The Site Selectors Guild has announced the addition of three new members. The Guild, the only association of the world’s foremost professional site selection consultants, is now comprised of 58 Full members, five Associate members, and two Emeritus members.
Guild membership is the highest standard in the corporate site selection industry. All members must be actively engaged as site selection professionals and adhere to the Code of Conduct established by the Site Selectors Guild. At least seven years of business location strategy experience is required of Full members and three years’ experience is required of Associate members.
“Site selection consultants play a critical role in corporate plant and facility location decision-making as industry sectors and companies face a myriad of global challenges related to facility footprint strategy, workforce fluctuations, supply chain disruption, risk mitigation efforts, and more,” said Gregg Wassmansdorf, Site Selectors Guild board chair and senior managing director, global consulting at Newmark. “These three new members have demonstrated excellence in partnering with companies and communities to tackle these challenges, create investment and workforce opportunities, and will each bring valuable perspectives and contributions to the Guild.”
Matt Szuhaj, membership chair for the Guild and managing director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, added, “We always look forward to welcoming new members and are pleased to have these well-versed site selection professionals join our association. Their experience spans a wide range of industries and companies, showing their commitment to enhance communities worldwide.”
New Full Member:
Gray Swoope
Gray Swoope is president and CEO of VisionFirst Advisors. After a successful 30-year career in state and local economic development, Gray launched VisionFirst in 2015 with offices in Tallahassee, Orlando and Jackson, Mississippi. Since that time VisionFirst’s client portfolio has grown to span more than 40 states and includes six Fortune 500 companies. Recently, Gray has led VisionFirst in a host of facility and plant expansions as well as relocations in industries such as biotechnology, automotive, aerospace and information technology companies. His team also offers an expansive range of other services including economic development strategy, incentives negotiations and compliance, marketing and communications, leadership development and organizational improvement.
New Associate Members:
Sydney August
Sydney August is a director within CBRE’s Americas Consulting site selection practice. Her extensive experience with location analysis and economic incentive negotiation allows her to match companies and communities for mutual, long-term success. Sydney specializes in workforce strategy, financial analysis, and site due diligence. She works across various asset/project types including corporate headquarter relocations, manufacturing plants, and distribution centers. She is practiced in relocation, expansion, and new operation site selection decisions.
Natalie Lynch
Natalie Lynch is a manager in Deloitte Consulting’s Real Estate Strategy & Sustainability practice, where she advises companies in their facility and location strategy decisions. Her areas of focus include site selection, footprint optimization, facility deployment strategies, and incentives negotiations for advanced manufacturing, headquarters, office projects, and data centers. Natalie’s work spans multiple sectors including consumer and industrial products, financial services, life sciences, and semiconductors. Her international work experiences span APAC, LATAM, and EMEA and she spent four years working in China as a country director for an international non-profit specializing in professional and educational exchanges.
About the Site Selectors Guild
The Site Selectors Guild is the only association of the world’s foremost professional site selection consultants. Guild members provide location strategy to corporations across the globe and for every industry, sector, and function. Founded in 2010, the Site Selectors Guild is dedicated to advancing the profession of international corporate site selection by promoting integrity, objectivity, and professional development. Members are peer-nominated, vetted, and must demonstrate significant professional location advisory experience. In the past three years alone, Guild members facilitated the announced creation of approximately 165,000 jobs and $90 billion in announced capital investment. Guild membership is the highest standard in the site selection industry. For more information, visit siteselectorsguild.com or follow @siteselectguild on Twitter.
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