RECENT EVENTS
March 18, 2008 Business Roundtable
Business Attractors: A Look at Definition & Impact
Presenters included:
Norm Walzer, NIU Center for Governmental Studies;
Frank Griffin, Grubb & Ellis; and Eric Jones,
TransWare Enterprises, Inc.
Over 100 people registered for this Business Roundtable discussion, a testament to the timeliness of the topic. The panel presented three viewpoints: an educator looking at current attributes of DeKalb County; a developer talking about what site selectors look for when choosing a location; and a business representative who shared why his company chose DeKalb County.
Norm Walzer led off the
discussion, focusing on important local considerations,
recent employment trends,
opportunities for
DeKalb County and finally issues to watch in
the future.
Frank Griffin talked about
considerations when selecting a site: prospects,
clients and competition; employee base; closest
hubs and interchange access and business owner
location of home. Griffin feels a major asset
of DeKalb
County is the accessibility of people
one works with here – it’s easier
to get meetings and direction.
Eric Jones, cited proximity
to client base; affordability; location near
O’Hare Airport; smaller, more personal
environment; NIU campus; and school district
reputation as positives in leading his family-owned
company to relocate
to Sycamore.
A lively question and answer session wrapped up the program.
Frank Griffin, Norm Walzer, Dan Stump and Eric Jones
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Paul Borek, Pat Vary and Ruth Anne Tobias
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Dr.
Nancy Castle and her NIU Graduate Class on |
Ron Naylor, Paul Borek and Jim Michaels |
