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How Economic Developers Evaluate Project Impacts- Site Selection Magazine - March 2001Page 5 of 6 iiimmilimiiiiiiiimminnan Slightly over 50 percent of the administrators cited their own limb and Maths& Pireenti. le experience as the most frequently used tool and/or method used to Indk;h11.81EMIerielal+n+d iS7 evaluate community impacts. Table 8 shows the range of tools and a1. Twi knpitt *1 methods used to evaluate project impacts.Note that the degree to Pira 1 COMiliniert Soils 35.1 which economic development administrators used the tools and whimOf PrifeeloCemOn iffil011 Al methods declines from the moderate use of a few key measures to the i>hnlrelNaad;yelSai.aReview eta New%woo darts 91.2 infrequent use of several methods of evaluating and understanding *wpm&Ms locomen 111.1 project impacts. Employment Mood bodies 11s Moms rad W a IA intens 14.1 Economic development administrators also were asked to rate the hi in in o0snyIndr+ Y its importance of common impacts associated with economic Worker%raln1n Studies 10.9 development projects. As part of this rating,the survey sought 8wmeae Simnel Er 'Yvan 1 Neiwbahaed Advimns Stone Moen 1.5 information on the degree of importance the respondents felt that their eldtanspade! owest Gmaohlws 1,8 respective municipality or agency placed on collecting and analyzing sine"of CORM 17 cost impact data related to economic development projects. Table 9 Contribution to Atolls Rol S summarizes the project costs and impacts in terms of being very important and somewhat important. The importance of developing better R{1 t i ti the I ni j m rt;ince of insights into the practices of economic Economic D o v t:k n ll nl u n t Costs development officials cannot be understated. piwonsig.Roo" For some industries,projects and impactieetAn. Yirn ImPartlint Saffwafil.t communities,this information may not be Inkestromore Come KS 5 relevant-- for now. However,things change, III En*olM 6n1N Welke 1i S 42.7 Trek coonson443 i1 and the once friendly community may become Polleo and F m Semite sttl 591.7 highly critical of corporate site selection plans Phi."'"Cam 31.3 4" or an expansion project. In addition to Emiliern Tainting 21.1 *7 keno*Tom Fawns XS 43. 7 objective third-party studies(economic,fiscal AcoeWaana 19.8 sot impact,market value, infrastructure and R*nUon of Menepois/Eopineors 131.11 34.3 environmental impact)conducted for your Trenrit lonloots 12 361 firm,the research activities of local economic Social Service Costs lar Ws Worker" 49 211.2 development administrators can prove to be a valuable resource to explain your firm's position to the community and elected officials. The value of impact and cost benefit studies conducted(or not conducted)by the public sector can be critical in the identification of your company's contribution to and compatibility with a community. The information collected and the analysis performed by public agencies provides a way for politicians and citizens to better understand the value of your company as a member of a community. The information collected by economic development program administrators can go a long way in changing negative public attitudes about a project and can be a critical resource in the early identification of potential site location problems.MIMI niDr. Thomas A. Musil(tamusil@stthomas_edu)is director of the Center for Real Estate Education, a division of the Graduate School of Business at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. • http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2001/mar/p146/ 4/5/01