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Conference provides greatest, latest in site selection

Location strategists are imperative to economic development, so HEDC staffers were honored and excited to learn from and directly interact with the best of the best in their field earlier this month.

The 2025 Site Selectors Guild Fall Forum gathered dozens of Guild members with attendees hailing from development, construction, utilities, and related sectors on October 2nd and 3rd, 2025 at The Westin in downtown Indianapolis.

Companies often work with site selection consultants who use their expertise to help determine the best location to start or expand a business. As they narrow in on specific locations, site selectors in turn often work with economic development organizations representing those locations–giving those organizations an excellent opportunity to market and share their knowledge of their area.

Site selectors explore a variety of regularly changing factors when determining the best location for a business, and many of those factors were discussed at length throughout the Fall Forum.

Workforce and the United States’ looming labor shortage due to retiring baby boomers and declining birth rates made up one of those discussions. Presenters talked about the impacts of artificial intelligence, realigning educational programs for in-demand skills, and the importance of offering career and technical education.

Related: Work on CTE center continues in Hancock County

Other sessions delved into how economic development organizations can maximize their websites and align with new federal laws and executive orders. Seminars also addressed how quality of place attracts and retains talent and strategies for working with foreign companies. Childcare, development incentives, and housing diversification were hot topics as well.

HEDC Community Development Manager Erica Adams and Communications Director Mitchell Kirk were grateful to participate in multiple direct discussions with Guild members, during which they had the opportunity to expand even further on subjects and explore how to apply that knowledge in Hancock County.

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