Austin Consulting’s experience within the public sector includes economic development consulting, as well as site certification and “shovel ready” sites programs. Our assignments include community competitive assessments, site certification, and community and stakeholder education on the site selection process and industry trends. We work with economic development corporations, along with organizations at the state, regional and local level, and utility service providers.
Depending on the scope of work, Austin offers these services in-house or in partnership with our network of strategic partners who specialize in a variety of fields. Economic development consulting services include:
- Area Report Card Studies
- Corporate Location Assessments
- Incentive Program Assessment Studies
- Business Climate Analysis
- Shovel Ready Site Designation Programs
Austin Consulting’s shovel ready site certification is a highly-specialized process designed to assess and endorse regions, communities or individual sites as “shovel-ready” for food processing facilities, manufacturers and other businesses.
Site Certification Services
Site preparedness has become a major focus for many communities and state economic development organizations seeking to gain a competitive edge by having sites that are ready for development. Using the same principals we use for conducting site selection and due diligence for our corporate clients, Austin Consulting has developed and managed site certification programs for various state and regional economic development organizations.
Additionally, as a full-service design-build firm, The Austin Company has an experienced in-house team of engineers with the expertise to address specific technical issues that may arise during the site investigation. Our approach is aimed at minimizing development risks by uncovering any obstacles that could potentially delay a project.
Through gathering and documenting extensive site information, the site certification process enables communities to provide the necessary information to prospective companies so that they can make an informed decision. To date, Austin has certified over 70 sites throughout the U.S.
Site certification includes a detailed investigation of key site attributes, including:
- Ownership
- Property Information (site attributes, topography, zoning, etc.)
- Transportation
- Utilities
- Community information
- Environmental
Austin Consulting has conducted state and industry-wide comprehensive site certification efforts. These certification efforts include the State of Tennessee (Tennessee Select Sites), the State of Ohio (Job Ready Sites – JRS and Sites Ohio), CSX Railroad (CSX Select Sites) and Duke Energy (Certified Food and Beverage Site Program).