Didi Caldwell is one of the world’s most authoritative site selection and incentive negotiations experts specializing in capital-, labor- and resource-intensive manufacturing projects. Core industry competencies lie in biotech, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, carbon fiber and other advanced materials, metals, power generation, automotive, aerospace, consumer products, automotive and aerospace, paper, advanced manufacturing, and warehouse and distribution. Since 1998, Ms. Caldwell has personally conducted location advisory services in more than 30 countries for both domestic capital investment and foreign direct investment projects totaling more than $40 billion.

She is the first female chairperson of the prestigious Site Selectors Guild, a peer-nominated association of the world’s leading corporate location advisors. A frequent speaker at economic development and industry conferences, Ms. Caldwell is sought after for her expert opinion and advice on matters pertaining to manufacturing location and operations.

Ms. Caldwell began her career in 1998 at the global engineering and construction firm FLUOR where she spent 10 years providing location advisory services for projects all over the world. In 2008, she opened her own consultancy, Global Location Strategies (GLS), and, upon the dissolution of FLUOR’s site selection division in 2009, signed a teaming agreement with them that remains to this day. Since 2012, GLS has supported both domestic capital investment and foreign direct investment projects valued at $5.6 billion and creating 5,300 jobs.

The comprehensive services GLS provides are:

• Location Benchmarking: screen potential locations (countries, states/provinces, regions, cities) to determine optimal locations for development of project
• Site Selection: an intensive data-driven, hands-on process to identify, analyze and select the best community and site
• Incentive Negotiations and Optimization: offset manufacturers’ investment and operating costs for higher ROI, increasing the likelihood that a project moves forward and the flexibility on process design and construction
• Technical Site Due Diligence: detailed analysis and review of finalist sites to identify and mitigate risks to cost, schedule and function

Core Competencies:

• Site Selection
• Location Benchmarking
• Technical Site Due Diligence
• Incentive Negotiations
• Labor Analysis
• Supply Chain Analysis and Optimization
• Infrastructure Analysis and Due Diligence
• Multinational manufacturing and industrial projects

Industry Specialization:

• Oil & Gas
• Carbon fiber
• Automotive
• Chemicals/Petrochem
• Consumer products
• Food and beverage
• Energy
• Biotech
• Metals and composites
• Pharmaceuticals
• Pulp and Paper
• Warehouse & Distribution

Sample Clients:

• Hexcel
• Procter & Gamble
• Sabic
• YPF
• Kuwait Petroleum
• Sinopec
• Georgia Pacific
• Duke Energy
• Entergy
• TVA
• Conoco
• D. Irving
• First Quality
• Constellium
• Caesarstone
• Barrick Gold

When to Contact:

Professional site selectors often serve as a barometer for the overall economy – when companies are growing and expanding, they turn to site selectors for location advisory assistance. If projects slow down or stop coming in to site selectors, it is an early indicator that business may be headed for a downturn. Ms. Caldwell is committed to sharing expert opinion and commentary on such matters, particularly as they relate to manufacturing.