Iredell EDC participated in a Site Selection Consultants Trip along with the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance Select CLT Team March 14 through 16 in Atlanta. A total of eight site consultants from the Southeast US Region representing a variety of industry sectors were in attendance. Chad Thomas, vice president of economic development, participated in the trip on behalf of Iredell EDC.
“The Charlotte Region has a positive reputation within the site selection community,” Thomas said. “Many of them are familiar with the Iredell County market, and they are all impressed with the amount of product development activity in our market.”
A key takeaway according to Thomas is the need for companies to have an automation strategy.
“Companies are beginning to conduct a ‘Resiliency and Automation’ analysis,” he said. “Companies should begin creating automation strategies. The Fintech and Insurance industries appear to be the most vulnerable to automation in the next five years.”
Environmental, Social, and Governance or ESG will also play a much greater role moving forward.
“Communities need to have an ESG strategy to compete for projects in the future,” Thomas said. “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as well as Resiliency and Sustainability seem to be the primary focus.”
