By Jack Rogers
From the January/February 2012 issue
Business Facilities LiveXchange is an invitation-only event for corporate executives responsible for choosing a new location for their companies’ next facility. Delegates meet with senior economic developers from across North America; attend seminars, workshops, and think tanks led by experts in the field of relocation and expansion; and network with other corporate executives faced with the same corporate growth challenges. This month, we review some highlights from speakers and participants at our 2011 event.
Each year, our LiveXchange event provides a fertile meeting ground for site selectors and senior economic developers. The 2011 LiveXchange—our 7th annual event, held at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, CA in October—was no exception. In addition to presenting a business-friendly opportunity for locations to zero in on pre-qualified, viable projects, LiveXchange also offered a thought-proking mix of presentations from industry experts on key issues facing the development community.
Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro delivered a wake-up call to America’s business and government leaders in a provocative keynote address at LiveXchange event, declaring that innovation is the key to the restoration of the American Dream.
In a presentation based on his best-selling book The Comeback, How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream, Shapiro laid out the principles of his grassroots “Innovation Movement” to restore the nation’s entrepreneurial culture as the surest path to recovery and renewal.
“We are in crisis, and it won’t be fixed simply by more government spending or by cutting taxes. Our growing sense of entitlement is destroying America’s innovative culture, which is the true engine of economic growth,” Shapiro told the gathering in San Diego.
Shapiro is spearheading the Innovation Movement, which is designed to develop a cadre of Americans committed to the future of their children and a nation built upon prosperity created by entrepreneurship, innovation and free-market principles.
“What we first need is a national debate on priorities,” Shapiro said. “Together, we can send the message to Washington that greater prosperity requires innovation. It does not require more government spending. Government at its best will be neutral. At its worst, it will get in the way and create barriers to innovation, investment, trade and the creation of long-term jobs.”
Business Facilities’ LiveXchange is a unique, award-winning event which connects senior-level corporate executives actively searching for new locations for major projects together with leading economic development professionals from across the U.S. Attendees at our 2011 event emerged lauding the LiveXchange concept
“What a great concept! Thanks to the excellent up front work by Business Facilities’ staff, over a day and a half; I had 12 meetings with site selectors and corporate executives with legitimate projects. The quality of relationship building time and number of leads surpassed my expectations and already bearing fruit,” reported John A. O’Toole, Business Development Manager of Yankee Gas Services, part of Team New England’s sponsor contingent in San Diego.
“I am now convinced that our increasing work with lead generators and attending LiveXchange are two of the best investments we’ve made in business recruitment,” O’Toole added. “Business Facilities’ LiveXchange is the pinnacle of business recruitment opportunities. By pre-qualifying leads and setting up meetings for its sponsors the odds dramatically improve in the economic developer’s favor.”
For more information about how your organization can attend our upcoming LiveXchange event, visit businessfacilities.com, or contact our national sales manager, Jim Semple at 732-559-1265 or e-mail him at jsemple@groupc.com.