After 500+ demos with communities of every size, a few themes show up every time. The tools and workflows that win projects are the ones that make data trustworthy, responses fast, and collaboration easy.
Here are the biggest lessons we saw again and again:
1. Clean, connected data beats a bigger spreadsheet
If data lives in PDFs, GIS layers, or scattered spreadsheets, it takes too long to trust and reuse. The best teams standardize everything, keep refresh schedules visible, and let local knowledge override automated data when needed. Clean data is not a one‑time project; it is a living system.
2. RFIs are won by speed and consistency
Most RFIs are still built by hand. That creates delays and inconsistencies that quietly cost projects. When teams can extract criteria, score sites, and assemble branded responses quickly, they respond with confidence—and stop rebuilding the same deliverables over and over.
3. Maps, portals, and reports should all tell the same story
When marketing tools pull from a different dataset than your internal records, the story falls apart. Teams want one source of truth that powers the internal map, the public portal, the spec sheet, and the workforce reports so every output matches.
4. Regional collaboration needs shared visibility and local control
Partnerships work best when regional and state programs can coordinate across multiple jurisdictions while each local EDO stays in control of its own data and approvals.
If you tried Sitehunt early on, the platform has come a long way. We would love to run a live demo with your most challenging property list or a recent RFI and show what the latest build can do.
Adapted from an article originally published on Econ Dev Show. Read the original post