New online mapping tool provides powerful business information!

The Columbus Region, a network of eightcounties in and surrounding central Ohio, recently launched ColumbusRegionSites, an online mapping tool that provides access to powerful business information.

ColumbusRegionSites (www.columbusregionsites. com) uses Internet GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping technology to identify available buildings, land and corresponding market characteristics including demographics, workforce availability and retail spending in the area.

The online program is designed to attract and expand businesses and jobs in the Columbus Region by streamlining the research process.

"ColumbusRegionSites provides immediate access to critical business and development information that will facilitate growth i n the Columbus Region," said Matt McCollister, vice president, economic development, Columbus Chamber. "We know that more than 90 percent of initial site selection screening is done through the Internet so it is critical that the Columbus Region offer access to this information."

ColumbusRegionSites provides information about more than 3,000 commercial properties in the region. The tool will be continuously updated by Xceligent, Inc., a nationwide provider of property and listing information for the commercial real estate industry. The tool will be continuously updated through a commercial property database. Users can view available properties and their size, cost, use, development incentives and contact information. Corresponding data reports such as labor force, education levels, consumer spending and age, can be created. In addition, businesses are mapped by industry, showing their distribution and concentrations throughout the area.

"This tool goes far beyond a simple database of available sites and buildings," McCollister. "It provides the information and analysis businesses require to identify geographic advantages and business opportunities in our region."

How it works
ColumbusRegionSites is powered by ZoomProspector, a GIS (Geographic Information System) technology developed by GIS Planning, Inc. GIS integrates software and geographic data to display and analyze information. ColumbusRegionSites takes this technology one step further by allowing visitors to rapidly tailor maps and reports to meet their needs. Users can access data that, without this technology, could take weeks to obtain and cost thousands of dollars.

"Buildings and sites are available throughout the nation," noted McCollister. "What makes the Columbus Region attractive to business is highly related to our locationspecific advantages, which can be accessed online through ColumbusRegionSites."

Businesses can also access dynamic mapping capabilities through an additional tool powered by ZoomProspector. Users can zoom in and out, identify information and view geographic layers of information such as area airports, empowerment zones, community reinvestment areas and joint economic development districts.

ColumbusRegionSites is housed on the Columbus Chamber's Web site which includes a special section for businesses considering expansion in Columbus. The site, www.columbusregion.com, provides information about the eight-county region, links and contacts for each county and community, demographic information, economic trends and forecasts and more. With the addition of GIS through ColumbusRegionSites, the site is among the top in the industry.

The Columbus Chamber leads and supports economic growth and development in the greater Columbus community. It is leading a regional approach to economic development, working with nearly 20 area economic development partners including counties, cities and municipalities. Working together the region is able to offer information to relocating and expandingbusinesses through one contact.