A new integration between Strata Platforms and Data Axle
For site selectors and economic developers, one of the most persistent challenges in location strategy is understanding who is operating in a market. At Strata Platforms we understand, as we serve both sides of the market and are here to change the way we work together, optimizing data for clarity and good decision-making.
Industry summaries and macroeconomic indicators are useful, but when decisions come down to things like talent access and competitive positioning, the real questions become more specific:
- Which employers are in the location and how do they shape the competitive landscape?
- Where are competitors located and how do those companies distribute across a region?
- Is my understanding of the challenges and opportunity in this region, accurate?
- What proof do I have?
Strata Platforms recently worked with a client to address challenging questions like these through a new integration capability using employer data from Data Axle. The result is a new way to visualize and analyze employer-level information directly within the Strata Platform environment.
Why Employer Data Matters in Site Selection
For site selectors and corporate real estate teams, location strategy is rarely just about geography. It’s about understanding the business landscape that surrounds a potential site.
Workforce availability is one part of the equation. But seeing the competitive landscape is equally important. Traditional workforce statistics provide a broad view of labor availability.
With access to detailed business records, site selectors can analyze:
- Labor availability
- Where competitors operate
- Where specific industries are concentrated
- Which companies are driving local employment within a sector
- How industries cluster across regions, metros, and submarkets
- And more…
This level of visibility transforms employer data into a powerful tool for understanding market structure and competitive positioning. Access to this valuable data allows organizations to look deeper and offer a deeper understanding of the companies that actually make up the local economy.
The Role of High-Quality Business Data
Data Axle has built one of the most comprehensive business databases in North America, with millions of verified company profiles and hundreds of firmographic attributes describing businesses across industries.
These records include detailed insights such as:
- Business location and address
- Industry classification
- Employee size estimates
- Business structure and attributes
- Decision-maker and contact data
Maintained through ongoing verification and data validation processes, this dataset provides the kind of granular visibility needed to understand how real-world business ecosystems operate.
For organizations evaluating new locations, that level of detail makes it possible to identify competitive patterns and industry clusters that may not appear in traditional economic reports. Integrations like this demonstrate how high-quality business data can become even more valuable when embedded into analytical platforms used by decision-makers.
A Clearer Picture of Every Market
Every location tells a story through the businesses that operate there.
When site selectors can see which companies are present, how industries cluster, and where competitors are located, they gain a much clearer understanding of the environment surrounding a potential investment.
By combining Data Axle’s employer intelligence with the site selection capabilities of Strata Platforms, organizations can move beyond surface-level statistics and begin evaluating markets through the lens of real business activity.
For economic developers, major employers serve as real-world proof points. They provide a visible track record that demonstrates how a community’s land, workforce, infrastructure, and business environment can successfully support new investment. This gives site selectors added confidence in how a market performs under real operating conditions.
Schedule a Call with Susan Donkers
If any of this feels familiar to your community, we would be glad to talk through what you are seeing and how others are approaching the same challenges.
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