Jess

Imagine a situation where a major employer calls to ask you how they stack up against other businesses in terms of their economic contribution to the community. Or recall an encounter that leaves you wondering why a business chose to locate in a specific location over another. What better way to explain to your local businesses, developers, clients, members, and constituents how the business community is performing than through actual data? We think about these types of questions all the time at RESI, and have come up with a solution to providing a quick, reliable response for our clients.

RESI is pleased to announce a new suite of client services around the National Establishment Time-Series, or NETS, database. The NETS database has been used widely by researchers, local governments, and private firms to develop robust analyses of the following:

• Business type, as categorized by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code
• Business characteristics, including annual sales and number of employees
• Business activity and location decisions, including openings and closures, expansions, contractions, and in- and out-migration
• Relocation behavior, such as move year, origin and destination, distance of move, and type of location

NETS enables developers, local officials, public agencies, and economic developers to evaluate and communicate business activity in their jurisdiction. The database contains over one million establishments in Maryland going back to 1990 and is updated annually. Over 300 fields contain unique business-level information that can be used to create a customized profile of the business activity or a specific industry or geographic area. Other data sources can be combined to develop business recruitment and retention strategies, conduct policy analyses, and more.

NETS enables RESI to provide answers to questions such as the following:

Economic Development Organizations and Local Government

• What types of companies are relocating to a specific area or employment center?
• What are the impacts of tax changes, tax incentives, and regulations on local business decisions?
• What linkages and clusters exist?
• Who’s likely to move within an industry or geography?

Developers
Many factors feed into the site selection decision: the local economic climate, the available workforce, potential partners (and competitors) nearby, taxes, and incentives.

• What’s the local economic climate?
• What is the composition of the local workforce?
• Who are potential partners and competitors?

RESI can also create custom animations that tell the story in images rather than words. Below is an illustration of business “births” and “deaths” in the state of Maryland by zip code since 1990.

‘National Establishment Time Series (NETS) Database
Illustrating business openings and closures in the manufacturing industry by Maryland County between 2006 and 2010. Notice the trend in in manufacturing business closures in central Maryland counties between 2008 and 2009. Many of which return in 2010.

RESI also conducts impact analyses for development projects in order to evaluate the potential economic contribution in terms of number of new jobs, wages, and tax revenues associated with the project. By knowing as little as the projected number of residential and commercial units, square footage, and amenities, RESI can evaluate the local community and define potential success drivers, illustrating whether project specifications will meet the market demand. This is a valuable step in the real estate development process during the site selection phase and can ensure that the project meets performance and financial goals in the short and long-term.

So when you are looking for answers to questions on the business dynamics in your jurisdiction or market, keep RESI in mind as your one-stop-shop for actual business data and analysis. RESI can provide innovative solutions your business needs through summary data development and analysis for a specific industry, development project or geographic area.