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Technology aids business recruitment tools |
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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
Staff Report
Four counties in South Carolina are reaping the benefits of a new tool the Charlotte Regional Partnership, a nonprofit, public/private economic development organization, is using to recruit businesses to 16 counties in the Charlotte region.
The Partnership recently revamped its Web site, www.charlotteusaprospector.com, using a geographic information system, or GIS, to provide enhanced maps and detailed information about properties.
“More than 90 percent of initial site selection screening is done via the Internet,” said Ronnie Bryant, the Charlotte Regional Partnership’s president and CEO. “Charlotte USA Prospector is an online tool that not only simplifies and speeds up the site selection process, but provides immediate answers about building and land availability, market characteristics, unique business synergies and opportunities, and geographic characteristics and advantages.”
The Partnership, based in Charlotte, represents a 16-county region including several counties in North Carolina and Chester, Chesterfield, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina.
With the addition of GIS technology to the Web site, users can see properties on an interactive Google map as well as details about the properties including development incentives and contact information. Users can also use the site to create demographic reports, such as labor force and consumer spending, and to map businesses by industry to visualize their distribution and concentrations throughout the area.
The Charlotte Regional Partnership’s member counties can update their local site and building data directly on CharlotteUSAProspector.com. The Web site provides access to more than 750 available industrial and commercial buildings and more than 650 industrial facilities, office spaces and greenfield sites in the 16-county Charlotte USA region.
More than 150 of the properties listed are located in South Carolina, according to the Web site.
Published July 1, 2009 |
