Jan. 27, 2006: “Spotlight
on Our Economy” Monthly
Column for The
Palladium-Times
By L. Michael Treadwell, CEcD, Executive Director of Operation
Oswego County
Promoting Oswego County for Economic Development
An excellent quality
of life, a productive and experienced workforce, abundant energy
production, an extensive transportation infrastructure, and a
stable, diverse economy is what makes Oswego County one of the
premier places to live and work and conduct business in New York.
In order to bring attention
to these resources that offer value to a potential business customer,
Operation Oswego County (OOC) utilizes a comprehensive marketing
program including print advertising in various national, international
and regional trade publications, participating in exhibitions
and industry-specific tradeshows, directly targeting prospects,
working in concert with regional and state economic development
allies, and utilizing the Internet.
OOC promotes Oswego County
on a global scale through various ads in trade publications that
are specifically targeted to site selection decision makers and
corporate real estate executives. These
include Business Facilities, Area Development, Site
Selection, Expansion Management and Corporate Real
Estate Leader. In addition to Oswego County’s workforce
and quality of life, our ads promote assets and incentives such
as the “Power for Progress” low-cost energy program
and the Fulton and Oswego Empire Zones. Direct e-mail links
to OOC’s website are also listed on the websites of these
trade publications.
Last year, OOC’s
award-winning website, www.oswegocounty.org,
received more than 641,000 hits. Because of real time
accessibility to comprehensive information about economic assets
and incentive programs, publications, current news and contact
information, we consider our website to be one of our strongest
and most effective marketing tools. The site also offers
a listing of available commercial property, demographic information,
community links and a printable map of Oswego County.
OOC also promotes existing available commercial and industrial
property throughout Oswego County by participating in several Internet
marketing programs including:
- FastFacility (www.fastfacility.com)
is an easy-to-use, website that features a database of thousands
of buildings and sites worldwide and allows prospects to quickly
and efficiently find a building or site that they need free of
charge. The site participates in an advertising campaign
on CNN and also employs a direct marketing program which targets
more than 150,000 corporate decision makers. If prospects
want to obtain further details and/or pricing on a specific building
or site, they are required to contact the economic developer
named on that listing via direct e-mail link;
- NYSiteFinder (www.nylovesbiz.com/NY_SiteFinder/default.asp)
is a free database of available buildings and sites in New York
State developed by Empire State Development to facilitate the
site selection process. The site offers prospects the opportunity
to customize their search to receive comprehensive building or
site specification information such as square footage, acreage,
infrastructure, and transportation access; and
- BusinessFacilities.com is
the online version of Business Facilities magazine which targets
more than 40,000 corporate executives responsible for the expansion
or relocation of their companies. Advertising in the magazine entitles
OOC to list several available properties on the website’s “available
real estate” section. Immediate access to OOC is
provided through a direct e-mail link.
In partnership with National Grid,
OOC also markets available property through its membership in
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Site Selection Network
which provides NAM’s 15,000
members with a direct e-mail link to OOC to evaluate sites and
facilities that meet their immediate expansion needs.
Another essential component of OOC’s
marketing program is to directly solicit industry such as food
processing, plastics, machinery manufacturers, health care and
other light manufacturing operations by utilizing our subscription
to Site Selector Database, contact information for over 1,900
site selection consultants, and by participating in exhibitions
and industry-specific trade shows.
At the regional level, OOC promotes
small business development resources such as SBA and IDA financing,
Micro-Enterprise Program training and OOC’s small business incubator facilities in
the town of Schroeppel and the city of Oswego through regional
advertising, press releases, business outreach and via OOC’s
website.
In order to attract new business and jobs to the area in 2006,
we will continue to aggressively market Oswego County on both a
global and regional scale, sending a message about the resources
available that make our community the right place for business
development.
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