Clearly Ahead Development recently attended the Site Selectors Guild in Nashville, Tenn., according to Rob Swales, chief executive officer.
“This year’s annual forum agenda was filled with opportunities to meet with some of the world’s top site selection consultants and corporate real estate leaders,” he said.
According to him, the Site Selectors Guild is the highest association for world site selectors. Members of the Guild are proven site selection leaders and are nominated by their peers.
Swales said that the annual forum opened with a discussion on the State of Site Selection and a key note presentation about the importance of developed infrastructure.
Swales said that following lunch, guild members broke into seven breakout sessions covering: Request for Site Information, Diligence/Fieldwork, Incentives, Workforce/Talent, Sites/Facilities, Organizing and Deploying Tech & Innovation Centers, and Changes in Supply Chains & Impact in Site Selection.
On day two, the Guild hosted corporate officials for roundtable discussions on location selection from the corporate team perspective with representatives from PepsiCo, Hanes Brands, and Zimmer Biomet, he said.
He said, “We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to showcase the vast resources we have immediately available to an exclusive group of site selection consultants that truly represent clients searching for their next area to meet their growth model.
“The site selectors were extremely impressed with our area’s regional assets that are immediately developable for food processing and energy-intense industries. Having the only certified site in Pennsylvania for food processing industries is a major advantage for us to compete with larger metro areas for development activity.”
According to Swales, this year’s annual forum included 41 site selectors from around the world, including Jay Garner of Garner Economics LLC.
Working with Clearly Ahead, Swales said Garner Economics partners with Primus Builders to assemble a comprehensive strategy to promote the Commerce Park, located in Clearfield, for Food Site Certification.
“Garner was instrumental in obtaining the certification of the Clearfield Commerce Park,” he said. “The Commerce Park was awarded the Food Site Certification in August of 2015 and is currently being promoted to food-grade manufacturing prospects looking to grow operations along the Atlantic Coast.
“The Commerce Park is the only Food Site certified industrial park in Pennsylvania.”
Clearly Ahead, he said, discussed with the site selection consultants the assets, which set Clearfield County apart from other areas in Pennsylvania.
More specifically, Swales said this included the 162-acre certified food site, located immediately off Interstate 80, Exit 120, and the 1,800-acre Riverhill Power Site located in Karthaus, for energy-intense industry recruitment.
Clearly Ahead Development is a private, non-profit, membership organization proudly serving the community to create growth and opportunity in Clearfield County.
