How West Wisconsin Communities Can Prepare for Site Selector Requests

West Wisconsin communities should prepare for the opportunity to attract new manufacturing companies to the region. Site selectors have been issuing requests for information as companies throughout the United States and the world look to protect their supply chain from future disruptions caused by pandemics like COVID-19 and the growing number of natural disasters. 

According to the Site Selectors Guild -

“Guild members predict COVID-19 will accelerate the regionalization of supply chains, with 81 percent of respondents saying COVID-19 will have a major impact on global supply chain strategies.

Members pointed out that the previous focus on the lowest cost scenario, which led to growth in China and Southeast Asia, will now become more balanced as companies look to reduce risk. This could benefit North American locations as more companies look to locate production facilities close to the customers they serve and increase redundancy. Many Guild members predict an uptick in on-shoring to the United States, Canada and Mexico – especially in the pharma and life sciences industries.”

An executive order signed on August 8th is likely to accelerate this growth as it calls for the increase in purchasing of medical supplies and drugs from U.S. manufacturers. In a nutshell, the onshoring trend has arrived. As companies come home, there will be communities who win contracts and grow. Momentum West communities should prepare for the opportunity to work with site selectors and executives by preparing information on the following - 

#1 Available Commercial Sites

West Wisconsin has affordable real estate - both shovel ready sites and existing buildings, some of which come with incentives and opportunities to reduce construction costs or lower lease rates. Communities should prepare information on property listings that includes proximity to infrastructure and the availability of utilities. 

#2 Location Advantages 

Located on the main corridor connecting the Twin Cities and Chicago metropolitan areas, West Wisconsin is the premier location for new or expanding business. A location here makes it easy to serve customers in the Twin Cities while benefiting from lower real estate and operational costs. It’s the best of both worlds. 

#3 Transportation Assets

Many communities have rail access and an airport. These location advantages need to be quantified and placed into easily read marketing materials. Afterall, these transportation assets have contributed to Wisconsin being named a Top 10 State for Manufacturing Company Headquarters by IndustryWeek Magazine. 

#4 Strong workforce

People want to live and work in West Wisconsin for reasons that include a cost of living below the national average, fast broadband speeds, immediate access to outdoor recreation, good schools, parks and access to the big city - just an hour away. We have a well-educated workforce supported by UW systems universities & Wisconsin Technical College System institutions. The strength of our educational institutions and workforce needs to be captured in marketing material that can easily be shared with site selectors and executives. 

Momentum West has prepared these tools

Much of this information is already available on the Momentum West website. Communities within our region are encouraged to use our website to gather information. You can search for sites in your area specifically, along with regional resources, and combine them into a report that can be shared with site selectors. To do so, simply click the icon on the page that says “Add to report”. Once each page has been added, click “View custom report” to generate it. Since we know that site selectors and executives are making fast decisions, the ability to create this report immediately could be very useful.  

References and further reading

https://siteselectorsguild.com/news/covid-19-impact-on-site-selection/ 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-ensuring-essential-medicines-medical-countermeasures-critical-inputs-made-united-states/