WHERE THE JOBS ARE!

Each year, our LiveXchange event provides a fertile meeting ground for site selectors and senior economic developers.

This year—as every sector battles its way from the depths of recession into the sunlight of an emerging recovery—we believe LiveXchange presents a crucial, not-to-be-missed opportunity for locations to zero in on pre-qualified, viable projects in an economy that has winnowed the field and intensified the competition. No other event can offer this kind of a value in return for time well spent.

We have lined up 20 delegations for this year’s LiveXchange who will be representing shovel-ready projects that have the potential to create 6,100 new jobs with more than $86 million in payroll. These projects amount to an astounding $438 million in capital investments, and they all are looking for a home!

Business Facilities LiveXchange is an invitation-only event that provides senior economic developers from across the nation the unique opportunity to meet with representatives from pre-qualified projects in two days of intense face-to-face meetings at a first-class resort. Site selectors can learn everything they need to know about candidate locations directly from the economic development specialists representing their prime site targets.

Not a minute is wasted during these pivotal meetings—which often are the precursors to major site selection decisions —because the itinerary for each attendee is created using our proprietary Group C-Link software, which ensures that site selectors meet all of the attending representatives from the locations they want to scout. Because the event takes place in a resort setting, there also is time for casual interaction during luncheons, dinners and at what often is the most productive business venue: the golf course!

LiveXchange 2009 will take place October 18-20 at the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa in Fort Myers, FL. A limited number of location slots are still available. If your economic development agency still has not seized this crucial job-creating opportunity, we suggest you give one of our reps a call as soon as you can (contact jsemple@groupc.com, bnachsin@groupc.com or dgoldstein@groupc.com for more information about a LiveXchange sponsorship).

As in past events, the unique LiveXchange experience will be supplemented by an all-star list of guest speakers, who will be making presentations and leading discussions on a number of hot-button issues. This year, we are paying particular attention to an emerging sector which rapidly is becoming an economic driver from coast to coast: alternative energy. Fueled by $3 billion in federal stimulus grants, alternative energy projects focused on solar, wind, biomass and other renewable fuels are being pulled off the drawing board and rushed into reality, blossoming like hundreds of ”green shoots” across the national landscape.

Our keynote speaker at this year’s LiveXchange has been in the forefront of the ongoing debate over an issue that has become central to the transition to a green economy: the introduction of a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions. Delivering an address entitled ”What You Need To Know About Carbon Trading” will be William Sloan, is an attorney in the global law firm Morrison & Foerster’s Cleantech Group.

Sloan previously served in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice, and is a member of the Energy Bar Association’s Emission Trading Commission, the Climate Change Advisory Committee for the California Manufacturers and Technical Association, and the Environment, Energy and Resources Section of the American Bar Association.

In his keynote presentation, Sloan will explain how the creation of a carbon-credit marketplace could make the cost of carbon emissions a primary factor in the site selection, expansion, relocation and facilities management decision-making process.

In addition to the keynote, several of our seminars and workshops at this year’s LiveXchange will focus on the emerging green economy:

  • George Tobjy, a Director at KPMG Global Location and Expansion Services, will make a presentation entitled ”Green Economy: Opportunities/Best Emerging Sectors.”
  • David Brandon, Senior Vice President, Site Selection Group, will conduct a seminar on ”Renewable Energy: Target Industry Analysis and Location Trends.”
  • Jerry Szatan, Principal, Szatan and Associates, also will examine the impact of green building and smart growth considerations in his LiveXchange think-tank session on ”Location Strategies for Consolidating Facilities.”

Globalization is another hot-button topic that will be analyzed at LiveXchange. Don Holbrook, Partner, The Vercitas Group, will conduct a seminar entitled ”The Art Of The Deal In Tthe Era of Globalization.”A presentation discussing the ins-an-outs of evaluating locations for high-tech investments will be made by Matt Szuhaj, Director, Strategy and Operations, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Once again, LiveXchange 2009 will take place October 18-20 at the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa in Fort Myers, FL. We look forward to seeing you there.