In keeping with Saratoga Economic Development Corp.’s (SEDC) Advance Saratoga Initiative to drive over $15 billion of new investment and 10,000 new and retained jobs in the region, the organization has launched the Site Evaluation Engine, SEE Saratoga.
SEDC officials said the modeling tool is one of its kind in the region and a tactic of its priority strategy to aggressively market and sell Saratoga county assets to existing and new businesses. It reflects the input of prominent national site selectors, developers and commercial real estate professionals.
“We strive to be responsive to the needs of our key stakeholders. Site selectors, commercial developers, community led groups, and target sector businesses want information on available sites and demographic attributes at their fingertips,” said Dennis Brobston, SEDC CEO and president. “Our SEE Saratoga 24-7 accessible tool is part of our commitment to offer robust digital engagement to anyone interested in understanding our region’s assets to make an investment and grow jobs here.
“Rich data on existing infrastructure, workforce, demographic, and community resources in customizable views can help mobilize business readiness to do just that.”
SEE Saratoga is available through SEDC’s website with desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile functionality. SEDC investors’ properties plus additional commercially listed sites and buildings with capacity to locate targeted types of business are included in the database.
The SEE user interface offers layered mapping and demographic data options to produce custom views of potential business and development locations. Infrastructure, larger employers, fiber, schools and healthcare institutions are among the layers of community assets able to be mapped.
Export and sharing functions make collaboration across project development or business sites selection teams easy accelerating investment consideration, officials said.
SEDC will promote SEE Saratoga to secondary schools and higher education institutions for classroom or project-based learning. Teachers and students could learn use of the digital geographic mapping logic and leverage community demographic data for learning, said Brobston. Input from business experts, investor partners, community stakeholders and sustained engagement is fueling SEDC’s Advance Saratoga job and investment objectives.
SEDC, based in Saratoga Springs, is a 100 percent private investor-led, nonprofit consulting firm established in 1978 that works to retain existing businesses, while stimulating new investment to create more jobs in Saratoga County and the Capital Region.