If your company is planning an expansion into the United States, where is the first place to go for the most comprehensive and up-to-date location information?
You might think of a city chamber of commerce or a state economic development agency. But one resource you shouldn't overlook is a utility company.
What kind of role can a U.S. utility play in your company's site search? Probably a much bigger one than a typical European utility.
U.S. utilities have, at their disposal, the same tools that economic development agencies have, including information on site availability, labor, demographics, taxes, incentives and much more. Not only that, but long after you've located in their service territory, utilities are motivated to do what it takes to keep you a customer for life.
Regional orientation
One big advantage many of these utility companies have is that they cover wide territories, often in multiple states.
"The first thing an expanding company should do is determine the geographic area that will satisfy their needs," said Gary Williams of Alliant Utilities. Alliant serves a territory covering portions of four states, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.
"Once you've determined this broad -- or narrow-- region of interest, a utility can help further narrow the possibilities," said Williams.
| U.S. utilities are ready to assist you in all the ways they normally would a domestic company, and that encompasses quite a lot. |
When utility companies cross state lines, they tend to be more regionally-oriented, and therefore better able to supply more objective, comparative information on your different areas of interest.
Like Alliant, Connectiv is another utility that serves multiple states, including Delaware, Maryland
and small portions of New Jersey
and Virginia.
"Normally, when we've had folks from overseas looking, they've identified a very broad area, for instance, the whole East Coast or the Mid-Atlantic region," said Richard Perniciaro, deputy director of economic development at Connectiv. "So what we do is give the more regional, more comparative information so that they can narrow it down from one part of the country to, hopefully, our part of the country."
They can also provide valuable comparative rate information.
"We can supply information on electric rates for our area versus our other Mid-Atlantic competitors," said Perniciaro. "Information on taxes, labor, all of that so that they can see how our part of New Jersey, Maryland or Delaware stacks up against neighboring states in the Mid-Atlantic region. And we can also perform valuable market research."
And it's not only information on energy that they can provide.
"I think one of the most useful things we can do is tell them if they come into our area, whether they are going to find a market for whatever product they have," said Perniciaro. "We can find where their competitors would be located and where their suppliers are, and we can tell them exactly where those folks are, where they're concentrated and how big they are."
Utility headhunters
Some utilities, like New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG), can help with employment searches and assist in identifying export markets.
"Typically, the company may want to hire an American who speaks their language, who has experience in their specific industry, and we can help them with a national or regional search," said Chris Wood, manager of economic development at NYSEG.
"And we would also assist them with exporting," said Wood.
| "We can find where their competitors would be located and where their suppliers are, and we can tell them exactly where those folks are,
where they're concentrated and how big they are."
--Richard Perniciaro, deputy director, economic development, Connectiv |
"We've got an international development manager on staff who works with all of our industrial customers in helping them with identifying export markets. So, for example, if a European company were setting up a branch plant here to service the North American market, we would help them identify the appropriate export management company that could represent their product or service in certain markets they'd want to penetrate, whether it's in Canada or Mexico or South America, in addition, obviously, to the U.S. market."
The list of available assistance doesn't stop there.
"We can identify the appropriate materials, suppliers or subcontractors that they would need to access for their operation, as well as all the freight forwarding and any kind of customs brokerage information they would need in respect to finding the best route to bring their goods into the country," said Wood. "We could introduce them to the institutional and state university R&D resources that they may want to partner with in doing product development. So we can help
them, if they would like that assistance."
Special incentive rates
Some utilities have their
own incentives or economic development discount rates, like Carolina Electric Co-Op.
"In addition to the basic packages of information that we provide, we do have a zero-interest loan which is available through our member cooperatives," said Bud Cohoon, director of economic development. "And in a lot of cases it's a pass-through directly to a community to construct a speculative building, or it can be passed through to a business, and there are no constraints as far as the type of company eligible -- it can be domestic or international."
Not every utility offers incentives or special rates, but any utility can inform you of the details and eligibility requirements of state financing programs, direct you to the appropriate state contacts and work with the state to help put together financing for your company's new operation.
Indeed, most utilities in this country look at the total picture of your company's operation, not just the billing and supplying of electricity or natural gas. Texas-based Enron is an example of a power company can cross all geographic boundaries and can help with virtually any aspect of your site location project, anywhere in the United States.
"What we do is act as a facilitator, by interacting with state, regional and local economic development organizations," said Jennifer Arnold, director of economic development at Enron. "We do things like utility representation, where we'll work with the company and the local utility to make sure that they receive the best possible pricing. We also put together what we call an integrated solution for the company, meaning not just power, but how we can finance the project and how we can do infrastructure."
Some utilities are also surprisingly diversified these days.
"We own architecture and engineering firms, so we can assist with designing the internal mechanical systems of the facility so that they can be the most efficient," said Arnold.
The gift that keeps on giving
And why do utilities have such a strong compulsion to serve your needs?
"We're a regulated business, but we have to function just like a business," said NYSEG's Wood. "We look at rates and return on capital, control of expenditures and we have customer service, so that when we deal with a client, it's a business to business relationship. We understand the issues that our clients address because we address the same issues day in and day out, because we both function as profit-making entities. We have a very keen appreciation for what they're doing, and additionally, the more successful they are, the more successful we'll be."
It's an attitude that grows with the passage of time.
| "We understand the issues that our clients address because we address the same issues day in and day out, because we both function as profit-making entities."
--Chris Wood, manager, economic development, NYSEG |
"The more they grow, the larger a customer of ours they will be," said Wood. "We have a very strong incentive to see them succeed and prosper. So, we look at establishing a long range relationship, a long term partnership, with the company. If they're a reasonably good-sized company, we will sign a key account manager to work with them to provide technical expertise, address any issues they may have regarding service reliability."
C. David Hudgins, economic development director of Old Dominion Electric Co-Op in Virginia, agreed.
"Companies want a partner, somebody they can rely on when their business needs change," said Hudgins. "They don't want to feel that they've been taken advantage of on the front end, and then on the back end of the deal. When technology changes and they need the same level of service, they want to be sure that it's going to be there. The other thing is that they want some assurance that the utility they're dealing with has some state-of-the-art facilities, competent management and is a resource they can depend on for the latest changes and technology updates."
| The Global Reach of Utilities
GPU is an electric utility serving parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, plus a few counties in New York. Like a lot of other U.S. utility companies, GPU is fully equipped to provide prospective companies with state of the art databases of potential new sites, industrial parks and office buildings, in addition to a wealth of information on the various communities it serves.
But what makes companies like GPU even better prepared to meet the needs of expanding companies, particularly those with ownership outside the U.S., is its international reach.
In the case of GPU, the company has two major utility holdings serving a total of about five million customers -- one in Birmingham, England and the other in Australia -- in addition to a host of smaller holdings in several other countries in Europe, South America and Asia.
"By looking at this international network of subsidiaries, this is an excellent network for companies to make connections," said Ulrich Schmidt, an international consultant in GPU's Business Development Department. "The main focus of this network is to help companies with their transition into the U.S., but we also have examples where we successfully worked with U.S. companies making the transition into one of those markets in which we own companies."
The advantage is that GPU serves a larger territory, both domestically and internationally.
"If you look at our service territory in the U.S., you could probably find anything from a very rural area to a major metropolitan area," he said. "And it works the same way internationally."
GPU also has a special program in place which caters to international companies.
"We broaden our services because we know that international companies have a lot more questions, for example, questions about visas, transferring foreign personnel to the U.S., or finding the right accounting firm," said Schmidt. "We can help establish these connections." -- Kerrianne Monahan |
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