THE DRIVER
Match Site & Community Assets to Target Growth Industries
THE OPPORTUNITY
Located in New York’s Finger Lakes Region, Eastman Business Park is a 1,200-acre industrial park designed as a fully integrated system with significant resources including:
- An abundant supply of fresh, reliable water (permitted to draw up to 54 million gallons a day from Lake Ontario).
- Built-in utilities access and infrastructure including an onsite utility system with 117 MW of firm electricity supply, high and low-pressure steam capacity, natural gas, nitrogen, high-purity water and chilled water supply, and an industrial wastewater treatment facility.
- Strong transportation access and intermodal facilities
- Close proximity to customers and end users. Located within 500 miles of 33% of the U.S. and Canadian population.
- Access to a qualified workforce
THE NEED
RED-Rochester, LLC, the owner and operator of the utilities at Eastman Business Park, needed to identify new customers in order to maintain the loads within its portfolio of assets and to provide cost efficiencies for all the companies operating at the Park. RED-Rochester chose to target the ideal industries – down to the specialty or process level – that would most benefit from use of the Park’s assets for their operations.
THE SOLUTION
The client stakeholders contracted a team from Global Location Strategies to study the site, infrastructure, logistics, community, and workforce assets of Eastman Business Park and the Finger Lakes Region. Following the assessments, the team identified the global manufacturing and industrial sectors most likely to be attracted to the Park’s unique combination of capabilities. Twenty industry sector clusters were initially identified and then screened to include only those that were projected to grow and that needed the robust and unique utility infrastructure offered at the Park. The study concluded by providing RED-Rochester business attraction supporting materials; companies were identified within the top industry sectors and the Park was benchmarked against a handful of other sites and communities that would reasonably compete with it.
THE RESULTS
Since the study’s completion in mid-2017, the client stakeholders have utilized the results to attract new business investment. Eastman Business Park has announced 4 new projects and 3 expansions, representing approximately $200MM in capital investment. The park was also the recipient of the 2019 Economic Engine Award from the local Chamber of Commerce.
THE IMPACT
The job creation, tax revenues, and enhanced vitality occurring at Eastman Business Park is proving to have both short- and long-term positive impact on the local economy. As more “like minded” businesses set up shop at the Park, talent will follow. The team at Global Location Strategies also anticipates that with a greater concentration of industry sector clusters, that local colleges and universities will become aligned with developing training courses and curriculum that meets the future workforce pipeline needs.