Years ago, paring down potential sites from such a large pool of possibilities and eventually choosing one site for your project was a mammoth undertaking that consumed a great deal of time and manpower.

Today, however, thanks to technology the time it takes to traverse your site selection universe, no matter how big it may be, has shrunk considerably.

What once took weeks and months, through phone calls, faxes and mail, now can take only days or hours thanks to the World Wide Web. The Internet puts a wealth of critical data at your fingertips, data that can help a company make the right choice when deciding where to site its new manufacturing plant, distribution center or back-office operation.

“The Internet helps us gather information to both eliminate and include areas until we get down to the final choices,” said Dennis Donovan, director, Global Site Selection for Wadley-Donovan, a Grub and Ellis Co. “We can use a combination of [Internet] sources to identify the best-looking communities.”

Those sources are community and state economic development Web sites, which paint a picture of a local community, and private and federal government sites that give you the ability to compare communities in a number of different categories.

“We’re always looking for timely and accurate data,” said Clark Gillespy, managing director of Fluor Global Location Strategies. “With the Internet, it’s only a nanosecond away.”

Many consultants and site selection professionals said the Internet is their first and primary source of research. While some said a poor local economic development Web site does not necessarily mean that community will be immediately taken off the list of consideration for a project, all indicated it wouldn’t help that community’s cause.

“As a consequence, I am initially very dependent of the type, reliability and timeliness of data that a community makes available on its Web site,” said site selection consultant James Beatty of NCS International Inc.

Companies in the initial stages of a site selection project are looking for fundamental information about communities. They’re looking for information on other companies and industries in the region, especially companies in their own industry; the work force, both its availability and training; a first-level scan of real estate availability; and tax information, including possible incentives.

“They’re looking for the size of these companies, how they are doing [business-wise], who’s growing and who’s shutting down,” said Kate McEnroe, president of Kate McEnroe Consulting.

Then, using myriad private and public Web sites, site selectors can begin comparing different communities in different states, including educational attainment, wage information, population, union vs. non-union and transportation infrastructure.

Using this information, site selection professionals can quickly whittle down the number of potential sites. And as the search approaches the final two or three, where site visits, are necessary, the Internet continues to play an important role.

Gillespy describes this as a “funnel-type approach,” which begins in a wide geographic area, then is pared down by region, by state and finally, by community.

Fluor Global Location Strategies recently undertook a site search that started with 900 counties in the eastern half of the United States.

The company inputted parameters - i.e., acreage, access to highways, proximity to airports, whether the site is rail-served, etc.

Sites will be eliminated until just a few remain, Gillespy said. At each step of the process, the Internet will play a major role.

That approach also works with international site searches. Internationally, the Internet allows for easy conversion to metric and real-time information on exchange rates.

But the Internet can help in the site selection process in other ways.

In a recently concluded international search, Fluor Global Location Strategies had selected sites in three different countries. One of the countries, however, diagnosed an outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

“We were online everyday checking on the status,” Gillespy said. “The Internet is instantaneous.

“The Internet allows for a much more interactive and accurate basis for our research,” he added. “It gives us access real-time data that is essential to a successful siting effort.”

It is also now easier to pull data on a particular site. Using the coordinates of a site, companies can obtain topographical or environmental data, including wetlands delineation.

The information can come from a number of sources, including the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Once a site is pinpointed, data can be pulled in 30 minutes or less.

“Years ago, we would have to wait to try to obtain that information,” said Mike Mullis, president and CEO of J.M. Mullis Inc. “Now, once we get the coordinates of a site, we can pull that information up quickly. We can determine whether the dimensions, topography and wetland conditions fit what the project is. The Internet gives you the capability of moving quickly on a site or just as quickly go to another site.”

Time is of the Essence

Therein lies the great appeal of the Internet. Its ability to reduce the time factor in any site selection project. What once took six to nine months, now takes three months or less.

“For everyday that it took us in a traditional method — requesting data from locations, delays in getting the information, and the possibility that you receive the wrong information — now takes us an hour,” Mullis said. “And we know we have the correct information.”

NCS’ Beatty said chief executives now have the expectation of being able to see information quicker, and at least have a preliminary recommendation on potential sites quicker.

“[The site selection process] is just as thorough as in years past, but now the pace is much quicker,” he said.

But Donovan stressed that the Internet is not the reason why the process has speeded up. Like all aspects of business, it is more imperative than ever to make a decision in the quickest time possible on where to site a facility and get that facility up and running. The Internet, he said, is only a method to achieve that objective.

“Companies will continue to decrease the allotment of time it wants to spend finding a site,” he pointed out. “The Internet is a tool that helps us to make that new time horizon.”

But no matter how the Internet influences the amount of time it takes to find potential sites for your new facility, it will never take the place of a site visit to make sure you find the right site.

It’s the relationship that company executives build with the community during a site selection visit — or lack thereof — that will determine whether that’s the correct site for a facility.

“The Internet only replaces phone calls and mailings,” McEnroe said. “You still have to physically visit the site.”

Fluor Global’s Gillespy said company executives still have to know “in their gut” whether a particular site is the correct site.

“The Internet can give you hard numbers and statistics, but you still have to feel comfortable,” he said. “Site selection still comes down to people doing business with people.”

Clearly, when a company begins a site selection search, there are numerous factors to consider — quality of life issues in a particular community, wage information, an available and well-educated work force, environmental issues, whether that company would qualify for an incentives package, etc.

Then it comes down to one city vs. another. It’s a decision that can’t be made lightly because a company that makes the wrong decision on where to site a facility will have suffer the effects financially for years.

It’s difficult to undo a wrong site selection decision. Too much time, money and effort is put into the process to come back a year later and start over.

While it can’t make the final decision for you, the Internet can give companies access to critical data in a timely manner that allows for a well-informed decision.

“A company is looking for a community that is a vested player in the success of that company,” Gillespy said. “You can get a glimpse into what it’s like to do business in that community.”

Ken Krizner is managing editor of Expansion Management magazine. He can be reached at kkrizner@penton.c