The North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA), an economic development organization encompassing South Carolina’s northeast region, recently hosted the second event in its 2010 Consultant Event Series.  The two-day program, entitled “Prospecting and Closing the Deal” featured Frank Spano, Director of Austin Consulting, and was attended by economic development professionals from NESA’s member counties.

The event focused on the site selection process and what communities should be doing to ensure they are ready to respond when consultants call on them as a potential location for a project.  Through a series of meetings, lectures and question and answer sessions, Spano defined the site selection process, gave a birds-eye view of what community visits should entail, and walked through the typical RFI process.

“This event was particularly useful to the NESA Region as it allowed us to gain further insight into what top consultancy groups expect to see as they are helping their clients determine the best location for their new or expanding facilities,” said NESA’s Executive Committee Member and Business Development Chair Mr. Frank Willis.

“The professionalism of the NESA organization and their nine-county economic development partners is a major asset in the recruitment of new business not only for the area but for the State of South Carolina.  Outstanding corporate citizens representing top-tier companies in the aerospace, food processing, information technology and other industries can be found throughout the NESA Region.  I was also impressed with the assortment of available properties located in quality planned industrial parks to mega-sites containing over 1,000 acres,” said Spano.

The 2010 Consultant Event Series will feature additional events focused on methods for maximizing the effectiveness of economic development outreach.

The North Eastern Strategic Alliance (NESA) is a regional economic development organization that serves a nine-county region in the northeast corner of South Carolina. NESA’s primary objective is to significantly enhance the quality of life for residents of the region by creating additional jobs and capital investment within the existing industry base as well as through recruitment of new companies and expansion of tourism related development. NESA’s nine member counties are Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg.