Sure it is, representatives of investor-owned utilities respond, but there are ways power companies can help their efforts be more effective. To use a trite phrase, it s a team effort, says Scott Fulford, manager of economic development marketing at Cinergy Corp., an energy provider with customers in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. We definitely work together. New administrations in cities, counties, and states can bring new faces and sometimes new philosophies to their economic development departments. What utilities bring to the table is stability over the long term, says Becky Wingenroth, director of community and economic development for New Jersey-based GPU Energy.
Economic development is about long-term growth.
Utilities are very much a stabilizing factor. They also can help coordinate and provide a host of specific services relating to economic development, Fulford says. Cinergy and other utility companies maintain extensive databases of available sites and buildings in their service areas. We can supplement a lot of early informational needs. We can help facilitate an information search or building search, and we have access to demographic data, he says.