The Parker Poe Consulting team offers economic development consulting services on a case-by-case basis to state, regional and local economic development organizations (EDOs) located throughout North America. In order to be successful, today’s EDOs must thoroughly recognize the relative strengths and weaknesses of their markets, work to enhance their competitive position, fully understand how community resources can match company needs, and position their communities to take advantage of both the capital investment and job creation that new and expanding companies offer. In an everchanging marketplace, EDOs must constantly retool and reinvent themselves to differentiate their communities from the competition.

Parker Poe Consulting works collaboratively with state, regional and local EDOs and governments to develop strategic tools and implement action-oriented tactical plans that enable them to achieve the economic development goals and sustained growth of the markets they represent. These services include the following:

• Product Development & Land Use
  Provide advice and counsel to EDOs and property developers in assessing their inventory of buildings, sites and infrastructure along with recommendations to increase competitiveness and financing strategies for desired improvements or acquisitions.
   
• Management & Operations
  Provide advice and counsel on how best to structure or form new EDOs, recommend best practices, establish benchmarking and implement successful operational strategies.
   
• Marketing & Communications
  Utilizing strategic partnerships, provide advice and counsel to assist EDOs with their marketing needs. These include defining and reaching a target audience, as well as strengthening online presence and collateral materials.
   
• Incentives & Financing
  Provide advice and counsel regarding incentive policy development, incentive negotiation support and deal structuring.

Parker Poe Consulting offers tailored economic impact analyses utilizing nationally recognized analytic tools for clients who need to understand the economic impact of economic development projects in their communities.

Economic impact modeling can be used to measure overall return on investment (ROI) and justification for a variety of different EDO activities from the development of shell or speculative buildings and new industrial parks to the application of state and local incentives for specific economic development projects.

An economic impact analysis from Parker Poe Consulting is both project-specific and location-specific; these analyses promote data-driven decisions regarding economic development projects.

Fiscal Impact Model

Parker Poe Consulting offers a customized Fiscal Impact Model – a robust cost-benefit model allowing economic developers to measure the financial costs and benefits of new investment projects and corporate expansions, inclusive of local incentive offerings. The model utilizes county and state-specific data and is available for communities and economic development organizations to license on an annual basis. Utilizing our Fiscal Impact Model, economic developers and local leadership can make informed decisions regarding their level of incentive support for a project based on its expected financial returns. The Fiscal Impact Model is easy to understand, flexible, practical and provides communities with a defensible and data-driven analysis for local incentive decisions.

Hear some feedback about Parker Poe Consulting's Fiscal Impact Model.

Fee-In-Lieu-of-Tax Model

In conjunction with our Fiscal Impact Model, Parker Poe Consulting developed a companion tool designed specifically to help local economic developers and communities model their incentive offerings. Counties may offer an incentive known as the Fee-in-Lieu of Tax (“FILOT”) to recruit new and expanding companies, effectively reducing property tax for a negotiated period. The Parker Poe Consulting FILOT Model offers easy to manipulate variables, built-in tax rates, and automated functionality illustrating the net financial impacts quickly and easily for all stakeholders.

Opportunity Zone Promotion

The Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created “Opportunity Zones,” an incentive designed to encourage investment in economically distressed, low-income census tracts located throughout the United States. These qualifying census tracts are designated as Opportunity Zones.

When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, more than $6.1 trillion in capital gains were held by investors. In response to requests from communities who were proactively seeking investment dollars within their Opportunity Zones, Parker Poe Consulting developed a service offering specifically to help communities develop tailored marketing tools to recruit new investments under this program.

Parker Poe Consulting's Opportunity Zone Promotion services often include a customized investment prospectus, promotional website and digital marketing campaign.

For additional information or to demo an Economic Development Tool, contact Parker Poe Consulting.

Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) “Statement No. 77, Tax Abatement Disclosures” (GASB 77) requires the disclosure of tax abatements offered to taxpayers by governments. When released, GASB 77 effectively modified the best practices in how state and local governments should prepare their financial statements. GASB’s goal with Statement No. 77 is to provide government financial statement users with important information about forgone revenue via tax abatements and financial incentives.

To assist local governments with GASB 77 compliance, Parker Poe Consulting offers a comprehensive, top-down approach that allows government finance professionals to easily and effectively satisfy reporting requirements. Parker Poe Consulting’s GASB 77 services include a review of all incentive documentation, a thorough financial analysis calculating each incentivized taxpayer’s forgone revenue and produces required citations.