EDCUtah - Economic Review

Feature Story
Economic Development Leaders Network
at IAMC and CoreNet Events

Uncertainty prevails, but optimism is building. That was the sentiment experienced by EDCUtah's President and CEO Jeff Edwards, and Vice President of Business Development Todd Brightwell, who both recently attended major events for corporate real estate executives and site consultants.

Edwards is a member of the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC), which held its Professional Fall Forum in Minneapolis, while Brightwell is a member of CoreNet Global and participated in its Summit in Las Vegas. Both organizations hold US events twice yearly.

IAMC
IAMC is a small, member-focused association of approximately 510, which serves leaders of the manufacturing and industrial asset management industry. Its membership is comprised of an elite group of senior executives in corporate real estate. Leading member companies include 3M Real Estate, Alcoa Inc., Air Products and Chemicals Inc., BASF Corporation, Campbell Soup, CSX, Dell Inc., Honda of America Manufacturing, The Linde Group, Inc., The ServiceMaster Company, Pfizer and Weyerhaeuser Company.

CoreNet
CoreNet is a similar, albeit larger professional association for corporate real estate and workplace executives. It serves leading multinational companies from the Fortune and Global 1000. More than 7,000 members manage over $1.2 trillion in real estate and workplace assets in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

The relationships developed at IAMC and CoreNet events have proven to be quite valuable and favorable for Utah. In fact, one project EDCUtah is currently working came about as a direct result of a relationship developed by Edwards at IAMC. Furthermore, many site consultants now keep Utah top of mind because of EDCUtah's participation in CoreNet.

Economic Sentiment
The economic sentiment experienced by Edwards at the IAMC Forum varied by business sector. Companies in the consumer goods sector, especially those manufacturing discretionary items, are still feeling the pinch of the recession, while the industrial sector is starting to rebound. "In fact, some of the industrial projects that were on hold are looking like they will start to move forward, which is good to hear," he says, "but there is still a good deal of concern about business expansion. A lot of companies are anxiously waiting on the sidelines to see what will happen with the U.S. economy."

Brightwell experienced similar sentiment at CoreNet: "Overall, many of the people attending CoreNet were hopeful the bad times are behind us, but they are still waiting to see what the next few months will bring."

Increased Focus on Incentives
During their networking, Edwards and Brightwell both experienced increased emphasis placed upon financial incentives in recruitment. Says Edwards: "Some states are in quite dire circumstances and are therefore trying to use cash payments to recruit companies. Fortunately, and despite the fact that we aren't throwing bags of money at businesses, Utah's incentive program still stacks up quite well. I think having an incentive program based upon performance is definitely preferable. It keeps tax payers protected and the companies are rewarded for doing what they say they will do."

'Reshoring'
Edwards also noted another interesting change as he networked among IAMC members: "It appears some of the companies that have moved manufacturing or other business units off shore are now considering moving those operations back to the U.S., or as I call it, 'reshoring,' due to the risks to their intellectual property or for other reasons," he says. "That's good news for Utah and especially for rural Utah, because of the lower operating and real estate costs."

CoreNet 'Important'
EDCUtah has been attending CoreNet for many years because it draws hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of influential site consultants and corporate real estate executives. "It's always our goal to ensure that Utah is at the top of each site consultant's list of preferred locations," says Brightwell, "so the CoreNet Global Summit is an important part of EDCUtah's economic development agenda. In years past we have had an EXPO booth, sometimes shared with the states of Wyoming and Idaho, and also hosted special events during the conference. We're always looking for ways to effectively build relationships within this community; however, given the lower attendance at the last several Summits, we did not sponsor a booth or event this year, but intend to do so again when the attendance increases.

In addition to the networking opportunities, the conference also has value for educational purposes. Three educational tracks were most interesting for Brightwell:

The Economic Development Roundtable -- Site selectors provided insight into what is going on within the economic development industry, says Brightwell. Consolidation is much more prevalent, due to the economic uncertainties, and much more attention is being placed upon incentives and how expansion/relocation will impact the P&L in the early years of a project.
Alternative Energy -- Brightwell says Utah appears to be on the radar, but the alternative energy industry is not as mature here as it is in states like Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico. He notes that the Governor's Office of Economic Development is focusing on new incentives for the alternative energy industry, which will help, but adds that more needs to be done in workforce development and education to support the industry's future growth in Utah.
Social Media -- "We discussed how the economic development and corporate real estate communities can use social media to communicate more effectively. With so many avenues of communication, such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked In -- and new avenues appearing all of the time -- it is important for us to get our arms around all of these communication methods. The states that figure out how to use these mediums effectively will have a leg up on the competition" says Brightwell.