Show Notes

In this episode of Develop This!, Dennis Fraise welcomes Andrew Ratchford, Vice President at Site Selection Group, for a wide-ranging conversation on how the role of economic developers is rapidly expanding—and what that means for communities trying to compete for investment and jobs.

As a proud partner of the Site Selectors Guild, Develop This! continues its mission of connecting economic developers with the site selection profession. This episode reflects that shared commitment: helping communities better understand how projects are evaluated and what it truly takes to deliver results.

Andrew explains how the pandemic accelerated a shift away from traditional economic development toward a more holistic model—one that now includes housing, childcare, workforce readiness, placemaking, sustainability, and risk management as essential components of successful projects.

Rather than simply providing data and incentives, communities are now judged on their ability to execute: align stakeholders, solve infrastructure challenges, and create environments where companies and talent want to stay.

Key Takeaways

• Economic developers' roles are expanding far beyond traditional business attraction
• The pandemic reshaped priorities, forcing a stronger focus on supporting existing businesses
• Communities are evaluated on outcomes, not just information
• Housing and childcare have become critical site selection factors
• Transportation and infrastructure gaps can derail projects if not addressed early
• Stakeholder alignment is essential for project success
• Scarcity of resources is driving innovation in economic development strategies
• Placemaking is key to attracting and retaining talent
• Workforce strategies must evolve with changing industry needs
• Sustainability and risk management now play a central role in project evaluations

About Andrew Ratchford

Andrew Ratchford is Vice President at Site Selection Group, where he specializes in evaluating sites and infrastructure for developability, capacity, and long-term improvement potential. He manages complex requests for information (RFIs), coordinates site visits with clients and community partners, and develops strategic improvement plans to help communities become more investment-ready.

Before joining Site Selection Group, Andrew built a diverse real estate and planning background across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. His experience includes:

• Nonprofit housing development managing federal grants and affordable housing projects
• Community and regional planning for Greenville County, South Carolina
• Multifamily development with Graycliff Capital Partners
• Site selection advisory services with Global Location Strategies

With more than 13 years of experience, Andrew now focuses primarily on industrial assets and infrastructure, with a special interest in energy and brownfield redevelopment. His client work has included organizations such as Nacero, Georgia Pacific, Tennessee Valley Authority, Wisconsin Economic Development, CSX Railroad, BNSF Railroad, and Hoosier Energy.

Andrew holds an MBA from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from North Greenville University. He is skilled in Excel, PowerPoint, GIS platforms, and PowerBI.

Outside of work, Andrew enjoys playing electric and bass guitar, hiking, traveling, cheering on Clemson football, and perfecting his lawn care game while spending time outdoors with his wife, two children, and their dog.

In this episode of Develop This!, host Dennis Fraise sits down with Phil Schneider, Project Principal at Global Location Strategies (GLS), to unpack one of the most critical challenges facing communities today: site readiness.

With more than 30 years of global consulting experience and nearly 400 site selection engagements across manufacturing, headquarters, R&D, technology, and shared services, Phil brings a site selector's unfiltered perspective on how the site selection landscape has fundamentally changed—and why many communities are struggling to keep up.

The conversation explores how manufacturing site selection projects now move at hyper speed, why risk aversion among companies has intensified, and how the shortage of truly competitive industrial sites is reshaping economic development strategy. Phil also dives into the persistent problem of inconsistent definitions of "ready sites" across states and programs—and how that inconsistency can derail projects before they even get started.

A major focus of the episode is the work of the Site Selectors Guild to establish national standards for site readiness. Phil explains how standardized criteria, data transparency, and data integrity can dramatically improve a community's competitiveness—and save both site selectors and economic developers valuable time.

This episode is essential listening for any economic development professional looking to align their site readiness efforts with real-world site selection expectations.

Key Takeaways

• Site readiness is now a baseline requirement, not a competitive advantage.
• Site selection timelines have compressed dramatically, increasing pressure on communities.
• There is a national shortage of quality, build-ready industrial sites.
• Companies are increasingly risk-averse, demanding better data and fewer unknowns.
• Definitions of "ready sites" vary widely—and that inconsistency creates friction.
• Economic developers and site selectors don't always evaluate readiness the same way.
• Data richness, accessibility, and transparency are essential to staying competitive.
• The Site Selectors Guild Ready Sites program helps identify gaps and raise standards.
• There are no perfect sites—but knowing your site's limitations matters.
• National site readiness standards are becoming increasingly important, even globally.