Site Selectors Are People, Too

When a new economic development project lands and the ribbon is cut, everyone celebrates the new jobs. But an unasked question often remains for the new hires: where are we supposed to live? In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith sits down with Marisa Conatser, Senior Development Director at TWG Development, to discuss why housing needs to be treated as critic...

In this special crossover episode of Site Selectors are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith reconnects with longtime friend and industry powerhouse Keeley Stingle. With a career spanning state government (OCRA), regional economic development (Radius Indiana), elected office, and now the private sector with Garmon Construction, Keeley brings a 360-degree perspective on how communities actually gr...

The era of easy data center approvals is over. Across the country, massive billion-dollar hyperscaler projects are facing unprecedented local opposition. The party of big announcements and giant ribbon cuttings was fun, but communities are waking up with a "hyperscaler hangover" and asking hard questions about what exactly they agreed to. In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Dev...

It’s month eighteen. The ribbon-cutting photo is still on your office wall, but the compliance report just landed in your inbox—and the company you fought so hard to win is miles short of its job targets. Now what? This week on Site Selectors Are People, Too, Devin tackles the hardest conversation in economic development: the clawback. When a project goes sideways after the giant scissors are put...

This week on Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith turns the camera around. While past episodes have focused on economic developers, this installment is a playbook specifically for site selection consultants. It’s time to tackle the side of the process EDOs rarely get to see: managing the corporate client. From hidden executive preferences to shifting timelines, Devin breaks do...

You nailed the site visit, answered all the follow-up questions, and then... nothing. Weeks later, you find out you lost a major economic development project because you saw a ribbon-cutting photo on LinkedIn. Ghosting is the most common outcome in site selection, leaving communities with bruised credibility and no actionable feedback to improve their next pitch. This episode breaks down the mecha...

In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith addresses one of the most misunderstood hurdles in the economic development industry: navigating the impact of macro geopolitics on local investment decisions. He is joined by Bruce Talley, founder of Destination Ukraine, to unpack how companies can customize their supply chain strategies to leverage the realities of glob...

In this episode of Site Selectors Are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith heads to the East Coast to address one of the most critical hurdles in the economic development industry: rapidly recruiting and training a specialized workforce. He is joined by Jason El Koubi, President and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), to unpack how the Commonwealth customizes its talent i...

You don’t need a Silicon Valley zip code to build world-class tech solutions—you just need the right talent, the right tools, and a community ready to build. In this extended "Stories from the Road" episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, Devin drives up to his hometown of South Bend, Indiana, to sit down with his old high school friend turned tech entrepreneur, Alex Sejdinaj. As the co-founder...

In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith gets on his soapbox to address one of the most common—and fatal—pet peeves in the economic development industry: the dreaded "TBD" on a Request for Information (RFI) response. When faced with a glaring site constraint or an unfunded utility upgrade, the instinct for many economic developers is to buy time with vague answe...

Why are local economic developers suddenly becoming the scapegoats of their communities? In this late-night, candid episode of Site Selectors are People, Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith sits down to defend the professionals at the heart of local job growth. Driven by rising public hysteria and misinformation—particularly around mission-critical data center projects—Devin unpacks the fundamental mis...

How did electricity—the most boring, taken-for-granted utility—become the single biggest constraint for billion-dollar economic development deals? In this episode of Site Selectors Are People, Too, Devin Hillsdon-Smith unpacks the new reality of site selection: The Electron Wars. For the last two decades, U.S. electricity demand was a sleepy flatline. Today, AI-driven data centers and hyperscalers...

Have you ever been the only person in the room who knows a deal is already dead? In this special solo episode of Site Selectors Are People Too, host Devin Hillston Smith steps away from the success stories and ribbon cuttings to unpack something the economic development industry rarely talks about out loud: a deal that fell completely apart. Taking us behind the scenes of a $150M+ manufacturing ex...

Join host Devin Hillsdon-Smith as he hits the road—and the Great Basin high desert—to explore economic development on a massive scale. In this episode, Devin sits down with Sheldon Mudd, the Executive Director of the NNRDA, who manages a sprawling 40,000-square-mile territory (roughly the size of Iceland!) in Northeastern Nevada. Far from the neon lights of Las Vegas, Sheldon's jurisdiction is a t...

Grab your flashlights and double-check your NDAs—things are about to get legally binding.   In this solo episode, Devin steps down from the lectern and heads straight into the interrogation room to open up his own classified case files. We are peeling back the yellow caution tape to examine the dark underbelly of due diligence and the anatomy of a dead deal.   Listen in as Devin recounts the saga...

How do you drive economic growth in a highly affluent community that already has it all?   In this installment of Stories from the Road, Devin sits down with his long-time friend and former colleague, Justin Hage. Justin has done it all—from working in the George W. Bush administration and state government under Governors Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence, to the private sector. Now, he's taking on a u...

It’s Friday at 4:00 PM. Your weekend is perfectly planned. Then... ding. A 60-page Request for Information (RFI) hits your inbox, and it’s due on Tuesday. We've all been there, and we all know the "EDO guilt" that follows when you even consider passing on a massive project. In this episode of Site Selectors Are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith dives deep into the human impact of the RFI proce...

In the Season 3 finale of Site Selectors are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith sits down with a true titan of the economic development industry: Jim Plump. Having served as the Executive Director of the Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation since its inception in 1984, Jim brings 40 years of unparalleled wisdom to this special Stories from the Road installment. Tune in as Jim detai...

In Part 10, the grand finale of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we pull the camera all the way back to look at the entire 300-year tapestry of global economic development. The genesis of modern economic growth is not a clean, straight line from the steam engine to the smartphone—it is a messy, violent, and deeply contingent evolution of statecraft, ideas, and institutions. T...

In Part 9 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we look at what happens when the unprecedented wealth of the Industrial Revolution collides with staggering, crushing poverty. By the late 1800s, the global capitalist machine was running at maximum capacity, but the internal contradictions of the 19th-century economic model were tearing society apart at the seams. This episode ex...

In Part 8 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we look at what happens when fully industrialized nations run out of room to grow at home. Once the factories are built, the railroads are laid, and the workforces are trained, the great industrial machines of the 19th century needed two things to survive: an endless supply of cheap raw materials, and massive new markets to buy th...

In Part 7 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we strip away the grand economic theories to look at the raw, physical reality of building a nation. You can pass all the protective tariffs you want and steal the best blueprints in the world, but if your raw materials can't reach the factory—and your workers can't read the operating manual—your economic revolution is dead on arr...

In Part 6 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we explore how the rest of the world looked at Britain’s gospel of free trade and called their bluff. While the British preached laissez-faire economics, developing nations viewed it as a rigged "winner's doctrine" designed to keep them in second place. This episode unpacks how three major challengers—the United States, Germany, a...

In Part 5 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we confront the great contradiction of the Industrial Revolution: the simultaneous worship of the free market and the reluctant birth of the modern regulatory state. While 19th-century British politicians preached the pristine gospel of laissez-faire economics from comfortable London clubs, the horrifying realities of the textile...

In Part 4 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we explore the intellectual revolution that killed the ultimate zero-sum game: mercantilism. For centuries, nations believed wealth was finite, fighting endless trade wars to hoard gold. This episode unpacks how a quiet Scottish philosopher and a ruthless London stockbroker completely rewired the global economy. Discover how the c...