Competing in Economic Development?
Use Benchmarking.

About Me
Guillermo Mazier
Director Strategic Accounts
Atlas Advertising, Community Systems
guillermom@atlas-advertising.com
www.twitter.com/atlasad
– Former economic developer and tourism
marketer for the Costa Rican Investment and
Trade Development Board
– Managed economic development and
tourism campaign for Tortugero, CR
– Industry speaker, content strategy and digital
marketing specialist
@GuillermoMazier

Who is Atlas?
1. Denver-based marketing services company, specializing in economic development
2. Founded in 2001, with 25 employees
3. Have worked with more communities than any other economic development
marketing services firm in the past 10 years: 140+ economic development clients
in 43 states and 6 countries
4. Specialize in providing branding, marketing planning, digital marketing, and GIS
enabled websites, all for economic development
5. Pioneered the industry’s first metrics based benchmarking approach for marketing,
business attraction, and business retention: High Performance Economic
Development Marketing
6. IEDC’s High Performance Economic Development Marketing Partner
7. Frequent public speaker and lead speaker on benchmarking marketing, business
attraction, and business retention programs, as well as on branding, research,
digital marketing, websites, and GIS.

Our clients generate superior results and
make a greater impact on their
communities

About Atlas’ High Performance
Economic Development Program
1. Initially developed High Performance Economic Development (HPED) to
answer questions from clients “What should our goals be?”
2. HPED, in its third year, is now the the largest and longest running collection of
marketing, business development, and business retention metrics available.
3. Hundreds of EDO’s have used the data to benchmark their marketing,
business recruitment and retention efforts and outcomes that can prove ROI
for marketing, branding and website efforts within economic development
space.
4. On Monday October 6, Atlas will launch High Performance Economic
Development Online, an interactive benchmarking tool that will allow EDO’s to
enter their data and benchmark their business recruitment and retention
outcomes by organizational staff size, budget, community population, region,
or any combination of these factors.

View the slides, continue the dialogue
• Continue the Conversation:
– Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AtlasAd
– Tweet questions using hashtag #ASKATLAS
– Join High Performance Economic Development
LinkedIn Group
• View and share the slides with your
colleagues (available now):
www.slideshare.com/wright0405

What we will cover
1. Who is Atlas?
2. Defining High Performance
3. Our Analysis of the Data
4. How to Put High Performance into Practice
5. Questions
6. How to Get Your Community’s Report

Poll Question:
What is your primary function in your
organization?

Poll Question:
As a practitioner, how much do you think you
impact the overall economic activity in your area?

EDO’s service companies that
comprise a very small percentage of
their economies. ""
186 < 25,000
Average companies served
Typical number of establishments
in a community
Source: Atlas 2014 Benchmarking Study

Defining High Performance
Economic Development

Defining High Performance
1. What corollaries are there in the world
to measure performance?
2. Definitions provided by an
international trade organization for
economic development
3. The metrics that Atlas High
Performance Economic Development
focuses on, and our criteria for
choosing them
4. Defining what High Performance
means for each key audience
5. Should we measure outcomes or not?

Corollaries for High Performance

Four Ways the International Economic
Development Council Defines High
Performance
1. Internal Segment (Employee satisfaction,
funding sources
2. ED Program Segment (Business Attraction,
Business Retention, Business Creation)
3. Relationship Management Segment
(Relationships with internal and external
stakeholders)
4. Community Segment (Community well being,
in terms of demographics, )

Atlas High Performance Economic Development
Focuses on the Relationship Management
Segment, plus outcomes from those
relationships.
1. Internal Segment (Employee satisfaction,
funding sources
2. ED Program Segment (Business Attraction,
Business Retention, Business Creation)
3. Relationship Management Segment
(Relationships with internal and external
stakeholders)
4. Community Segment (Community well being,
in terms of demographics, )
Outcomes for jobs announced
and capital investment announced

The Metrics Included in the Atlas High
Performance Economic Development Study
Relationship management
1. Visits to the community
economic development website
2. Number of companies served
(conversations with companies)
Outcomes
1. Jobs announced in the community
2. Capital Investment announced in
the community

Atlas criteria for including a metric:
1. That is is not available from another party
2. That it is comparable from one community to the next
3. That one metric has a causal relationship on another metric: I.e. website
visits drives conversations
4. That it includes data that enables business development and promotion focused agencies
to benchmark their performance against similar communities.

Metrics that Atlas High Performance Economic
Development Does Not Include, and How to Get
Them
1. Internal Segment (Employee
satisfaction, funding sources
2. ED Program Segment (Business
Attraction, Business Retention,
Business Creation)
3. Relationship Management
Segment (Relationships with
internal and external
stakeholders)
4. Community Segment
(Community well being, in terms
of demographics, )
1. Do an employee survey, and audit
public v private funding (internal)
2. Hire a consultant to benchmark
your Business Attraction, Business
Retention, Business Creation
program
3. Relationship Management
Segment (Relationships with
internal and external stakeholders)
4. Benchmark workforce, cost of
living, and household income
against your peer communities,
internally or with a consultant

Defining High Performance by Audience
Internal Audiences
1. High Performance for largest employers
2. High Performance for community partners
3. High Performance for elected officials
4. High Performance for business leaders
External Audiences
1. High Performance for site selectors
2. High Performance for prospective
companies

Site Selectors: Tracey Hyatt Bosman
1. Based in Chicago, IL
2. Former economic developer
3. Specializes in renewable energy and data centers
Midwest Practice Leader – Biggins, Lacy and Shapiro

What Tracey needs and doesn’t need
What Tracey Needs
• Contact information
• Incentive programs
• Tax rates
• Recent announcements
• Industry-targeted info
• Map of your territory
• Largest employers
• Area colleges and universities
What Tracey Doesn’t Need
• General labor statistics
• Secondary source wage information
• Real estate listings
• Rankings
• Distance to other major cities

Prospect CEOs:
W. James McNerney
1. Based in Chicago, IL
2. Has held positions at 3M, GE prior to joining Boeing
in 2005.
3. Company has a global supply chain, with parts
manufacture in dozens of countries
CEO and Chairman of the Board, The Boeing Company

What W James needs and doesn’t need
What W James Needs
• Fast response
• Available property
• Incentive programs
• Tax rates
• Commitment to long term infrastructure
• Access to area colleges and universities
• Information for relocating employees
• Supplier lists
What W James Doesn’t Need
• Overly technical incentive programs
• To be sold on the quality of life
• Distance to other major cities

Poll Question:
Should we use outcomes to measure ourselves?

Our Analysis of the Data,
(2012, 2013)

Who participated
2013:
197 Communities
2014:
208 Communities, 6 Countries

The Framework: Business Attraction, Business
Retention, and Marketing, 2012 Data

The Surprising Economics
OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS
The Surprising Economics
OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS
146
Average number of
conversations per organization
in the last 12 months
$234
million
Average capital investment per
community in the last 12 months
1,293
Average jobs announced per
organization, last 12 months
146
Average number of
conversations per organization
in the last 12 months
$234
million
Average capital investment per
community in the last 12 months
1,293
Average jobs announced per
organization, last 12 months

The Surprising Economics
OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS
146
Average number of
conversations per organization
in the last 12 months
$234
million
Average capital investment per
community in the last 12 months
1,293
Average jobs announced per
organization, last 12 months
200+
175
Communities
shared their data
Website visits per conversation
15
Value of a conversation, in
number of jobs

Sneak Peek at 2013 data:
Tremendous variance in results
Budget Level
Low Jobs
Announced
High Jobs
Announced
Low Capital
Investment
Announced
High Capital
Investment
Announced
Low
Conversations
High
Conversations
Under
$100,000
12
852
$500,000
$442,000,000
10
214
$100,000 to
$249,000
10
3,000
$150,000
$1,100,000,000
4
726
$250,000 to
$499,000
15
7,000
$300,000
$4,500,000,000
2
600
$500,000 to
$999,000
10
32,000
$235,000
$2,500,000,000
10
10,000
$1,000,000
to
$2,500,000
10
11,278
$1,000,000
$1,000,000,000
10
4,000
Over
$2,500,000
10
50,000
$1,500,000
$11,700,000,000
15
5,045

Sneak Peek: EDO Performance,
benchmarked by population
POPULATION
YEARLY WEB
VISITS
INQUIRIES PAST
12 MONTHS
AVERAGE JOBS
ANNOUNCED
LAST 12 MONTHS
AVERAGE CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED LAST
12 MONTHS
Less than 25,000
2,474
80
193
$67,950,000
25,001 to 100,000
11,426
93
503
$81,773,363
100,001 to 250,000
24,864
133
1,120
$187,837,410
250,001 to
1,000,000
33,696
303
2,137
$379,538,874
1,000,000 to
2,500,000
102,913
319
3,679
$482,484,240
Over 2,500,000
71,051
800
14,604
$1,463,092,402
Average for all Sizes
27,063
186
1,882
$271,855,546

EDO Performance,
benchmarked by staff size (2013 Data)
STAFF SIZE
AVERAGE
YEARLY WEB
VISITS
AVERAGE
INQUIRIES PAST
12 MONTHS
AVERAGE JOBS
ANNOUNCED
LAST 12 MONTHS
AVERAGE CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED LAST
12 MONTHS
1
2,337
68
276
$37,334,722
2 to 3
14,350
106
672
$154,734,368
4 to 9
29,660
372
2,668
$277,386,479
10 to 19
75,592
381
2,477
$483,902,403
20 or more
69,517
324
11,258
$1,214,120,612
Average for all
Sizes
27,063
186
1,882
$271,855,546

EDO Performance,
benchmarked by budget (2013 Data)
Budget Level
AVERAGE
YEARLY WEB
VISITS
AVERAGE
INQUIRIES PAST
12 MONTHS
AVERAGE JOBS
ANNOUNCED
LAST 12 MONTHS
AVERAGE CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED LAST
12 MONTHS
Under $100,000
932
47
181
$44,048,524
$100,000 to
$249,000
5,363
82
378
$75,655,476
$250,000 to
$499,000
15,127
93
614
$186,704,037
$500,000 to
$999,000
19,317
236
1,483
$215,056,038
$1,000,000 to
$2,500,000
27,130
293
1,707
$230,341,735
Over $2,500,000
78,591
279
5,471
$657,938,155
Average for all
Sizes
27,063
186
1,882
$271,855,546

Poll Question:
Did your organization set measurable goals for your
marketing, business development, and business retention
programs this year (2014)?

Steps to Put High Performance
into Practice
1. Discuss your organizational priorities for marketing,
business recruitment, and business retention
2. Assign metrics to certain staff
3. Set a plan to influence that metric for each staff
person
4. Make the plan transparent to your stakeholders
5. Execute, report, and adjust

How Does Your Organization Prioritize Business
Recruitment, Retention, and Marketing/
Promotion?

Assigning Metrics to Staff: What Metrics does
Each Function Influence?
WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES /
CONVERSATIONS
JOBS
ANNOUNCED
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED
CEO/
Executive
X
X
X
X
Business
Developer
X
X
X
Marketer
X
X
Researcher
X

Setting a Plan so That
Each Staff Person Can Drive
High Performance

Economic Development CEO/ Executive
WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES /
CONVERSATIONS
JOBS
ANNOUNCED
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. All
Role He/She Plays
1. Setting the direction for the organization
2. Allocating staff and resources
3. Communicating with stakeholders to ensure
board buy in

Business Developer
WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES /
CONVERSATIONS
JOBS
ANNOUNCED
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. Inquiries/Conversations with Companies
2. Jobs Announced/Conversation
3. Capital Investment Announced/Conversation
What He/She Should Focus On
1. Rapid response to prospects
2. Investigating prospect needs
3. Providing customized responses

Marketer
WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES /
CONVERSATIONS
JOBS
ANNOUNCED
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. Website visits
2. Ratio of website visits/inquiry
What He/She Should Focus On
1. Driving traffic to the website via Search Engines,
social media, email
2. Keeping content fresh and creating opportunities
to engage
3. Optimizing the website for conversion
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED

Researcher/Economist
WEB VISITS
INQUIRIES /
CONVERSATIONS
JOBS
ANNOUNCED
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
ANNOUNCED
Metrics He/She Should Influence
1. Website Visits
2. Jobs Announced
3. Capital Investment Announced
Role He/She Plays
1. Creating outstanding content for the marketer
2. Providing customized data to the business
developer
3. Managing and reporting on benchmarked data

How to Make the Plan Transparent
to Your Stakeholders
1. Write down a strategic plan for the next year
2. Outline each staff person’s role in reaching
that plan
3. Set activities and outcomes for each person,
and for the organization
4. Report quarterly, using a pre-defined
dashboard, to your board and stakeholders
5. Benchmark annually

How to Execute, Report, Adjust
1. Report quarterly, using a
pre-defined dashboard, to
your board and stakeholders
2. Review performance
quarterly, including trailing
metrics and forward looking
metrics
3. Benchmark annually
4. Fold benchmarks back into
the annual plan

How to Benchmark Your Community Using
Atlas High Performance Economic
Development
1. Take the survey here:
2. View your report online, starting Monday October 6 here

Thank you!
Contact information:
929 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203
Contact: Ben Wright
t: 303.292.3300 x 210
guillermom@Atlas-Advertising.com
www.Atlas-Advertising.com
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