Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411230048
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAGERSTOWN, MD. LENGTH: Medium
Want a site that has rail access and a 200,000-square-foot office building? Tap the interactive computer screen a couple of times and a list appears.
A few more touches to the screen, and the business prospect can see a video of the area selected, a photo of the site and even learn what type of roof is on the building.
``It's a one-stop, high-tech shop,'' said Mark Wasserman, Maryland's secretary of the Department of Employment and Economic Development, after seeing a demonstration of the system developed by Potomac Edison Co., an electric utility serving western Maryland, parts of West Virginia and the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
``I know of nothing this sophisticated, this user-friendly, available anywhere else in the state for site marketing purposes,'' Wasserman said.
Georgia and Alabama power companies set up similar business locater systems about five years ago.
Potomac Edison, part of the Allegheny Power System, developed the system for its Business Location Center using information partly supplied by county economic development offices. The more industrial and commercial prospects Potomac Edison can help attract to its three-state, 7,200-square-mile service area, the more electricity it can sell.
The utility already had the $80,000 worth of computer and laser equipment needed for the system, said Bob McLaughlin, Potomac Edison's supervisor of economic development. The company supplied an additional $40,000 to match the $40,000 provided by the Appalachian Regional Commission.
For Maryland, the system lists 53 industrial sites and 40 available buildings in six counties.
In Virginia, the system lists available sites in Frederick, Madison, Page, Shenandoah and Warren counties. And in West Virginia, the system includes information from Morgan, Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson and Mineral counties.
``We've had industrial prospects come into the center for 25 minutes to an hour, sit down at the machine and get enough information to say they want to personally visit three buildings,'' said Lucas Cade, an economic development specialist for Potomac Edison. ``If you can't come to us, we'll come to you and set it on your desk.''
The portable system already has been taken to industrial prospects and site location consultants in Texas, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, and will be used for upcoming visits to Ohio and Illinois.
Cade was marketing Potomac Edison's service area at a printing and publishing trade show in late September in Philadelphia when McLaughlin called and told him to meet with a site location consultant based in Philadelphia.
In a hastily arranged meeting, Cade was able to show the consultant the best available sites in the 18 counties in Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia in about an hour.
Users then can search the system for information about industrial real estate or buildings. They can specify acreage needed, or ask to see only those sites with rail links.
Prospects also can access information on demographics or an area's work force or wage rates.
by CNB