Top National Site Selectors to Provide Expert Advice on the Competitive Advantages of the Region for Business Attraction, Retention
On Wednesday, July 30, NAIOP Pittsburgh (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) will host its second Developers’ Showcase at The Regional Learning Alliance at Cranberry Woods. The event will showcase the opportunities surrounding the region’s key industries and their projected impact on Pittsburgh’s 21st-century economic prosperity.
The theme of the 2008 NAIOP Developers’ Showcase is “Pittsburgh: Energy Works Here!” The keynote speaker will be Westinghouse Electric Company Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Relations Tony Greco.
Beginning at 5 p.m., the NAIOP Showcase includes networking, exhibits and a panel discussion featuring up to ten top national site selectors. The site selectors will share insights and advice relevant to economic development in the Pittsburgh region. Site selectors are experts who specialize in recommending the optimal location for a business based on accessibility to customers, as well as considerations relative to space costs, size, zoning regulations, investment tax credits and the availability and quality of the workforce. These experts play a critical role in influencing local economic development by helping domestic and international companies decide where to locate new facilities. The majority of all Fortune 500 companies hire site selectors to identify their optimal locations. Co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the group of site selection experts is visiting Pittsburgh from July 30 – August 2.
“With Westinghouse Electric Company as a client, I spent a considerable amount of time working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and with the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance. Both responded creatively and aggressively to the challenges presented to them, amid extreme competition from other states, to win the Westinghouse headquarters. I believe Pittsburgh to be a region that understands how to leverage its strengths,” said Ann Marie Woessner, a national site selector with The Staubach Company, now part of Jones Lang LaSalle. Woessner will be among the national site selectors visiting Pittsburgh this July.
A high-tech hub, the Pittsburgh region capitalizes on key industries, including information and communications technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing – along with energy. Pittsburgh is growing from within and from outside the region. Nationally, companies continue to discover the region – attracted by its low cost to do business, high quality of life, ample workforce and central location – and companies are locating or expanding here.
“As an emerging key industry for the Pittsburgh region, energy has a bright future,” said Lynn DeLorenzo, chair of the 2008 NAIOP Showcase and principal at DeLorenzo & Co. LLC.
“Regional business developers are preparing for the business opportunities surrounding energy and our region’s other key sectors. That’s strategic. The products, services and technologies that hail from the region’s companies touch the world and today’s hottest industries, such as energy. Pittsburgh is the place to locate or expand a company with a business portfolio that complements our region’s strengths,” said DeLorenzo.
“In 2007, Westinghouse announced the landmark decision to locate its world headquarters in Butler County, part of the Pittsburgh region, and broke ground for a facility that will be the largest single-tenant campus in Pennsylvania history and a lynchpin for southwestern Pennsylvania’s position as a global hub for nuclear energy technology development,” said Pittsburgh Regional Alliance President Dewitt Peart.
“With the widespread renewed interest in nuclear energy, and in light of Westinghouse’s decision, the Pittsburgh region is already starting to see a surge in spin-off activity related to advanced manufacturing and the nuclear energy supply chain by companies working with Westinghouse. The potential is huge. Businesses capable of contributing to the region’s global supply chain for energy and related industries will discover a sweet spot here,” said Peart.
“Westinghouse and the worldwide nuclear power industry are experiencing significant growth,” said Westinghouse Senior Vice President Tony Greco. “We are pleased to be able to make the investments here that will benefit our industry, our employees and the entire southwest Pennsylvania region. We are equally pleased to be renewing, for the 21st century, our long-standing relationship with the region that has served as our historic home base.”
In addition to the national site selection experts, showcase attendees are expected to include regional elected officials, business investors, economic developers and commercial real estate brokers.
To register for the Developers’ Showcase, call NAIOP at 412.928.8303. On-site registration is also available.
