Spring 2008
A New Look for Southern Business & Development and its Web Sites
Change is not a word we have often used here at SB&D. But after 15 years, we figured maybe we should create a new look with our products that are designed to guide companies looking to the South to set up shop in the region. So, in the spring quarter we redesigned the look of Southern Business & Development the magazine, as well as its two Web sites, www.SB-D.com and www.SouthernAutoCorridor.com. SB-D.com had not undergone a redesign since 1999, when it went live on the World Wide Web. It was long overdue for an update that incorporates the newest technologies available. Our other Web site, SouthernAutoCorridor.com (launched in February 2003), exists to steer those in the automotive industry to the only region in the U.S. where the transportation equipment sector is growing. We just finished a revamping of that site, too, so take a look.
New Products Starting with this Issue
Not only did we redesign three products in the spring quarter, we added one. Published and polybagged with this edition of SB&D is our first-ever bonus issue. Titled the "250 Best Places in the South to Locate Your Company," the ranking shows which places in the South have turned the most big deals over the last 15 years. It is certainly information you can use for several years as you search the region for a great place for your company. So put it on the shelf for future reference.
We have bonus issues planned for the next two editions, one focusing on the best aviation and aerospace places in the South and another on the best performing automotive industry places in the South. Both rankings will be based on the number of automotive and aviation/aerospace deals turned since 1993. This first bonus issue was so successful, who knows, we may include one with every edition of SB&D.
The Launch of SmallTownSouth.com
Later this year, Southern Business & Development will launch www.SmallTownSouth.com. The new Web site (look for "STS" to go live in November, we hope) is designed to showcase the best small towns in the South for locating business and industry, retirees and tourists. The site will coincide with the rebranding of our annual Rural American South edition. For 12 years we published the Rural American South edition. This year, it will be titled the Small Town South edition.
One of the first things on our to do list in launching SmallTownSouth.com is to find small towns in the region that have transformed themselves into dynamic (albeit small) places to live, work and operate a business. We have visited over 1,200 small towns in the South over the last 16 years. It is interesting to see what many of those towns were and what they are today.
Two that weren't much of anything in the early 1990s, but today boast of vibrant economies and excellent places to live are Paducah, Ky. and Greenwood, Miss. There are hundreds of places like them in the South. But these two stand out to me as examples of small southern towns that, in a short period of time, have moved from "Podunk" to "polished." When we launch SmallTownSouth.com this fall, you will be able to read more about Paducah's and Greenwood's incredibly successful transformations.
Corrections
We incorrectly listed the Metro Little Rock Alliance and Lowcountry Economic Network in the last issue's annual directory. It should have read:
Joey Dean
Metro Little Rock Alliance
One Chamber Plaza
Little Rock AR 72201
501-377-6006
fax: 501-374-6018
email: jdean@littlerockchamber.com
web: www.metrolittlerockalliance.com
Kim Statler
Lowcountry Economic Network
917 Bay Street Ste 207
Beaufort SC 29902
843-379-3955
fax: 843-379-3954
email: kstatler@lowcountrynet.org
web: www.lowcountrynet.org
Michael Randle, Editor
mike@sb-d.com
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