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GUIDE Area Profile : Example of Content

Bruce Donnelly   bruce@gdi-solutions.com    (Biography)

The details of the GUIDE Area Profile design, content, and work plan will be shared directly with active participants in this new service

The examples shown in this website (for County Durham, England and Tri-Cities, Washington) are just for illustration purposes to make this service more tangible.  The Area Profile content on the website, however, does not reflect all of the work and knowledge behind it.  It is just an introduction to the area, following a consistent style for the convenience of executives.  The Profiles will also typically include more local contacts and website links than shown in the examples.

It also contains contact details and links to additional information sources, which can be particularly helpful when there are multiple organizations with distinct capabilities and project support roles within an area, so that the executive is quickly guided to the most relevant contact point.

Each Profile will therefore be highly customized, and reflect only a small part of the knowledge gained through the development of an ongoing working relationship between GDI Solutions and local area representatives, as well as the relationships with corporate executives to better understand the information which they want to find quickly, which is really the core function of the entire service.

The process of creating the Area Profile together is therefore analogous to the process of developing more detailed Service Profiles about the capabilities of participating professional service providers.

In effect, the Profile of all active participants becomes a convenient "front end" tool for an executive to quickly identify and compare alternatives on the basis of more detailed knowledge which helps to find what is being sought so that very well-qualified introductions can be arranged very rapidly.

The Profile will also cross reference other content, such as Biographic Profiles, major property listings, company lists, service providers known to have strong knowledge for the support of investment projects in the area, and the future GUIDE Area Reports and Experience Reports as optional additional services. 

For areas which provide standardized data on their websites, as provided by the IEDC data standards process, the Area Profile can also provide direct links to such data pages for reference by executives and their advisors.

The main focus of a GUIDE Area Profile isn't simply to publish a summary presentation on this website, with better links to contacts within the area, but to actually work together year after year with area representatives to develop a far more detailed understanding of what differentiates the area so that it becomes easier to suggest appropriate introductions to executives.

The examples and the guidance below are simply intended to make it easier for potential participants to visualize the content and function of the GUIDE Area Profile, and the value for corporate executives and their advisors, as well as for the participating area representatives.

Please contact us directly if you might like to participate in this service, which involves far more work than just the presentation of the resulting GUIDE Area Profile on this website or elsewhere, including the website of the participating organization, with potential links to it from other websites or portals.  The real work is in the periodic sharing of useful local knowledge through the ongoing working relationship.  It is not just a summary Area Profile page on the website, or yet another database full of raw statistics.

The Executive Summary section of the published GUIDE Area Profile content is intended to highlight several key points about the area which should help an executive who is unfamiliar with the area to quickly identify whether it may merit closer examination.  Think of it as analogous to the President's of Chairman's letter at the front of an annual report.  It briefly highlights why the area should be of interest, including recent developments which substantiate the benefits.

The Profile also identifies further resources to "drill down" to details (both content and contacts).  This simple structure makes it much easier to find the same things when trying to compare multiple areas or services, even though the legacy websites of participants may be completely dissimilar in design.  The links can provide a consistent way to find information, even among totally inconsistent websites.

In effect, the "Participants" feature and the linked Area Profiles and Service Profiles becomes the interface through which any executive can quickly find and compare what is needed from the earliest "long list" stages of project planning down to "short list" and final selection details for any participating location, anywhere in the world.  The Maps feature makes it possible to do this directly from a regional map, through "hot spots" which link directly to the relevant profiles and tables of Participants and other contacts.

It becomes a sort of independent "Executive Information System" or Internet portal into the world of global direct investment decisions.  The costs of creating and maintaining this service (and in particular, the organization and professional relationship development work to share detailed local knowledge, which is more infrastructure than a simple Area Profile page on this website) are shared among all participants who want to be reached quickly and easily through such a process.

This is "top of the page" information.  If interested, the executive can easily link from the Profile directly to more detailed content or contacts:

•  the websites of service providers or area representatives, and any other relevant contacts which they may wish to suggest, such as affiliated organizations offering related services
•  e-mail link, phone, fax and address for ease of direct contact
•  e-mail link and phone to easily contact the relationship leader at GDI Solutions to discuss specific needs or interests related to the participating area, and arrange appropriate introductions with the advantage of further knowledge about the participants

This section can also provide links to Biographic Profiles of key contacts, which also provides another path through which the area can be identified (through the Biography section).

It is also possible to identify other relevant contacts for investors, such as other organizations which cooperate in support of investors (either at a higher level, or within the area).  This demonstrates collaboration and helps investors to understand the scope of services offered.

Another option is to identify specific professional service providers in the area, such as consultants or other independent services which are known from prior projects and relationships to be very capable of supporting new investors in the area.  This can be valuable information when an executive prefers to retain such local professionals to address some issues on a confidential basis, rather than rely heavily upon area representatives for highly technical or sensitive issues.

The focus of this section, however, is on local contacts with direct knowledge and responsibility for the support of potential investors.

The disclosure section is a brief explanation of any working relationship between the participant and GDI Solutions.  This to clarify the scope of knowledge which may be available indirectly through GDI Solutions, which may be of particular interest to investors at an early stages of information gathering, or when project confidentiality is a high concern, or when needs and preferences are not yet well-defined.

It openly addresses any investor concerns which may arise because our services are funded by participating area representatives.  Like a stock broker who must tell clients when the firm "makes a market" in a particular stock, this is basic professional conduct for us to address any concern about what some may perceive as a conflict of interest.

There is no need for GDI Solutions to be a "middleman", however.  An executive can easily establish direct contact with the participant through information made available in the Profile and the related links.

This section may also identify any constraints on the ability to be of service in an area, as well as work in progress which may enhance support capabilities beyond what is already apparent through the Area Profile or other published content.  For example, if Area Reports or Experience Reports are under development, it may be useful to identify that even before the Reports are finished and published.

We won't necessarily find all executives first.  They may find us through referrals or research which lead them to our website.  They may not yet want to contact the area representatives about their interests.  They may be looking at many areas initially, and need to know who has the local knowledge to help them, but also a wider perspective and similar independent knowledge and contacts among comparable locations.

The identification of the relationship leader at GDI Solutions makes it easy for executives to reach the person who, through a close working relationship with the area representatives (the basic function of the GUIDE Area Profile and related work), is very familiar with the area, including feedback from other investors, but is still independent and therefore in a good position to support comparisons, and highlight what differentiates one area from another in practice.

That doesn't mean we are going to be their location advisor.  We can introduce professionals who specialize in the location selection, including those who we believe have strong knowledge of the area under consideration from prior experience, or strong capabilities to address the needs of their specific type of project or industry.

Like it or not, this is a common topic of interest to executives.  This section should help executives to understand the general scope of what is available, and how to look into the details, but it needs to be a very simple presentation.

This can be a short but creative collection of valuable links to information about the region, some of which may not be directly related to the investment decision, but still give a "feel for the place" and perhaps help an executive to develop valuable business connections in the area which can lead to opportunities in the future.

The content can also make it easy to visit the area and learn more about what it has to offer, perhaps when in the area on other business at a time when no specific project is under consideration yet.  This can be a more "exploratory" resource than the contacts listed above, which focus more directly on investment project support work.

Assuming a Survey is on file, or available through the website of the participating area (so that it is updated as necessary), the link would be provided here along with a few key highlights of the content.

If a Report is available or under development, that would be highlighted here along with a summary of the key points, with a link as appropriate once it is published (typically on the website of the area).

If there is significant feedback to GDI Solutions from prior investors in the area, it could be summarized here, along with relevant links to follow as appropriate, such as to content in the "lessons learned" or "proven solutions" section.  This is not intended to just be a collection of promotional quotes from friends at the Chamber of Commerce.

The same principle applies as for the Area Report, except that the research behind an Experience Report is performed independently, and the report may therefore be published here or on the website of the service provider who performed the work, who will have knowledge beyond the summary conclusions of the published research Report.