The EDC has several tools for locating properties, such as Chatham Prospector and NC Site Search. These resources are slightly different: they provide site analysis and market research for geographical areas. All of these tools are free, though STDB Online, Hoover’s, and Ad-ology Pro are not accessible to the public. Visit our office for these resources.

STDB Online
This web-based GIS platform helps identify a study area by address, municipality, region, or other format, and performs ring, donut, and drive time analyses. Users can define up to three rings and generate reports with recent data from households in the rings.

Users can get information about consumer spending, demographics, income and industry profiles, market potential demand reports, and more. This is a good tools for determining if there’s enough demand for a potential business, if there are competitors or complimentary businesses, and where a good location is.

Tools for Business Success
This one-stop resource on the web combines local, state and national information to help entrepreneurs start and expand their small businesses. It is also available is Spanish. A business start-up kit, loan repayment calculator, and government forms tailored for a specific business are just a few of the highlights of this powerful resource.

Ad-ology Pro
This tool provides marketing data about metropolitan areas and television markets to help businesses better understand their customers. Ad-ology looks at what drives customers to purchase, the types of marketing efforts they respond to, and how other businesses in the industry are spending their marketing dollars.

The site also provides data regarding marketing insight consumer spending, and information about your target market’s interests and media consumption.

Hoover’s
Using Hoover’s, users can build a list of businesses based on people, keywords, IPO data, financial information, industry, location, and size. Searches can generate lists to help businesses analyze competitiveness, business-to-business connections, and potential direct marketing targets.

The market research reports about industries, competitors, and business leaders. This can give a general overview of an industry or provide insight for understanding growth trends.

Want to see how these resources can help your small business? Contact Mari Howe at mhowe@chathamedc.org or 919-542-8277.