orporate site selectors have a new tool to use in their next business location search. It's the revamped Development Alliance web site, the product of a partnership between the International Economic Development Council and Conway Data Inc., publisher of Site Selection magazine.
        Launched in early 2001, www.developmentalliance.com is the corporate real estate industry's portal for the practice of site selection. Beginning this month, the Internet site takes on a whole new look -- one designed to guide prospective site selectors through the process of choosing the best location for a business.
        The primary section of the Development Alliance is the Site Selection Marketplace. Users can now go to this site to:

• Find the ideal community to meet their business needs.
• Compare their current business location(s) with other locations.
• Search various property databases to locate the best available sites.
• Learn more about the business climates and incentive programs being offered at the state and local level around the country.
• Contact state and local economic development agencies when the users are ready to pursue a deal.

Enhanced features of the redesigned web site include:
• IEDN, a criteria-based search engine that allows users to compare U.S. communities.
• Community Profiles Database, where users can scan up to 1,200 data points supplied by participating economic development organizations.
• Community Demographics, State Legislative Climates and State Incentive Programs available to corporate space users.
• Business Parks Directory, where users can scan hundreds of infrastructure-ready business parks across the U.S.
• Property Marketplace, where users can find development-ready sites being marketed by state and local economic development organizations and leading commercial real estate firms.
• Links to economic development agencies, commercial real estate service providers and consulting firms ready to assist corporations on their next facility project.

The Development Alliance also includes links to specific Site Selection articles that rank states and metro areas according to their ability to recruit new business and facilitate corporate expansion projects. Annual rankings such as Governor's Cup, Best State Business Climates, Top Economic Development Groups and Top Development Deals are all accessible via the Development Alliance portal.
        The Development Alliance partnership is a byproduct of the Area Data Standards Task Force of IEDC, a panel of site selection experts who have been meeting for two years to standardize the data collection and reporting methodology for economic developers. Their work has culminated in the creation of 1,200 data points that experienced site selection consultants recommend that every state and local economic development organization compile and report.

        The objective, verifiable data come from federal, state and local sources and cover everything from population and housing to quality of life and consumer expenditures. Household income, per capita income, average commute times, available labor, average wages for select industries, transportation infrastructure and many other points of information are part of the Area Data Standards.
        While participating economic developers pay a fee to the alliance to cover the costs of maintaining the data and the web site, the site itself is a free service to all corporate executives and their site selection consultants.
        For more information on the Development Alliance, go to www.developmentalliance.com, email info@developmentalliance.com or call Ron Starner, Director of Publications for Conway Data Inc. and Site Selection magazine, at 770-325-3425.