Economic Development Advisory
Finding Success at the Intersection of Opportunity and Preparedness
Winning an economic development driver project or building a new project that fosters economic growth in a community is not the result of blind luck. Winning is the outcome of exhaustive efforts put into planning, preparation, and readiness. Prepared communities are ready to take advantage of opportunities presented. Communities that are able to capitalize on opportunities and leverage investment drive economic growth and increase economic opportunity for their residents. The most successful communities are skillful at attracting new businesses, investing their tax dollars strategically, and creating a growth environment all contributing to a lasting impact on community economic stability.
Our development advisory services are focused on guiding and assisting local governments to realize their full potential. Through effective community planning, site readiness, project financial planning, and project delivery services, our team partners with clients as trusted advisors to build the community of the future.
Site Readiness
Being ready for economic growth and ready for job-creating corporate investment means having a robust portfolio of available sites and buildings suitable for new companies. Companies in different industry sectors have vastly different needs and knowing these needs and preparing to meet these needs allows communities to improve their ability to host new corporate investment.
Today’s site selection decisions involve many complex variables, each of which has a calculated impact on the ultimate site location decision. Unknowns cannot be quantified and therefore cannot be calculated. Identifying each of these unknown variables and then performing detailed due diligence eliminates the unknowns and gives site selectors the confidence they need to choose the best site for the project.
Identifying and eliminating risks are both critical to winning projects. Knowing every site’s weakness and implementing a successful mitigation plan to overcome vulnerabilities is essential to leveling the playing field and securing a winning decision from a competitive prospect. Our site readiness services aim to analyze each site to identify specific strengths and weaknesses and develop specific mitigation plans to deal with each site weakness discovered during the detailed due diligence phase. Site development investment plans are developed for each site, which enables communities to plan site-specific risk mitigation strategies in preparation to win a competitive project.
Community Planning
Prepared communities always have an eye towards the future and are constantly working towards continual improvement. Planning for the future means sufficient infrastructure, a wide range of economic opportunities, and a vibrant social structure, enhancing the quality of life for all.
At CSRS, we help you plan and design with these principles in mind. Our planning approach is built around active engagement, constant collaboration, encouraging big ideas, and on-time completion within budget. Our team approaches each plan by first understanding your vision then developing a plan to achieve the vision. Our planning services help communities prepare for the future and grow in a responsible, sustainable way, improving the quality of life for everyone along the way.
Beyond Advisory
Our economic development advisory expertise is an outgrowth of our firm’s rich history in successful project and program delivery. We understand what it takes to achieve your vision because we have managed and overseen the successful completion of community transforming projects for over 40 years. Beyond planning and advisory, our services extend into the design, permitting, program management, project delivery, and construction management arenas allowing CSRS to assist our clients from project inception/planning to design and into construction and startup.
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Taylor Gravois, PE, PLS
Taylor Gravois, PE, PLS, PMP is a Principal at CSRS and has over 20 years of experience leading projects in the site selection, site and land development, economic development, and infrastructure industries. He leads the firm’s site selection and economic development advisory practice where he works with corporate decision-makers, local governments, private developers, and economic development organizations in support of site selection, site development, economic development, and infrastructure projects. Mr. Gravois focuses the site selection group’s work on assisting corporations with location decisions for large, complex, capital-intensive projects across a wide range of industries. His expertise includes all areas of site selection including initial site identification, fatal flaw analysis, site due diligence, economic development impact analysis, site/civil layout and design, site entitlement and permitting management, incentive negotiations support, and project and program management.
In addition to corporate site selection, our economic advisory practices concentrate on helping state, regional, and local economic development organizations (EDO’s) prepare for and win economic development driver projects and increase economic competitiveness for their community. Mr. Gravois routinely leads projects and programs for EDO clients including site readiness, development advisory, community and infrastructure planning, and impact analyses.
Beyond site selection, Mr. Gravois draws on his 20 years of experience as a civil engineer and land surveyor in performing site selection, site due diligence, land development, and infrastructure project delivery for both large and small facilities, economic development, and infrastructure projects. He works with local governments, private developers, large corporations, and economic development organizations in support of site selection, site development, economic development, and infrastructure projects. Mr. Gravois possesses an in-depth understanding of the engineering processes associated with site and land development and applies this knowledge to every site selection project endeavor for maximum results.
Mr. Gravois has a broad array of site selection and land development experience ranging from overseeing surveys of raw land, site feasibility studies and due diligence, site layout and detailed design, site entitlements, construction administration, contract closeout, to every phase of site selection and project delivery in between. With significant site development, planning, engineering, permitting, land surveying, and project management experience and expertise, he is uniquely qualified to understand and meet each client’s site selection and economic development needs.