SW Site Finder, the nation's first multijurisdictional GIS site location system, is less than two months old. But it already is considered an indispensable tool by industrial and commercial real estate brokers who have listed nearly 100 Southwest Riverside County properties on the site.

In its first 45 days, the SW Site Finder, shown above, attracted nearly 900 visitors.

The Southwest Riverside County Economic Alliance, a regional business and job attraction group that includes the cities of Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula and Riverside County, hired GIS Planning Inc. of Berkeley to develop SW Site Finder.

In its first 45 days, the site attracted nearly 900 visitors even though it is not yet registered with the Internet's main search engines, said Stevie Field, manager of business development for the alliance.

"We are really pleased with the initial response and the favorable reviews SW Site Finder has received from the commercial real estate community," she said.

Field expects activity to pick up significantly when an alliance marketing effort kicks into high gear later this month. An alliance campaign -- "Sometimes the Best Sites Are in Your Own Backyard" -- already is being aired on radio stations in San Diego and Orange counties. But an upcoming postcard mailing to key corporate decision-makers should further reinforce the advantages of the region and accelerate hits to the redesigned Web site at www.swsitefinder.com.

SW Site Finder is a GIS, or geographic information system, that makes it easier for commercial and industrial real estate brokers and site selectors to gather critical data about doing business in Southwest Riverside County.

"It's a great utility in the early stages of an investigation into relocation opportunities," said Bruce Drayton, vice president with Coldwell Banker Commercial-ALMAR group, a Temecula-based broker. "I'm not hesitant at all about directing out-of-area prospects to the site. It allows them to get their arms around what it is that makes this area so special."

Southwest Riverside County enjoys an exceptional quality of life, a mild climate, good air quality, reasonably priced land and building sites adjacent to the Interstate-15 and Interstate-215 corridors, affordable housing at all levels, a highly skilled labor force, quality educational facilities and programs and cultural, entertainment and recreational activities for every lifestyle.

In addition to available property and buildings, SW Site Finder also provides valuable information about the surrounding market (e.g. businesses, customers, suppliers and competitors) through its user-tailored searches.

Collecting and collating such information in the past took a lot of time and a lot of running around. It is now available with a simple click of a computer's mouse.

Data in SW Site Finder is based on the 2000 U.S. Census and business license information. It is updated quarterly by Applied Geographic Solutions of Thousand Oaks.

SW Site Finder is centralized, convenient, cost-free and comprehensive. "Its one-stop approach allows brokers, site selectors and corporate executives to go to a single source to find out all they need to know about Southwest Riverside County," Field said.

McAuliffe works with Temecula-based Cutting Edge Marketing.

SW Site Finder facts

www.swsitefinder.com

Agency: Southwest Riverside County Economic Alliance

Partners: Lake Elsinore

Temecula

Murrieta

Riverside County

Application programmer: GIS Planning Inc. of Berkley

Data provider: Applied Geographic Solutions of Thousand Oaks

What is GIS?

GIS, or geographic information system, is a computer system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating and displaying geographically referenced information. Simply put, GIS combines layers of information about a place to give you a better understanding of that location. What layers of information you combine depends on your purpose -- finding the best location for a new store, demographic, wage or employment information.

How does it work?

The Site Finder allows visitors to the Web site to search Southwest Riverside County for available property by type (e.g. office, retail, commercial, industrial and vacant land), by size, by parcel number, address or city.

Once a property is located, the user can quickly determine potential customers, businesses and suppliers within a certain radius of the property by simply clicking on tabs marked demographic and business reports.

Who can use Southwest Site Finder?

Anyone who has access to a computer and the Internet can use SW Site Finder simply by going to www.swsitefinder.com

Where does the data for the SW Site Finder come from and how often is it updated?

Information comes from data gathered and updated for the 2000 Census and business license data from the three partner cities and the county in the Southwest Riverside County Economic Alliance as well as from commercial and industrial real estate brokers representing properties in Southwest Riverside County