The worst thing about the site selection process was that it took so long to accomplish. A decade ago, it wasn’t unusual for the process to take 18 months before the final location was chosen.

As technology improved, and as time-to-market demands increased, the process began to shrink dramatically, to the point where it wasn’t unusual for the entire process — from conception to moving in — to take less than three months.

Time to market was the real driver in dramatically reducing the time available for what is essentially a very deliberate process. Technology made it possible.

With the phenomenal growth of the Internet during the past 10 years, the world has come to our doorstep — or at least to our computer screen.

No longer is it necessary to visit 20 or 30 cities in a frantic two-week period culminating in jet lag, indigestion and frequent confusion over whether that railhead was at the site in Tuscaloosa or College Station. No longer will you have to sort through half-ton of paper mailed to you in response to your request for information on a few simple questions.

Nowadays, a corporate site selector can accomplish what once took months of travelling (as well as tens of thousands of dollars) in a matter of a few short days, or at least a few short weeks, without ever leaving the security of his or her own desk.

How? The Internet.

Now, you can gather a wealth of information on a variety of locations and subjects in a mere fraction of the time it once took. This is particularly critical in reducing the amount of time it takes you to reduce your list of possible candidates down to a more manageable five to 10 locations. Beyond that, you’re going to have to physically visit the sites on your list.

Herewith, in no particular order, is a brief list of the major topic areas you’ll need to address, as well as some recommended Web sites to begin your search.

TAXES

Knowing as much as you can about a location’s tax “burden” is absolutely critical in determining whether a particular location is financially viable.

www.taxadmin.org/fta: The Federation of Tax Administrators is, by far, the best site to go to for the most current information on taxes. You can compare the current corporate and individual income tax rates for each of the 50 states, along with sales and excise tax information, motor fuel taxes, etc. Just about everything you want to know about state and local taxes can be found here.

REAL ESTATE

Although looking at actual real estate occurs in the latter stages of your site search, knowing where to tap an enormous volume of current information on commercial and industrial properties is an absolute must. Here are a couple of examples:

www.loopnet.com: With more than 300,000 registered members representing about 160 commercial real estate organizations, this site offers more than 2 billion square feet of space for lease, as well as more than $100 billion in properties for sale. It also provides links to many of the major real estate firms in the world.

www.ExpansionManagement.com: A new feature on this site, look under the “Moving or Expanding” heading and click on “available properties.”

UTILITIES

Utility companies are a major source of information and assistance to companies engaged in the site selection process. Typically, utilities are able to provide you with valuable information on actual real estate sites, as well as enabling you to fairly accurately estimate your future energy costs in a variety of locations.

www.locationtexas.com: This is the economic development Web site for Oncor, part of TXU Corp. A pull-down menu option on the home page allows you to select from such topics as electricity, gas, utility solutions, city inspection requirements, construction & development, etc.

www.smud.org: Another example of a utility company economic development site, clicking on “For Your Business” will enable you to gather information on utility costs in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California.

STATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPERS

State departments of commerce or departments of economic development exist to make it easier for businesses like yours to set up operations in their state.

In addition to being able to provide you with a wealth of information about doing business in their particular state, they are also the people who can help streamline the bureaucratic red tape you will invariably encounter.

They are also the best people to address state-level financial incentives your company may be eligible for. Every state has a Web site — i.e., Louisiana (www.lded.state.la.us), Virginia (www.yesvirginia.com), Texas (www.tded.state.tx.us), etc.

For a complete listing of all 50 state economic development Web sites, see the chart on page XX.

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPERS

In addition to the state sites, you can also find a tremendous amount of information about doing business in a particular metro area simply by going to that city’s Web site. Most cities you might be considering almost certainly have a Web site, although the quality of the information on the site varies wildly.

The best way to find a city’s economic development Web site is to go to your favorite search engine (i.e., Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, etc.) and type in the city’s name, along with the words “economic development.”

Most major metro areas, like Richmond, Va., (www.grpva.com) or San Antonio, Texas, (www.sanantonioedf.com) have excellent interactive Web sites that are easy to navigate and can provide you with a wealth of information about doing business in that metro.

Other metro areas have “bare bones” sites that provide you with little useful information other than a phone number and address. Still, that’s better than nothing and, besides, you’re eventually going to have to talk to a person anyway.

INTERNATIONAL

The Internet is a worldwide phenomenon, and the United States is not the only place where you can find data and information about doing business abroad.

As was the case with local (U.S.) economic development organizations, the best way to locate the appropriate economic development organization for a foreign city or country is to go to your favorite search engines and type in the city and country name, along with the words “economic development.” That should get you started.

In addition, there are a number of site location consultants, such as Buck Consultants International (www.bciglobal.com), that specialize in international site selection services.

DEMOGRAPHIC

When it comes to demographic data, the U.S. Census Bureau site (www.census.gov) is still the best place to begin. Also, as they begin to make available more and more data from the 2000 Census, it has become even more valuable.

By far the most useful part of the site for corporate site selectors is the “American FactFinder,” which allows you to get demographic data down to zip code level.

ECONOMIC

A good place to begin for national and regional economic data and analysis is the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site (www.bea.doc.gov). This site is particularly useful if you’re looking for data on personal incomes or gross state product.

WORK FORCE

The basic site for labor data is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site (www.bls.gov). The BLS home page is a comprehensive directory, logically organized, of the numerous labor-related reports the Department of Labor puts out on a regular basis. This is definitely the best place to start for labor statistics and data.

-Bill King is chief editor of Expansion Management magazine. He can be reached at BillKing@penton.com.