How the Site Selection Process Looks from the Middle  

At Strata, we sit in a unique place within the site selection process. Every day we support communities working to present their locations clearly and accurately, and we support site selectors as they structure RFIs, compare locations, and evaluate opportunities. 

At any given moment, thousands of economic developers are responding to RFIs and dozens of site selectors are requesting information. Our role is to support the systems and workflows that make those exchanges possible. We help ensure that properties can be listed accurately, that websites integrate structured data correctly, that datasets remain organized, and that RFI processes flow smoothly from submission through follow-up. 

We do not access, review, or monitor confidential project details. Strata Platforms operates with strict privacy standards. We support the infrastructure behind the work, not the sensitive content within it. 

Across uploads and downloads, reporting frameworks, reference datasets, and API integrations, our focus is continuity and reliability. We support site selectors before RFIs are issued and economic developers as responses move through their established processes. And we partner with organizations year after year as they strengthen and refine how information flows. 

When you are close to that volume of work on both sides of the industry, patterns begin to emerge. There are operational realities that show up again and again, regardless of geography or organization size. 

Today, we want to share four things we have learned from supporting hundreds of site selection projects. These are not theories. They are observations drawn directly from the work. 

High-Performing Teams Share Data Ownership  

One of the clearest differences between organizations is how they distribute responsibility. In some places, a single person becomes the hub for everything. Every RFI is sent by one individual. Every question is answered by the same individual. That person is capable, dedicated, and almost always exhausted. 

In other organizations, the same workload looks very different. A small team, usually two to five people, shares responsibility. Tasks are divided by expertise and availability. Knowledge is not locked in one inbox or one laptop. 

Strata supports both models, but the contrast has become impossible to ignore. Organizations that distribute the work build internal equity. They respond faster, train new staff more easily, and have capacity to think about what is coming next instead of only reacting to today. 

What we see repeatedly: 

• Property and community data requires input from many contributors 

• Platforms work best when multiple people can participate at once 

• Delegation features lead to higher engagement and better outcomes 

• Teams sustain momentum even when multiple projects run at the same time 

• Distributed ownership improves the quality of the work and protects organizations from burnout and turnover. 

Discovery Happens Long Before the RFI  

Most communities experience site selection as a series of RFIs arriving in their inbox. It feels like the starting point. In reality, the RFI is almost always the middle of the story. 

At Strata, we see one layer above the RFI through LocationOne.com. We can see how often the platform is used and how that usage changes over time. What we observe is consistent, and that is that active search sessions continue to grow month after month. 

We are also seeing participation from more countries than ever before. What once centered around nine countries has expanded to engagement from more than fifty. The audience looking for North American economic development properties is getting larger and more global. 

That tells us something important. Visibility happens long before an RFI is written. Communities that maintain current, complete property information appear more often in early searches. Visibility does not guarantee an RFI, but it clearly increases the odds of one being sent. 

Gap Analysis Strengthens Investment Odds 

Another pattern appears when communities stop evaluating sites one at a time and begin viewing them as a portfolio. 

Strata supports organizations working across multiple sites and multiple years. When properties are examined together, the conversation changes. Leaders stop asking whether a single site is ready and begin asking larger questions: 

• Which gaps affect the most sites? 

• Where would investment unlock the greatest opportunity? 

• Which improvements would reduce roadblocks for the next five years? 

Our highest performing clients do not hide weaknesses. They name them clearly and plan around them. They conduct portfolio-level reviews, run comparative analysis, and participate in readiness programs that reward engagement with capital investment. 

Gap analysis has never weakened an organization’s position. It has given decision-makers something concrete to act on, and uncertainty decreases even when constraints remain. 

Organizations That Learn Between Projects Win 

Some organizations treat every project as brand new. New questions. New answers. New scramble. 

Others quietly get better with each project they touch. 

Because Strata is involved across projects and across staff changes, we can see which organizations build on prior work. The strongest clients develop shared data libraries, reuse templates, recall information from earlier projects, and maintain continuity even as people move on. 

• What shows up consistently 
• Less effort required to participate in new projects 
• Faster responses and smoother collaboration 
• Greater consistency in proposals and data 

These advantages compound over time. Progress in site selection does not come from working harder, but from keeping what was learned and carrying it forward into the next opportunity. Across hundreds of projects, we have seen the same themes surface again and again: strong organizations share ownership of data, discovery happens long before an RFI arrives, visible gaps lead to smarter investment, and teams that learn between projects consistently pull ahead. 

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