Posted August 1, 2017 in Economic Development
If you want to expand your business, an Economic Development (ED) team can help you in ways you may never have expected. Don’t wait to call on them, and don’t limit what you ask to what you think they know. The more information you can share about your goals and challenges, the better they will be at connecting you to the vast networks of people and resources an experienced ED Team has to draw on.
For example, you would expect to call on the local utility for energy rate analysis and an engineering study. That’s our business. But we can offer you much more because we’re a part of every community in our territory. The businesses are our customers, and their customers are our customers. Plus, we’re a major business operating successfully in that same business environment.
This puts the Entergy ED team in a position to know the geography, workforce, natural resources, real estate, incentives, demographics, transportation infrastructure, laws and all the other variables impacting business. We understand the raw material requirements, the supply chain and markets for all the different industries, which gives us a holistic view of business opportunities and prepares us to field any question you may have about the potential for success in our communities.
The Entergy ED team is more effective because we don’t work alone. Every day we partner with local, regional and state economic development and planning teams in a highly complementary way. One of the most important characteristics of our ED team is staying flexible. We can fill in resource gaps depending on what’s needed by different communities who are in the process of acquainting businesses with potential locations. By providing the data needed to make effective decisions about expanding or relocating, we are helping our customers identify, analyze and minimize uncertainty.
To give an example of the way we share our resources with our public sector counterparts, I called Rick Ward, the director of Business Development at Louisiana Economic Development (LED), and asked for his thoughts on our working relationship. I was glad to hear he believes the Entergy ED team is always there to help him respond to business opportunities and requests. He says we’re “dependable, professional, accessible” – all the things I was hoping to hear him say.
He also said, “The online Site Selection Center database that Entergy developed is a basic necessity I use several times a day. In Louisiana, we didn’t have a single dependable source for site and building information. Now we do, and Entergy’s database is one of the best in the country.” The Site Selection Center incorporates GIS mapping data and is a resource Entergy continues to enhance to help businesses make very accurate determinations about the suitability of their sites.
I don’t want to give people the false impression we can make absolutely anything happen, but I always remind my group to think, “How can we not say no?” We have a good track record of saying “Yes, we can help” and following through in the fast time frame today’s business requires.
Advanced Materials, Agribusiness, Automotive Manufacturing, Chemical Products, Data Centers, Distribution and Warehousing, Energy Services & Manufacturing, Food Processing, Metal Fabrication, Primary Metals, Wood and Paper Products
Ed Jimenez is responsible for developing strategic growth initiatives and goals, and for establishing operational programs and policies that help bring new businesses and grow existing businesses in the Entergy Louisiana territory. He also oversees major accounts and commercial and business accounts.
