data brokers

ACN was an online subscription service for economic development information introduced by Towery Publishing (Bob Towery), Memphis, TN, in the mid-1990s. Towery, a supplier of community-oriented publishing services, was later acquired by a Chicago holding company and shut down. ACN moved to Vulcan Publications of Birmingham, AL, where it became ACNOdyssey. In the process of going out of business, Vulcan passed ACNOdyssey on to FieldMedia of Alpharetta, GA. Marc Bailey, the original developer of ACN at Towery, ended up working with FieldMedia. The entry below offers additional details and resources.

bizMiner:

ACNOdyssey was acquired by Doug Field. He apparently attempted to go along with the creation of site selection standards but was shut out from the Development Alliance that created them. FieldMedia formed a working relationship with Plants Sites & Parks magazine. The ACNOdyssey was changed to bizsitesData. At last check www.bizsitesData.com was not accessible and an associated website, Bizsites.com, was for sale as a domain name.

While ACNOdyssey was online it published a sample page of its interpretation of site selection standards. Although the page is no longer online, the information from it was salvaged and is reprinted below with links to additional information available in .network files. The following quote is from www.acnodyssey.com/ID_Boise/index.htm, another webpage that no longer exists.

A committee composed of economic developer associations and site selection consultants developed the industry standard for economic development data. According to this task force, every community needs to have a certain set of data to help prospects in their decision making process. After three years of study, the task force finalized the Site Selection Data Standard template. ACNOdyssey has expanded upon the Site Selection Data Standard template, providing data that is critical to site selectors and economic developers. ACNOdyssey has licensed the required data from the industry's leading data providers and named this product ACNDataPoints. ACNDataPoints averages 2,500 data elements, per community, ranging from demographic data to union information.

FieldMedia attempted to go along with the creation of site selection standards but apparently it and PS&P example of one of its webpages using so called site selection standards set forth by the Development Alliance. A summary of the ACNOdyssey data points is provided below as a reference, although the page itself is no longer available. The Resource Report, 2000.3 has more information about the various data elements of the site selection standards.

bonded warehouses defined

commercial airports defined

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Conway Data, Inc. of Norcross, GA, is known for the association management services it provides for the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) and its predecessor organization the International Development Research Council (IDRC) as well as the World Development Federation (WDF). CDI is also known for its publication of Site Selection magazine. In addition the firm provides specialized online media services which include acting as a location information broker, if not directly, indirectly through the associations. The CDI website states that ... Conway Data launched SiteNet, the first electronic network for the economic development industry, in 1983 and continues to pioneer with the Site Selection Online Insider, Development Alliance, and other leading edge online media services.

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The Site Selection Network (SSN) is administered by Location Management Services, Mission Viejo, CA for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in the US. Location Management Services is a consultation firm operating SSN services as a location information broker of sorts. NAM offers SSN as a benefit for its members. Apparently, other associations, such American Hotel and Lodging Association, American International Automobile Dealers and the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR), are invited into the program through Location Management Services. The SSN focus is on real estate sites and available buildings with ancillary location data offered for a fee that is either a direct or portion of a dues payment as an association benefit. From the quote below it appears that the information available is limited to only those who pay to provide it, suggesting that an enterprise developer wanting a thorough, unbiased, site search would need to hire the consultant.

Site Selection Network members (economic developers, utilities, state departments, regional groups, rural electric coops, and real estate brokers) pay an annual membership fee for the opportunity to respond to SSN searches ... (source of the quote).

The Network you are now using has a program within its Site Selection Directory that allows enterprise developers and site selectors to announce their projects online for free. The cost effective end result from using the service is exactly the same as that which comes about from using, say, the Site Selection Network. The quality of services provided through the Directory and SSN are the same. The Network is not in the information brokerage business.

No are fees charged for use of the Site Selection Directory for those who qualify. As far as experience is concerned, there are twice the number of years of providing site selection services behind the Site Selection Directory as those claimed by the SSN. Most important, perhaps, is the fact that what the Site Selection Directory publishes is open and free to all. This means that it is truly nonpartisan, a point reinforced by the search promise of The Network.

Site Selection Directory services are available that make it possible for uses to protect confidential plans and activities, even withhold their identities, while reaching out to a targeted group or a geographic region to collect location data and proposals. The Directory especially appeals to small businesses and fast-growing companies with a desire for cost effective site selection.

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