Field Notes & Analysis
Insights
Practical thinking on corporate site selection, economic development strategy, data center siting, workforce assessment, and the decisions that actually move projects forward.
What City Leaders Need to Know About FIFA World Cup Site Selection
The FIFA World Cup bidding process is more rigorous — and more consequential — than most civic leaders realize. How FIFA chooses hosts, what the economics actually look like, what drives reform, and what separates winning bids from the rest.
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You Already Know Who Won This RFP
There is a moment in every competitive site selection process where a seasoned practitioner looks at the finalist list and already knows how it ends. Here's what the project brief, incentive language, and timeline are actually telling you.
What CEO Succession Planning Has to Do With Site Selection (And Why EDOs Miss It)
The biggest structural weakness in most EDO pipelines isn't the CRM — it's institutional memory. When an ED director leaves, so does the pipeline. On the organizational design problem most communities have never taken seriously.
Stop Comparing Incentive Packages by Face Value
The conventional approach to evaluating economic development incentives — comparing total dollar values — is the wrong analysis. Here's a better framework built around timing, deliverability, and risk.
You're Not Going to See the Arch. You're Going to See the Substation.
The reality of work travel in site selection: FAM tours, site visits, the physical and mental toll, and why boots-on-the-ground still closes the gap between what a community says it is and what it actually is.
What 4,000 Live Job Postings Tell Me That Your Workforce Study Can't
BLS workforce data is 12–18 months old by the time it reaches a conference room. Here's how live job posting intelligence fills that gap — and what it reveals about wage competition, hiring velocity, and labor market direction.
Corporate Site Selection Process: The 9-Step Playbook
A practical, end-to-end guide to corporate site selection: define requirements, screen markets, run RFIs, conduct due diligence, and negotiate incentives. Realistic timelines and common mistakes that derail projects.
Targeted Industry Studies: A Practical Guide to Picking Industries You Can Actually Win
A targeted industry study is a decision tool — built to answer what types of projects your community is most likely to win in the next 12–36 months. What good looks like and how to use it.
Housing Is Infrastructure
Workforce housing is a first-order constraint in industrial growth markets. A field memo on why the financing math is changing and the specific moves communities can make to stay competitive.
Data Center Site Selection: What Actually Matters When Billions Are on the Line
Power deliverability, water constraints, fiber validation, and campus scalability — the real factors behind data center site selection at hyperscale.
What Site Selectors Actually Want from EDOs
Why do strong communities keep losing site selection projects? A site selection consultant's perspective on what site selectors actually look for — and how economic development consulting closes the gap.
What Does a Site Selection Consultant Actually Do (And Do You Need One)?
Thinking about hiring a site selection consultant? Here's an honest breakdown of what they do, when you need one, what to expect, and how dual-sided experience changes the equation.
What 'Shovel-Ready' Actually Means for Site Selection
Most sites marketed as 'shovel-ready' don't hold up under scrutiny. A site selection consultant breaks down what the term really means, where it breaks down, and why it matters.
Public-Private Alignment in Site Selection Projects
The most common project killer isn't bad data — it's misalignment between corporate expectations and community capacity. How to identify and close the gaps early.
Data Center Site Selection: It's a Power Problem, Not a Real Estate Problem
Every data center site search starts with one question: where can we get reliable, affordable power at scale? How to structure the search around the critical path.
Incentives Strategy vs. Incentives Hype: Know the Difference
Incentives can meaningfully change project economics — but only when structured around real operational needs. A site selection consultant breaks down what actually matters in incentive negotiation.
The Month 18 Problem: Why Workforce Assessments Need to Go Deeper
Most workforce studies answer 'Can we hire?' The real question is whether you can staff sustainably at Month 18. A site selection consultant explains how to approach workforce assessment differently.
5 RFI Response Mistakes That Kill Your Community's Chances
After reviewing hundreds of RFI responses from both sides of the table, the five most common — and most avoidable — mistakes communities make at the RFI stage.