Iredell EDC Joins Select CLT on Site Selection Consultants Trip
Iredell EDC participated in a Site Selection Consultants Trip along with Select CLT March 14th through 16th in Atlanta Georgia. A total of eight site consultants from the Southeast US Region representing a variety of industry sectors were in attendance. Chad Thomas, VP 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 shares. “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 says. “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. Thomas states, “Communities need to have an ESG strategy to compete for projects in the future. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as well as Resiliency and Sustainability seem to the primary focus.”