Site Selectors Guild

Site Selectors Guild
Name	Site Selectors Guild
Formation	1980s
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	United States
Services	Corporate location consulting, site selection, economic development

Contents

Site Selectors Guild The Site Selectors Guild is a professional association of corporate site selection consultants and location advisors who advise corporations, municipalities, and economic development agencies such as Economic Development Administration, World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank. Founded in the late 20th century, the Guild brings together practitioners with experience across projects involving multinational companies like General Electric, Toyota, Intel, Siemens, and Amazon and locations such as Silicon Valley, Shenzhen, Singapore, Dublin, Frankfurt am Main.

Overview

The organization consists of independent consultants who work with corporations including Apple Inc., Microsoft, Ford Motor Company, Samsung, Nestlé and cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Tokyo. Members advise on site selection factors influenced by infrastructure projects like Interstate Highway System, Panama Canal expansion, Suez Canal Crisis, and regions tied to trade agreements including North American Free Trade Agreement, European Union, Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Guild interacts with development finance institutions such as International Finance Corporation and standards bodies including Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Membership typically requires experience comparable to consultants who have worked on projects for firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, AECOM, ARUP. Members come from backgrounds linked to universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics and professional bodies like American Planning Association, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Project Management Institute. Certification and peer review mirror processes used by organizations like Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, International Facility Management Association, Certified Management Consultants Association and reference benchmarks from agencies including U.S. Department of Commerce and Canada Economic Development.

The Guild's members provide services similar to those offered by CBRE, JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, Colliers International: market analysis, demographic studies, incentive negotiation, and site due diligence in metropolises like Paris, Beijing, Mumbai, São Paulo, Mexico City. Projects range from greenfield investments in regions promoted by Invest India, Business France, Enterprise Singapore to brownfield redevelopments tied to programs like U.S. Brownfields Program and urban renewal efforts in Detroit, Glasgow, Rotterdam. Members utilize data from providers such as Moody's Analytics, IHS Markit, ESRI, Dun & Bradstreet, S&P Global.

The Guild influences corporate location strategies for manufacturers including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Volkswagen', technology firms like Google, Facebook, Oracle, and life sciences companies like Pfizer, Roche, Novartis. It partners with economic development organizations such as World Economic Forum, United States Chamber of Commerce, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Export-Import Bank of the United States and regional development agencies including Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Invest in Bavaria, Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Policy dialogue involves stakeholders from institutions like Federal Reserve System, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization.

Critics compare the Guild's work to commercial brokers such as Amazon HQ2 controversy and controversies involving firms like McKinsey & Company or Ernst & Young over incentive packages for projects in New York City, Nashville, Chattanooga and cite debates heard in legislatures like United States Congress and assemblies such as European Parliament. Scrutiny often focuses on confidentiality, conflicts of interest akin to disputes involving KPMG or Deloitte, transparency in incentive negotiations similar to contested deals for Tesla, Foxconn, and the social impacts observed in cases like Detroit bankruptcy, Flint water crisis, Rhode Island tax incentives debate. Defenders point to best practices aligned with International Organization for Standardization guidelines and procurement rules used by entities like World Bank Group and European Investment Bank.