consultants Site Guide

It is crucial to understand these groups, as much rests on

their leverage and acceptance. It is the role of the project

team — sometimes with the objective support of consult-

ants — to deliver the facts to the internal and external par-

ties authorized to approve the project. It is the role of the

project team and the economic developers to separate fact

from fiction, communicate balanced messaging to those

concerned about the project’s impact, and to manage miti-

gation as appropriate.

The Decision Chain Evolves during
the Site Selection Process

The underlying process serves as the control point for

managing the decision chain and the changing roles of par-

ties during the project stages, as follows:

STRATEGY: During this stage, the key questions con-

cern project feasibility and rationalization. The decision

chain will most likely be internal to the company and confi-

dential to a core planning team. At this stage, it is critical to

clarify the vision of the project, develop a business case and

roadmap for further actions, and to clearly establish the

stakeholders who will be part of the decision and when they

should be involved. Overall clarity of leadership is essential.

SEARCH: As the process evolves into a feasible plan for

action, other parties may be brought into the decision chain

including consultants, other internal experts, and economic

development organizations. The stakeholders now need to

have a clear understanding of the command and communi-

cations structure. Information overload can be an issue dur-

ing this phase. Sorting through voluminous amounts of —

and often inconsistent — data is frustrating; having a tight

decision process to manage information, messaging, and the

expansion of the decision chain is essential. Many project

teams go off-track by letting the information at hand take

charge of the decision, or by becoming too focused on spe-

cific factors, such as incentives or particular sites.

SELECTION: This is a logical point to selectively expand the decision chain. Sound location selection practice includes thorough investigation to identify “fatal flaws” and evaluate the fit of a location with respect to labor market, operating climate, site/infrastructure, cost, and other factors

deemed important to the project. Sources of evidence are

essential. This is also the right time for the project team to

position the project with community leaders relative to

incentives and other support.

Limits are usually placed on information sharing to pro-

tect project and client confidentiality. This is perhaps the

most critical time to manage the decision chain so it does

not unintentionally expand to additional parties, such as the

media, competitors and others who could potentially com-

promise the delicate nature of the decision-making process.

IMPLEMENTATION: Once the decision becomes

clear, other parties enter the process. These might include

relocating employees and business parties who will potentially

be impacted by the decision. Some may have been woven in

earlier and, at least, their interests should have been consid-

ered in evaluating the alternatives. Third-party project deliv-

ery providers are also essential at this stage, including the

design/build team, equipment and transportation providers,

attorneys for finalizing property transactions, residential relo-

cation companies, outsourcers, and local resources for

recruiting and training. Other internal corporate parties may

become more involved as well, relative to changes in business

operations, new processes, and enhanced market access. This

is also the time, perhaps starting with a formal announce-

ment, to communicate the project benefits and form long-

term relationships with the community at large.

In Sum

Perhaps the most crucial message is to account for the eventual role and potential impact of each and all of these groups and how and when they fit into the decision…EARLY in the process. This brings this discussion full circle back to the first stage of having a program decision roadmap that logically considers the “what ifs” of the decision tree and the variability of the players in the decision. This is essential to effectively planning project implementation and to a successful long-term location decision..