Fishers, IN: Local site-selection consultant Jay Walters has been encouraged by the strides Fishers has made in recent years—and voters’ 2012 decision to become a city with an elected mayor. Cost is a key consideration when businesses are choosing a location, he said, and communities have to be responsive if they want to remain competitive.
“There are plenty of other communities that are being aggressive, doing creative things,” said Walters, a principal in Fishers-based FairWinds Advisors, which works with businesses nationwide.Although Fishers is an attractive place to do business, he said, “if it’s cheaper for a company to go a county over, that’s something they’ll look at. … Some of the development we’re seeing in downtown Fishers would not have happened without an aggressive strategy.”