Economic development is all about improving a community's economic well-being. By fostering growth and generating jobs, economic developers pave the way for residents to thrive and local businesses to flourish. 

The team at Florida’s Great Northwest (FGNW) lives by this purpose, and the positive impact of their work continues to be demonstrated in the communities in which they serve. 

FGNW's hard work and dedication brought two companies to the area, announcing the creation of more than 600 jobs and $75 million in capital investment. These opportunities were identified with Lightcast’s Gazelle, a business intelligence platform that predicts company expansion. 

This case study explores how FGNW achieved this success.

Overview:

• FGNW fosters economic growth and generates jobs in the 13-county region of Florida’s panhandle. Beyond its beautiful white beaches, Northwest Florida offers a wide range of competitive advantages that make it an ideal location for businesses to succeed.

• Gazelle – Lightcast’s AI-powered platform for identifying growing businesses that are a right fit for a community – has been a key tool enabling their success.

• According to Shane Chadwick, FGNW’s business intelligence and marketing manager, "Three of our region’s recently announced projects were identified from the intelligence we gathered from Gazelle. Our region is expected to see over 600 new manufacturing jobs created with more than $75 million in capital invested.The effect of these investments on our local community and industries is significant."

• In this article, learn how FGNW uses data to inform strategic outreach that drives significant impact for their community and economy.

The Challenge: Spreading the Word about Florida’s Northwest 

FGNW serves as the primary economic development organization (EDO) for the 13-county region of the Florida panhandle. Beyond its beautiful white beaches, Northwest Florida offers a wide range of competitive advantages that make it an ideal location for businesses to succeed.

However, FGNW faced the challenge of educating key decision-makers about the business assets found throughout Northwest Florida while operating within the typical constraints of a non-profit organization with limited resources.  

The Solution: A Lead Generation Program Powered by Gazelle

At the heart of FGNW’s lead generation team is their business intelligence and marketing manager, Shane Chadwick (MSED, CEcD), a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a international designation  from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Given his unique perspective, he was tasked with building out a sophisticated, data-driven lead generation program for FGNW.

To achieve this, Chadwick turned to Lightcast’s Gazelle, a business intelligence platform that identifies and ranks companies by growth metrics across 910+ different sectors. Now with the power of Gazelle, Chadwick can combine this innovative technology with proven business attraction tactics to identify and engage key decision-makers at growing companies.

In particular, these Gazelle capabilities have directly helped FGNW land investment deals.

1. Trade Show Data for Booking Meetings
Chadwick uses Gazelle to access a global trade show database that ranks the companies attending a show by their likelihood to expand. This helps EDOs like FGNW make the most of each trade show by pre-booking meetings with qualified leads prior to the event.

“In 2023, we secured 62 meetings with potential investors at various trade shows with the help of Gazelle’s trade show feature. This helps us do so much more with our budget,” said Chadwick.

2. Verified Expansion Projects for Identifying Exclusive Leads

Through meticulous research, Gazelle provides a collection of confirmed expansion projects complete with important insights such as project requirements and key contacts. 

3. Industry Research & Value Chain Analysis to Build Custom Content 

Gazelle’s advanced NAICS code search capabilities, combined with industry pages, allows users to gain insight into an industry, from occupational profiles to financials. And the value chain analysis data traces the entire supply chain ecosystem for an industry. 

The Results: From Lead to Site Selection

Since integrating Gazelle into their workflow, it’s not just lead numbers that are up. FGNW is making a demonstrable impact in its 13-county region by connecting meaningful projects to its local communities resulting in new jobs and capital investment.

“Three of our region’s recently announced projects were identified from the intelligence we gathered from Gazelle. Our region is expected to see over 600 new manufacturing jobs created with more than $75 million in capital invested. The effect of these investments on our local community and industries is significant." said Chadwick.

Probes Unlimited Inc.

Probes Unlimited Inc., a Pennsylvanian advanced manufacturing company focused on sensors, was identified using Gazelle’s advanced NAICS industry research tools and clusters. FGNW introduced the company’s leadership team to the benefits of doing business in Northwest Florida. The CEO came for one visit, returned the next month, and quickly hired their first Florida director as they finalized plans for a new facility. They selected a small county within the region that may have never had the opportunity to compete for the opportunity had it not been for the introduction by FGNW.

Central Moloney Incorporated

Central Moloney Incorporated, an Arkansas-based transformer manufacturing company, was identified through Gazelle’s verified projects feature. Leveraging the detailed project information and additional research, FGNW approached Central Moloney with a compelling business case for expanding to the region. Initially, Central Moloney planned to open one facility, but shortly after, they decided to expand the project to two facilities.

The Real Impact of Data to Help Communities

The success of Florida’s Great Northwest in attracting significant investments and creating jobs demonstrates the power of a data-driven approach to economic development. Combined with proven business attraction tactics, Lightcast’s Gazelle platform helps FGNW maintain a robust lead generation pipeline of high-growth companies that match their community’s unique strengths and needs. As a result, Northwest Florida is poised for continued economic prosperity, both today and tomorrow.