Orange County NC Website
SMA rEGY 5 <br />78 <br />Development of additional /allied institutions of higher learning such as a <br />community college or Chapel Hill campus of other college /university can add <br />mass to the already rich educational environment and build on the <br />institutional /business /research dynamic that constitutes a demand driver. <br />According to "Analysis of Orange County's Site Selection Attributes" (Ashley <br />Yingling — 2009) 10 commonly used criteria for business location in the region <br />are: 1) Ease of permitting; 2) Transportation infrastructure; 3) Existing workforce <br />skills; 4) State and local tax scheme; 5) Utility infrastructure; 6) Land/building <br />prices and supply; 7) Workers' comp rates; 8) Flexibility of incentives programs; <br />9) Higher education resources; and, 10) Availability of incentives. In addition, the <br />report commissioned by the University of North Carolina, identified additional <br />important criteria in the site selection (capture) process: Existing clusters or <br />related businesses including suppliers and customers; Assistance from economic <br />development agencies; Research collaboration; Living conditions; and, Start up <br />considerations including costs and availability of capital. The study also cited <br />statewide and regional advantages including recognition by numerous periodicals <br />and journals; the presence of growing high -tech clusters that enable retraining of <br />workers; and, the fact that the state of North Carolina provides incentive packages <br />and active recruitment. Merging Town of Chapel Hill planning and development <br />policies with the findings and recommendations of this report (which Strategy 5 <br />LLC endorses) could help focus demand that has evolved to the point where <br />companies are actively seeking sites for office development. <br />Various demand dynamics including markets from which the Town may capture <br />business, and "inducers" or entities and organizations that may play a role in marketing, <br />promotion and the capture process, are reflected in the Office Market Demand Paradigm <br />illustration on the following page. <br />35 <br />