Helping Businesses Find Places to Locate Statewide

Indiana's Sites and Buildings Database

It has taken awhile, but the Indiana Sites and Buildings statewide database is now a reality. With the financial support of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the Indiana Economic Development Association partnered with the Indiana Business Research Center to bring the dream of many local economic developers to fruition.

Figure 1

Showing What Indiana Has to Offer

The Indiana Sites and Buildings Database can be found on the Web at http://siteselection.in.gov/. This new statewide database provides one-stop Internet access for national and international site location specialists and consultants to find available sites and buildings in all 92 counties. They can search for sites by map or by criteria.

GIS functionality enables them to view the location on a map, putting it in context with its surrounding environment. Quick access to radius-based demographics also aid in completing the overall view of the site.

With these tools, site locators and local economic developers will be able to more easily work with those interested in building or working in Indiana, showing new or expanding businesses what Indiana has to offer.

Where the Data Are From

Most often, site listings are maintained by the local economic developer through a Web-based entry form. In general, a single point of contact in each county is responsible for entering the sites for that county. Some counties, however, participate with utility companies in entering the information through those portals. Meanwhile, there is an arrangement to obtain the files from the City of Indianapolis, where realtors are the primary parties entering sites. All in all, the approach is flexible so that we can ensure good coverage statewide.

The sites management system is a secure password-protected system that allows contacts to enter the information and upload files to help show off the location—aerials, photographs, brochures, etc.

We are updating and improving both user and management capabilities, search techniques and entry features on a daily basis, so check the site often.

Carol Stewart, Sites and Buildings Database Manager
Indiana Business Research Center, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University