WCED Promotes Area to Prospective Companies

Wake County Economic Development project manager James Sauls traveled to the Atlanta area Nov. 20-21, 2008, to call on site location consultants and brokers. Sauls was joined on the trip by edge3 investors Pat Gilliard, senior business development executive with Progress Energy, and Jim Nichols, business development representative with O'Brien/Atkins. The group was invited to make presentations to familiarize the consultants and brokers with Raleigh, Wake County and the Research Triangle area and to specifically discuss those attributes that make it an attractive location for corporate headquarters and data center relocation.

The team met with representatives from the following companies: Herron Consulting; Ernst & Young; CB Richard Ellis; Holder Construction Company; Jones Lang LaSalle; CresaPartners; Deloitte Tax LLP; and T5 Partners. As a result of the trip, WCED collected information that will be helpful in the recruitment of data center clients. In addition, one of the consultants has requested detailed information on the county's two certified sites and specific details on existing data center space in the Wake County market.

WCED project manager Wayne Watkins attended the 2008 Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) held Nov. 18-19, 2008. The 2008 MIGS show featured an independent track at the conference for serious games, a focus area for WCED's efforts to raise the Triangle's profile in this industry. Several sessions were devoted to cultivating the games cluster in Montreal and other potential Canadian gaming hubs. Bill Norton of the Canadian Consulate's Raleigh office helped Watkins make key contacts, which will open communication for potential collaboration between the two cities. Jerry Heneghan of Triangle-based Virtual Heroes, a local serious games development group, also attended and was a featured speaker at the conference.

Future calling trips, conferences and tradeshows are planned for 2009. Any edge3 investor is invited to participate in these trips. For information on future consultant call trips, contact James Sauls at 919.664.7042 or jsauls@raleighchamber.org. For information on conferences and tradeshows focused on the serious games industry, contact Wayne Watkins at 919.664.7043 or wwatkins@raleighchamber.org.