Abstract

PriorityPlaces: Asheville, NC's Web-Based Economic Development Tool
Track: State and Local Government
Author(s): Megan Heckert , Jason Mann

Decisions about where to locate are critical to businesses, often determining their success or failure. Recognizing the importance of this choice and to support local economic development, the City of Asheville, NC has developed PriorityPlaces, a web-based business siting application to assist business owners seeking to locate or relocate in the area.

The tool integrates ArcIMS, the WebADF and ArcWeb Services to enable business owners to make smart location choices based on a customizable set of location preferences. Users are presented with a set of criteria such as presence of development incentive areas, and proximity to transportation infrastructure. Slider bars enable users to assign weights to the criteria and a hotspot map is dynamically generated based on a weighted overlay of these inputs. The interactive map is tied to parcel-level data and linked with Esri's Business Analyst Online for retrieval of critical demographic and consumer profile information.

Megan Heckert
Avencia, Inc
340 North 12th Street
Suite 402
Philladelphia , Pennsylvania 19107
United States
Phone: 215 925 2600
E-mail: jmann@ashevillenc.gov

Jason Mann
City of Asheville, NC
PO Box 7148
Asheville , North Carolina 28802
United States
Phone: 828.259.5722
E-mail: jmann@ashevillenc.gov