Web tool adds wrinkle for site-selection researchers - Business First of Columbus:

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The has launched a Web site combininbg listings for morethan 3,000 properties with demographic data and a geographiv information mapping system. The site was established to improve the flow of informatioj to those leading site selections for expanding or relocating Matt McCollister, chamber vice president of economi development, said the site - - allowd those looking for properties to creatd reports on neighboring job markets, retail spending and demographicv data needed to evaluatr the suitability of a site. "You're now able to find a buildinhg that meets your space criteria then drill down specifi demographic information ofthat building," he said.
The site build s on the Web site , a databases of demographic and business-related information the chambe r launchedin June. McCollister said the chamber regularly receives requests from site selection companies trying to find information about the areas around the land orbuildings they've found using other Internet sites. "It used to take the chamber hours to do this McCollister said. "Now it's just a couplw of mouse clicks." The chamber selectexd as its real estate informationprovider , the Kansas Mo.
-based manager of the Columbusw Board of Realtors' Central Ohio Commercial Information Exchange It then hired of San Franciscoo to create a system that merged real estate and marketg data with map technology. Anataliop Ubalde, GIS's chief operating officer, said the company has installexd 150 systemssince 1998, including in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Site-selectio companies, he said, typically move quickly in screening markets and possible sitezsfor clients. "If they can't find the information they he said, "they move on to the next McCollister said the chamber recognizes that dynamic when it set upits site, which can be accesses for free.
"The more information we can the better chance we have to make theshorg list," he said. "It totally changes the way wedo business." Catherinw Erney, Xceligent director of client servicese in Columbus, said the chambe site joins more basic real estatwe search engines operated by Dublin, Pickaway County and other government agencies using data that Xceligent's agenty and brokerage members "But what the ColumbusChamber is doinvg is a totally different product at a differenf level," Erney said. McCollistefr said those outside the region canfind work-forcse and retail sales information based on milese and travel time from a site.
"There are huge retaipl implications," he said. Researcherw also can locate competitorx and suppliers close to aselectedf site. Rob Click, managing director of in Columbus, said expanding Web portalx where regional commercial and industriap information is available helps the brokeragre industry market properties because agen information accompaniesthe listings. "From my perspective, the more you get the informationout there, the better," he "The days of brokers hoarding information is old