The Need
The City of West Memphis Economic Development team and Entergy Arkansas are currently marketing the 1,800-acre West Memphis I-40 megasite for future development. The city has continued to make strategic investments in this property, certifying it through Entergy Arkansas’ certified sites program, Select Site, which uses 50-point criteria to declare a site as shovel-ready. In order to better understand their sites and position themselves to attract a future industrial project, the West Memphis team approached GLS to evaluate their site through a Virtual Site Visit.
The Solution
On December 14th, 2020, the GLS team conducted a Virtual Site Visit (VSV) on the West Memphis I-40 megasite located in West Memphis, AR. The City of West Memphis, Entergy Arkansas, ASU Mid-South, Arkansas Dept of Workforce Services, AECOM, WM Utility Commission, and Centerpoint Energy Natural Gas virtually presented their site to the GLS team. Following the VSV, GLS provided targeted feedback to the West Memphis team who quickly adjusted their presentation and submission materials to better present the West Memphis I-40 megasite on future projects.
We couldn’t be happier with the feedback we received from the virtual site visit with the GLS team. Their review of our presentation and materials was thorough, insightful, and timely. Most impressive was the depth and detail identifying deficiencies in our presentation that we might never have seen or realized. Most of the GLS recommendations were actionable and implemented with minimal effort or expenditure of additional resources. As a result of this exercise, we have a much higher level of confidence in our ability to compete on future projects. - Phillip Sorrell, Economic Development Director, City of West Memphis