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HCDC considers moving ahead on public-private partnerships; more stakeholders, more success?

Article Excerpt
GULFPORT--Times have changed and so has the process of recruiting new business and industry to an area, says Michael Olivier, executive director of the Harrison County Development Commission (HCDC).

"It's now more site elimination than site selection. You don't always know you're being looked at,'" he said. "We want to portray our community as pro business. That perception gives us the opportunity to compete and to compete better."

With a multitude of information about an area available on Web sites and unannounced site selection visits by company representatives, economic developers often do not get face-to-face contact with prospects.

"That's the most frustrating thing about economic development," he said. "We're being seen and don't know it."

Olivier says the Internet has become a primary selling tool for economic development and requires constant upgrading. Information such as traffic patterns and an area's water and sewer capabilities can be learned there along with 40 to 50 other community variables. Prospects often make inquiries electronically and the commission employees must respond quickly.

"It takes timing and luck and sometimes we make...

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