Site Selectors Are People, Too

Devin Hillsdon-Smith

This show explores the relationship between the professionals who work tirelessly to match corporate investment to communities across North America. Behind every multi-million dollar corporate investment and community revitalization is a high-stress, high-stakes relationship between site selectors and economic developers. Site Selectors Are People, Too pulls back the curtain on this intricate dance. Join our host, Devin Hillsdon-Smith, as he steps away from the spreadsheets to humanize the profession. Whether diving into actionable strategies for real estate activation, navigating the exhaustion of road-warrior travel, or tackling the mental health realities of a demanding career, this podcast brings candid conversations, expert insights, and a touch of fun to the business of building communities. Let's get to work—and have some fun!

  1. 6d ago

    Affluent Communities: Justin Hage on Finding the Right Fit in Economic Development

    How do you drive economic growth in a highly affluent community that already has it all?   In this installment of Stories from the Road, Devin sits down with his long-time friend and former colleague, Justin Hage. Justin has done it all—from working in the George W. Bush administration and state government under Governors Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence, to the private sector. Now, he's taking on a unique challenge as Deputy Mayor for his hometown of Zionsville, Indiana. Zionsville is a beautiful, affluent bedroom community just northwest of Indianapolis, boasting a median household income of around $170,000. But with 88% of its tax base tied up in residential properties, the town faces a critical challenge: how to diversify its tax base to maintain premium municipal services without disrupting the community's charm or inviting unwanted NIMBYism.   Devin and Justin dive into the nuances of attracting the right kind of development—skipping the heavy "smokestack" industries in favor of corporate headquarters, life sciences, and trail-side office spaces that complement the town’s executive-level talent pool.   In this episode, we cover: Justin’s fascinating career path from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to the "Swiss Army Knife" of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. The specific challenges and strategies of doing economic development in a wealthy, 88% residential bedroom community. How to balance the preservation of a community's way of life with the need for commercial modernization and growth. The power of regional collaboration: How Zionsville works alongside the Boone County EDC and Indy Partnership to cast a wider net for targeted investments. Plus, a fun piece of history about Abraham Lincoln’s connection to Zionsville!   If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!

  2. Jul 7

    How to Evaluate a Site Selection RFI: An Economic Developer's Scoring Framework

    It’s Friday at 4:00 PM. Your weekend is perfectly planned. Then... ding. A 60-page Request for Information (RFI) hits your inbox, and it’s due on Tuesday. We've all been there, and we all know the "EDO guilt" that follows when you even consider passing on a massive project. In this episode of Site Selectors Are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith dives deep into the human impact of the RFI process and gives economic developers the ultimate permission slip: It is okay to say no. A win isn't a win if it breaks the team who landed it. To help you navigate the pressure, Devin breaks down the Hyphen Strategies RFI Gut Check Scorecard, a 4-phase decision matrix designed to help your Economic Development Organization (EDO) protect its people and its community: Phase 1: The Internal Human Audit – Checking your team's emotional runway, capacity, and the hidden opportunity costs of a high-intensity response. Phase 2: The Consultant & Relationship Context – How to spot a "fishing expedition," why you need to pick up the phone for a clarity call, and the importance of an honesty check. Phase 3: Community & Culture – Applying the "Good Neighbor Test" to ensure a company's ethos, wages, and strategic alignment actually fit your 10-year vision. Phase 4: The Technical Reality – A hard stop for utility realism, labor truth, and site readiness. (If it's gently rolling, don't call it flat!) 📚 Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Access the FREE interactive Hyphen Strategies RFI Gut Check Scorecard. Remember: Take care of your sites, but take care of your people first! #EconomicDevelopment #SiteSelection #EDO #Leadership #WorkplaceWellbeing #CorporateRealEstate #Essentialism

  3. Jun 2

    Community Champions: Jim Plump on Long-Term Economic Development

    In the Season 3 finale of Site Selectors are People Too, host Devin Hillsdon-Smith sits down with a true titan of the economic development industry: Jim Plump. Having served as the Executive Director of the Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation since its inception in 1984, Jim brings 40 years of unparalleled wisdom to this special Stories from the Road installment. Tune in as Jim details the incredible transformation of rural Jackson County, Indiana, into a booming global manufacturing hub. He shares the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of how a seamless, team-first effort helped Seymour land tier-one Toyota supplier Aisin in 1986, paving the way for dozens of international investments in the region. Devin and Jim also explore how the role of a "Community Champion" has drastically evolved over the decades. Moving beyond the old days of "chasing smokestacks," modern economic development now requires navigating AI, championing local housing, and building robust, innovative workforce pipelines. You'll hear about Jackson County's unique, 26-year-old Workforce Partnership—including their brilliant strategy of paying for substitute teachers so educators can tour local industries and bring real-world manufacturing knowledge back to their students. Whether it's deploying the "shield" to protect the community from bad-fit projects, or using the "sword" to bring high-quality employers like Guardian Bikes to town, Jim’s humble and collaborative approach is a masterclass in economic development. Note: This is our final episode of Season 3! We will be taking a short break to tee up new guests and will return with fresh episodes in July. Enjoy the show! #EconomicDevelopment #EconDev #SiteSelection #SiteSelectors #FDI #ForeignDirectInvestment #BusinessRetention #CommunityChampions

    Community Champions: Jim Plump on Long-Term Economic Development

  4. May 26

    The Architects of Prosperity: The Groundwork for Modern Development

    In Part 10, the grand finale of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we pull the camera all the way back to look at the entire 300-year tapestry of global economic development. The genesis of modern economic growth is not a clean, straight line from the steam engine to the smartphone—it is a messy, violent, and deeply contingent evolution of statecraft, ideas, and institutions. This episode explores how the grand macroeconomic strategies of warring empires were eventually downloaded directly to the local zip code. We unpack how early state-building, catastrophic financial bubbles, and the clash between free trade and nationalist survival birthed the exact toolkit used by modern site selectors today, proving that modern development economics is just the academic rediscovery of what 19th-century architects learned the hard way. In This Episode, We Cover: The Genesis of Modern Finance: We look at the absolute power of early mercantilism and how the catastrophic Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles of 1720 forced nations to figure out sovereign debt, granting the British state the ultimate competitive advantage. The Enabling State: The clash between the British gospel of laissez-faire free trade and the challenger nations (the US, Germany, and Japan) who explicitly rejected it, using the iron fist of state survival to protect infant industries, build infrastructure, and engineer human capital. The Birth of Smokestack Chasing: How the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the eventual retreat of federal industrial policy in the 1970s and 80s forced local mayors, counties, and EDCs to fight for capital on their own, localizing the mercantilist battlefield. The Nobel-Winning Secret: We hit the "Nerd Section" to unpack the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics, revealing the ultimate mathematical truth of our profession: why the success or failure of a region always comes down to the difference between extractive and inclusive institutions. #EconomicDevelopment #TheArchitectsOfProsperity #EconomicHistory #Institutions #NobelPrize2024 #SiteSelection #Podcast #SiteSelectorsArePeopleToo

  5. May 19

    The Architects of Prosperity: The Intellectual Reckoning

    In Part 9 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we look at what happens when the unprecedented wealth of the Industrial Revolution collides with staggering, crushing poverty. By the late 1800s, the global capitalist machine was running at maximum capacity, but the internal contradictions of the 19th-century economic model were tearing society apart at the seams. This episode explores the intellectual reckoning that followed. We unpack how three brilliant, radically different thinkers—a radical philosopher, a fiercely conservative Chancellor, and an economic heretic—diagnosed the structural diseases of global capitalism and wrote the foundational DNA for the entire 20th century. In This Episode, We Cover: The Socialist Earthquake: We strip away Cold War rhetoric to examine Karl Marx’s purely mathematical critique of capitalism, the "extraction of surplus value," and his chilling prediction that the system was structurally doomed to eat its own tail. The Pragmatic Pivot: How Otto von Bismarck, a fiercely conservative Prussian nationalist, invented the modern welfare state—not out of benevolence, but as a calculated state bribe to crush a socialist revolution and keep the German military-industrial complex running. The Imperial Bailout: John A. Hobson's heretical critique that exposed 19th-century global imperialism as a desperate, violent corporate bailout driven by domestic inequality, "oversaving," and toxic jingoistic propaganda. The Modern Legacy: How these 150-year-old theories still dictate modern economic development, from capital-labor tensions in incentive negotiations to why social safety nets are economic infrastructure, and how underconsumption mirrors the dangerous hollowing out of today's middle class. #EconomicDevelopment #TheArchitectsOfProsperity #KarlMarx #Bismarck #EconomicHistory #WealthInequality #Podcast #SiteSelectorsArePeopleToo

  6. May 12

    The Architects of Prosperity: The Colonial Model

    In Part 8 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we look at what happens when fully industrialized nations run out of room to grow at home. Once the factories are built, the railroads are laid, and the workforces are trained, the great industrial machines of the 19th century needed two things to survive: an endless supply of cheap raw materials, and massive new markets to buy their surplus goods. This episode explores the dark, outward turn of economic development: The Colonial Model. We unpack how the newly industrialized, hyper-connected powers (like Britain, France, Germany, and later Japan) looked across the oceans and collided on the global stage, using their state power to carve up the world into extractive resource hubs and captive consumer markets. In This Episode, We Cover: The Outward Turn: Why the incredible success of domestic industrialization and massive economies of scale mathematically forced nations to seek out foreign resources and new consumer bases. Extractive vs. Inclusive: How the great powers set up purely extractive institutions in the Global South—mining copper, harvesting rubber, and growing cotton—to feed the factories back home. The Captive Market: How colonial powers intentionally de-industrialized their territories (like the intentional destruction of India's textile industry) to force colonies to buy finished goods exclusively from the empire. The Global Collision: The scramble for territory that redrew the map of the world and set the stage for the geopolitical and economic power dynamics we are still untangling today. The Modern Legacy: How the historical scars of the Colonial Model continue to impact global supply chains, international trade negotiations, and emerging market development in the 21st century. #EconomicDevelopment #TheArchitectsOfProsperity #ColonialModel #EconomicHistory #GlobalSupplyChains #IndustrialRevolution #Podcast #SiteSelectorsArePeopleToo

  7. May 5

    The Architects of Prosperity: The Unseen Foundations

    In Part 7 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we strip away the grand economic theories to look at the raw, physical reality of building a nation. You can pass all the protective tariffs you want and steal the best blueprints in the world, but if your raw materials can't reach the factory—and your workers can't read the operating manual—your economic revolution is dead on arrival. This episode explores the "enabling state": how governments laid the tracks and trained the minds that made the modern industrial world possible. We dive into the massive, capital-intensive public goods that private markets simply couldn't build on their own. In This Episode, We Cover: The Friction of Distance: Why moving a ton of wheat across Pennsylvania in 1810 cost as much as shipping it across the Atlantic, and how massive public works like the Erie Canal changed the world overnight. The Railroad & The Sears Catalog: How the federal government used unprecedented land grants to underwrite the transcontinental railroad, and how Richard Sears weaponized this new infrastructure to completely destroy local, rural monopolies. The Hidden Friction of Human Capital: Why Horace Mann's "Common School" movement was just as critical to industrialization as the steam engine, transforming an agrarian population into a disciplined, standardized, and literate workforce. The Nerd Section (Endogenous Growth Theory): A deep dive into Nobel laureate Paul Romer’s theory, proving mathematically why ideas are "non-rivalrous" and how public investments in education and R&D act as the true, internal engines of long-term economic growth. #EconomicDevelopment #TheArchitectsOfProsperity #Infrastructure #HumanCapital #EndogenousGrowthTheory #EconomicHistory #SiteSelection #Podcast #SiteSelectorsArePeopleToo

  8. Apr 28

    The Architects of Prosperity: The Challengers

    In Part 6 of our special mini-series, The Architects of Prosperity, we explore how the rest of the world looked at Britain’s gospel of free trade and called their bluff. While the British preached laissez-faire economics, developing nations viewed it as a rigged "winner's doctrine" designed to keep them in second place. This episode unpacks how three major challengers—the United States, Germany, and Japan—completely rejected the invisible hand and instead used the heavy, muscular power of the state to rewrite the global economic map. Discover how modern economic development tools like corporate subsidies, state-backed infrastructure, and regional logistics corridors were born from 19th-century protectionism. In This Episode, We Cover: The American School: How Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury Secretary, rejected free trade in favor of "infant industry" protection, direct corporate subsidies, and state-sanctioned corporate espionage to steal British tech. The German Fortress: The incredible story of political exile Friedrich List and the Zollverein (Customs Union)—the mundane bureaucratic agreement that smashed Germany's internal borders, built a massive protected market, and launched the Ruhr Valley megasite. The State-Led Leap: How Japan's Meiji Restoration abolished a 260-year-old feudal system overnight and used the government as a visionary entrepreneur to build the nation's first factories, eventually birthing the massive zaibatsu conglomerates like Mitsubishi. The Nerd Section (Kicking Away the Ladder): A post-story deep dive into economist Ha-Joon Chang’s theory that rich nations use protectionism to reach the top, only to preach free trade to kick the ladder away from everyone else—and how modern policies like the CHIPS Act prove the US is returning to Hamilton's playbook. #EconomicDevelopment #TheArchitectsOfProsperity #AlexanderHamilton #Zollverein #MeijiRestoration #IndustrialHistory #SiteSelection #Podcast #EconDevHistory #SiteSelectorsArePeopleToo

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About

This show explores the relationship between the professionals who work tirelessly to match corporate investment to communities across North America. Behind every multi-million dollar corporate investment and community revitalization is a high-stress, high-stakes relationship between site selectors and economic developers. Site Selectors Are People, Too pulls back the curtain on this intricate dance. Join our host, Devin Hillsdon-Smith, as he steps away from the spreadsheets to humanize the profession. Whether diving into actionable strategies for real estate activation, navigating the exhaustion of road-warrior travel, or tackling the mental health realities of a demanding career, this podcast brings candid conversations, expert insights, and a touch of fun to the business of building communities. Let's get to work—and have some fun!

Information

  • Creator
    Devin Hillsdon-Smith
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Site Selectors Are People, Too