Site Selectors Are People, Too

Site Selectors Are People, Too

By Devin Hillsdon-SmithBusinessNewsBusiness News
Download on the App Store

Site Selectors Are People, Too episodes

  • The Hyperscaler Hangover: Surviving the Zoning Meeting

    The era of easy data center approvals is over. Across the country, massive billion-dollar hyperscaler projects are facing unprecedented local opposition. The party of big announcements and giant ribbon cuttings was fun, but communities are waking up with a "hyperscaler hangover" and asking hard questions about what exactly they agreed to.

    In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith breaks down why the tide has turned on data center developments and how economic development organizations (EDOs) have been making the case for them all wrong. We dive into the four major concerns driving community pushback—water usage, noise, tax breaks, and jobs—and why developers can no longer rely on secrecy, code names, and vague promises to get deals done.

    Key topics in this episode include:

    • The Big Disconnect: Why data centers are tax base projects, not job creators, and why overselling them as "job projects" destroys community trust.
    • The Real Community Concerns: The difference between evaporative and closed-loop cooling, the reality of constant low-frequency noise, and the true cost of state tax exemptions.
    • The Ratepayer Nightmare: How utility tariffs, minimum demand charges, and exit fees can protect local residents if a massive data center campus shows up half-empty.
    • The "Honest Data Center Readiness Sheet": A crucial one-page checklist every economic developer needs to fill out before stepping up to the microphone at a public zoning hearing.
    • The Nerd Section: Devin pulls out the calculator to explain the "but-for haircut" on state incentives and how to calculate a project's true net local fiscal impact.

      • Whether you're an economic developer, a site selector, or a community member trying to understand the sudden boom of data centers in your county, this episode is your guide to navigating the new reality of hyperscale development. Sometimes, the best way to get a good deal passed is knowing when to walk away from a bad one.

      35 min
    • The Clawback Conversation: What Happens After the Ribbon Cutting

      It’s month eighteen. The ribbon-cutting photo is still on your office wall, but the compliance report just landed in your inbox—and the company you fought so hard to win is miles short of its job targets. Now what?

      This week on Site Selectors Are People, Too, Devin tackles the hardest conversation in economic development: the clawback. When a project goes sideways after the giant scissors are put away, EDOs are often left holding two conflicting promises—one to the company, and one to the taxpayers.

      Using the composite story of Marston County and "Halvern Components," Devin breaks down the reality of post-announcement project management, exploring why missed targets are rarely villainy and usually just the realities of delayed switchgear or shifting labor markets.

      In this episode, we cover:

      • The Four Doors of Clawbacks: Why enforcing an agreement isn't just a binary switch (Enforce, Pause, Renegotiate, or Wait) and what each door costs you.
      • The Three Questions: How to confidently choose your path and explain it to your board (Delay or downsize? Did they call first? Was it in their control?).
      • The Nerd Section: The 6 anatomical parts of every performance agreement, the math behind pro-rata recapture, and why "threshold bands" save relationships.
      • The Post-Ribbon Playbook: 7 structural lifelines you need in every deal before the ink dries, and how to build a Project Announcement Compliance Calendar so nobody drops the ball.

        • Write the clawback like you’ll have to use it. Write the relationship like you’ll never have to.

        46 min
      • The Preferred Site Problem: When the Client Already Has the Answer

        This week on Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith turns the camera around. While past episodes have focused on economic developers, this installment is a playbook specifically for site selection consultants. It’s time to tackle the side of the process EDOs rarely get to see: managing the corporate client.

        From hidden executive preferences to shifting timelines, Devin breaks down the unspoken human elements that secretly drive multi-million dollar location decisions and how consultants can navigate them honestly.

        In this episode, we cover:

        • The Invisible Criteria: Why unwritten factors—like the CEO's lake cabin, family relocation needs, and institutional scar tissue—often override the formal RFP.
        • Moving the Goalposts: How to handle mid-search changes in leadership or project scope by re-baselining, rather than just absorbing the chaos and wasting community resources.
        • The Preferred Site Problem: What to do when the client already has a favorite location in mind before the analysis even begins, and how to test it without rigging the process.
        • The Power of "No": Identifying the critical moments you owe your client a direct pushback, and how to deliver hard truths about fatal flaws or unrealistic timelines using the "no, but" framework.
        • The Nerd Section: A deep dive into the principal-agent problem and the trap of "decision-based evidence making"—where matrix weights are quietly shifted to justify a pre-determined winner.

          • Plus, stick around for a highly practical, 7-question kickoff discovery script you can steal for your next engagement to surface a client's true motivations in week one. Whether you are a consultant trying to keep a complex project on the rails or an economic developer wondering why a surefire deal suddenly went quiet, this episode pulls back the curtain on how site selection actually works.

          56 min
        • The Silent Cut: Why You Lost the Project (and Nobody Told You)

          You nailed the site visit, answered all the follow-up questions, and then... nothing. Weeks later, you find out you lost a major economic development project because you saw a ribbon-cutting photo on LinkedIn.

          Ghosting is the most common outcome in site selection, leaving communities with bruised credibility and no actionable feedback to improve their next pitch. This episode breaks down the mechanics of the "invisible cut" and how to successfully close the information gap between site selectors and economic development organizations (EDOs).

          Key topics covered:

          • The Four Loss Buckets: How shortlists actually shrink, and why you need to know if you were cut due to a fatal flaw, a direct comparison, a ghost project, or simply being the stalking horse.
          • The Silence: Five systemic reasons site selectors don't call you back—from client NDAs to the awkwardness of honest feedback—and why it is rarely personal.
          • The Perfect Debrief Ask: When to reach out, how to lower the friction for a response, and the exact three questions to ask to turn a painful loss into strategic data.
          • The Math of Ghosting: Why losses act as "unlabeled data" for EDOs, and how game theory's repeated games show the long-term cost of ghosting for site selectors.

            • Featured Resource: The Loss-Debrief Kit Download the kit below to start turning your losses into lessons. It includes:

            1. The Loss Log: A tracking framework to record project outcomes, capture feedback, and identify strategic patterns over time.
            2. The Debrief Request Template: A low-friction, forward-looking email script for EDOs designed to secure actionable feedback without putting the selector on the defensive.
            3. The Courtesy Close Template: A two-line script for site selectors to cleanly and professionally close out a project with eliminated communities in under five minutes.

              4. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LkeGD72DcQT50kFXCNowE67pm8rJr6Cv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115079410313711372037&rtpof=true&sd=true

              57 min
            4. Operating in the Hot Zone: Bruce Talley on Geopolitics and Global Supply Chains

              In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith addresses one of the most misunderstood hurdles in the economic development industry: navigating the impact of macro geopolitics on local investment decisions. He is joined by Bruce Talley, founder of Destination Ukraine, to unpack how companies can customize their supply chain strategies to leverage the realities of global hotspots.

              When faced with a massive corporate expansion or relocation in Eastern Europe, the instinct for many site selectors is to view geopolitical risk as a blanket liability and avoid the region entirely. But Bruce pulls back the curtain on a career that reads like a spy novel—from building large-scale logistics operations under FSB surveillance for the Sochi Olympics to working directly on the ground in Ukraine—to reveal exactly how smart investors set a new standard for finding value in volatile markets. Spoiler alert: true economic resilience doesn't just happen in a vacuum; it requires a deep, localized understanding of tariff-driven trade realignments and regional nuance. Bruce breaks down why massive cost arbitrages and proactive on-the-ground intelligence are the ultimate deal-clinchers for major brands looking to access the EU market, and he introduces the on-the-ground framework his firm uses to help companies move at the speed of business in places like Moldova and Ukraine.

              What You'll Learn in This Episode:

              • The Power of Arbitrage: How regions like Moldova and Ukraine design, develop, and deliver incredibly aggressive incentive packages—from 75% project cost coverage to 10-year tax holidays—to dramatically lower the cost of EU market entry.
              • The "Localized Nuance" Advantage: Why the industry's unique habit of treating entire nations as homogenous conflict zones creates massive blind spots, and how avoiding this pitfall mitigates development risks and shrinks timelines.
              • Future-Proofing Economic Development: How embracing speed, certainty, and domestic stability in U.S. markets keeps American economic developers ahead of the curve when competing against aggressive foreign incentives.

                • Stop relying on sterilized, homogeneous assumptions of global risk and start building the boots-on-the-ground intelligence that major employers actually need to navigate today's shifting global economy.

                1 hr 31 min
              • Customized Workforce Solutions: Jason El Koubi on the Virginia Talent Accelerator

                In this episode of Site Selectors Are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith heads to the East Coast to address one of the most critical hurdles in the economic development industry: rapidly recruiting and training a specialized workforce. He is joined by Jason El Koubi, President and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), to unpack how the Commonwealth customizes its talent initiatives for the exact needs of employers.

                When faced with a massive corporate expansion or relocation, the instinct for many states is to offer standard, transactional workforce development grants or programs. But Jason pulls back the curtain to reveal exactly how Virginia sets a new standard with its Talent Accelerator Program. Spoiler alert: true economic development doesn't just promise a good labor pool; it delivers a fully customized, turnkey workforce ready to operate on day one.

                Jason breaks down why bespoke training and proactive site readiness are the ultimate deal-clinchers for major brands like Amazon, Lego, and AstraZeneca, and he introduces the partnership framework VEDP uses to move at the speed of business.

                What You'll Learn in This Episode:

                • The Power of Customization: How the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program designs, develops, and delivers fully branded recruitment and training solutions at zero cost to the company.
                • The "Authentic Partnership" Advantage: Why VEDP’s unique structure as a nonpartisan state authority creates the long-term stability needed to mitigate development risks and shrink timelines.
                • Future-Proofing Economic Development: How embracing AI, virtual reality, and digital twins in both industrial training and internal workflows keeps Virginia ahead of the curve.

                  • Stop relying on generic workforce promises and start building the tailored infrastructure that major employers actually need to succeed from the moment they cut the ribbon.

                  1 hr 5 min
                • Grassroots Tech Ecosystems: Alex Sejdinaj on Democratizing Tech Education and AI

                  You don’t need a Silicon Valley zip code to build world-class tech solutions—you just need the right talent, the right tools, and a community ready to build.

                  In this extended "Stories from the Road" episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, Devin drives up to his hometown of South Bend, Indiana, to sit down with his old high school friend turned tech entrepreneur, Alex Sejdinaj. As the co-founder of South Bend Code School and Code Works, Alex is on a mission to democratize technology education and prove that tier-two cities have massive potential as emerging tech hubs.

                  Devin and Alex dive deep into the intersection of technology, workforce development, and economic strategy. They explore how AI is fundamentally changing the way we work—and why economic developers must look beyond stale BLS data to truly understand their local labor markets.

                  In this episode, we cover:

                  • The Grassroots Tech Ecosystem: How South Bend is shaking off its rust-belt history to build a thriving, community-driven tech scene.
                  • Rollie Jobs: A look into Alex’s AI-native platform that uncovers the "invisible" local jobs traditional data misses, providing real-time, actionable intelligence for economic developers.
                  • AI as an Economic Multiplier: Why smaller companies are better positioned to adopt AI, and the dangers of using generative AI as a crutch rather than a tool.
                  • Democratizing Tech Education: The inspiring story behind South Bend Code School and how teaching kids (and adults) to code empowers underserved communities and builds future-proof talent pipelines.
                  • The Digital Storefront: How targeted tech interventions helped small, minority-owned businesses survive the pandemic and generate millions in new revenue.

                    • Whether you are an economic developer trying to decipher your region's workforce data, or a community leader looking to build tech literacy from the ground up, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

                    Guest Information:

                    Alex Sejdinaj, Founder/CEO of Code Works. 

                    1 hr 49 min
                  • RFI Responses: The Problem with "TBD"

                    In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith gets on his soapbox to address one of the most common—and fatal—pet peeves in the economic development industry: the dreaded "TBD" on a Request for Information (RFI) response.

                    When faced with a glaring site constraint or an unfunded utility upgrade, the instinct for many economic developers is to buy time with vague answers like "TBD," "will investigate," or a highly generous interpretation of "shovel ready." But Devin pulls back the curtain to reveal exactly how these answers are interpreted on the other side of the table. Spoiler alert: TBD doesn't hide your site's flaws; it hides your competence.

                    Devin breaks down why unquantified risks are the ultimate dealbreakers for site selectors and their corporate clients, and he introduces a simple, powerful framework to use instead.

                    What You'll Learn in This Episode:
                    • The Danger of Ambiguity: Why a site with three priced and planned problems will always beat a site with zero disclosed problems.
                    • The "No, But..." Formula: The exact five-step sentence structure you must use to address site gaps (Unqualified No + Specific Action + Cost & Funding + Timeline + Proof Document).
                    • The Pre-RFI Readiness Checklist: The essential due diligence files (like Phase I ESAs and Geotech borings) you need in your portfolio before the RFI ever hits your inbox.

                      • Stop selling the illusion of a perfect site and start selling your credibility as a trusted development partner.

                      For each actively marketed site, this is what should be on the shelf before the RFI arrives:

                      • [ ] Phase I ESA — completed, dated, shelf life known
                      • [ ] Wetland delineation + JD status
                      • [ ] Geotech borings or documented soils profile
                      • [ ] Boundary survey and current title work
                      • [ ] Site control documented: fee / option / LOI / none — stated plainly
                      • [ ] Zoning status and entitlement calendar, including hearing cadence
                      • [ ] Electric: available capacity at the point of delivery, in MW, in writing, signed
                      • [ ] Electric: upgrade path, cost, and queue position if applicable
                      • [ ] Gas: line size, pressure, available volume, in writing
                      • [ ] Water/sewer: capacity, distance to the property line, extension cost with a validity date
                      • [ ] Telecom: providers, fiber path, redundancy — actual, not aspirational
                      • [ ] Transportation: access improvements needed, cost, jurisdiction, and who approves
                      • [ ] Labor draw analysis for target occupations, with wage data
                      • [ ] Training partner MOU with named program capacity and cohort timing
                      • [ ] Incentive framework: what's statutory, what's discretionary, who approves, on what calendar
                      • [ ] A written "known gaps" memo for each site — the things you'd have to say "no" to, each one already carrying a cost and a timeline
                        • 43 min
                      • The Case for the Local Economic Developer: The Invisible Workload

                        Why are local economic developers suddenly becoming the scapegoats of their communities? In this late-night, candid episode of Site Selectors are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith sits down to defend the professionals at the heart of local job growth. Driven by rising public hysteria and misinformation—particularly around mission-critical data center projects—Devin unpacks the fundamental misunderstanding of what an economic developer actually does with their time.

                        If your entire picture of economic development is a mayor, a photographer, and an oversized check at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, you are only seeing about 15% of the job. Devin breaks down the invisible, unglamorous, multi-year reality of the profession, explaining why the most valuable work an economic developer does often looks like absolutely nothing happened at all.

                        In this episode, we cover:

                        • The Ribbon-Cutting Misconception: Why attraction and recruitment make up the smallest—yet most visible—part of the job.
                        • The Translation Function: How economic developers act as the crucial, load-bearing bridge between utilities, local government, real estate developers, and community colleges.
                        • The Invisible Majority (BR&E): Why Business Retention and Expansion takes up roughly 40% of the week, and why successfully keeping 340 existing jobs in the county never gets a press release.
                        • The Long Game: The years of expensive, tedious product development and site certification required to make an 11-week project closing possible.
                        • Public vs. Independent Models: A fair look at the structural trade-offs between government-run agencies and independent 501(c)(6) organizations, balancing transparency with project confidentiality.
                        • The Data Center Flashpoint: How sensationalism and resource anxiety have put targets on the backs of economic developers everywhere.

                          • Whether you're an industry veteran, a county commissioner, or a curious resident, this episode pulls back the curtain on a profession whose value is deeply real, even when the evidence is awkward to measure.

                          49 min
                        • The Architects of Prosperity, Price of Innovation (Part 2): The Electron Wars

                          How did electricity—the most boring, taken-for-granted utility—become the single biggest constraint for billion-dollar economic development deals?

                          In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, Devin Hillsdon-Smith unpacks the new reality of site selection: The Electron Wars. For the last two decades, U.S. electricity demand was a sleepy flatline. Today, AI-driven data centers and hyperscalers are shattering the grid, with projections showing data center grid demand nearly tripling by 2030.

                          To understand how we got here, Devin takes us back to 1890s Chicago to meet Samuel Insull—the relentless pioneer who invented the modern electricity customer, the "load factor," and the 120-year-old regulatory compact that is currently buckling under the weight of artificial intelligence. We explore how tech giants are pivoting to nuclear power to meet their always-on demands, and dive deep into how utilities are rewriting the rules of risk to protect everyday ratepayers.

                          Key Takeaways from this Episode:

                          • The History of the Grid: The rise and catastrophic fall of Samuel Insull, the man who bet his life on infinite electricity demand.
                          • The Interconnection Crisis: How speculative "phantom loads" and supply chain bottlenecks are causing up to 5-year delays for new power connections.
                          • The Nuclear Renaissance: Why hyperscalers (Amazon, Google, Microsoft) are investing billions into reviving legacy nuclear sites and funding Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
                          • The Nerd Section: A breakdown of the new "large load tariffs"—including minimum takes, non-refundable administrative fees, collateral, and exit fees—designed to shift infrastructure risk back onto developers.
                          • The New Rules of Site Selection: Why "power is the new dirt," and the critical questions economic developers must ask before chasing a 300-megawatt announcement.

                            • If you are negotiating a megasite or courting a data center, this episode is your survival guide to the new physics of economic development.

                            41 min

                          About Site Selectors Are People, Too

                          From the publisher's feed

                          This show explores the relationship between the professionals who work tirelessly to match corporate investment to communities across North America. Behind every multi-million dollar corporate investment and community revitalization is a high-stress, high-stakes relationship between site selectors and economic developers.