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Ohio launches a new Web site for business

ohioinsite.com to assist companies looking for locations or having sites to offer

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By Elaine Morris Roberts, Staff Writer 8:12 PM Friday, May 1, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — Economic development in Ohio just got a little more technologically savvy.

The state, working in conjunction with the Ohio Business Development Coalition, has officially launched ohioinsite.com, an on-line tool for companies looking for business locations or entities with sites to offer.

The new site, connected with ohiomeansbusiness.com, creates a more integrated marketing approach by incorporating Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to target specific locations and corresponding building specifications.

“I’m excited about its potential and how we can use it locally to provide more detailed information for businesses looking to relocate to the area,” said David Zak, vice president of economic development with the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

Zak uses the site in his role as a liaison for businesses looking to locate in Clark County and as a site provider. As a provider, he can input data about specific locations, making them available to a much wider audience, he added.

Users can input specific search parameters, including location, building size, price range and lease or buy options.

The site also provides specific data on the surrounding location in the form of workforce, demographic and business data.

By clicking a few times on the map results, users can overlay county boundaries, electric utility lines, hospitals, airports and universities.

According to the OBDC, the nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment, the site has the potential to increase the state’s global competitiveness by providing interested parties with the information that will allow them to analyze potential business locations by using one Web site.

“Ohioinsite.com will speed up and simplify the business attraction and the site selection processes for businesses and consultants by efficiently delivering answers to the critical location decision questions through a map-based and dynamic interface,” Mark Barbash, interim director of the Ohio Department of Development, said in a release.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0371 or elroberts@coxohio.com.

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