Dennis Cuneo's Site Selection Experience
Dennis has extensive site selection experience, having headed up site selection for Toyota and its affiliates for over 15 years. Site Selection Magazine described him “one of the most sought-after site seekers in the world.” The New York Times Deal Book noted that “to officials of state economic development agencies across the country, he’s the equivalent of Elvis.” He’s twice been named to the top 10 list of “people who’ve made a difference” in economic development by Southern Business and Development.
Dennis brings a unique perspective to site selection. He was a corporate executive leading the site selection process, and not just a consultant. He led a multi-cultural, multi-functional team on complex billion dollar projects. He was responsible for achieving consensus among the various corporate functions that impact site selection, including facility engineering, environmental, finance, human resources, logistics, operations, purchasing, tax, legal, and government relations. He was in charge of the process from the initiation of the project feasibility study to the completion of the site selection process – and his responsibilities continued into the implementation phase.
His projects ranged from billion dollar auto assembly plants to new corporate headquarters, with a cumulative investment of over $9 billion. He negotiated financial and infrastructure packages for these high profile projects, being careful to craft mutually beneficial deals in a non-adversarial manner.
Dennis has continued his site selection activities since he left Toyota. His recent projects include:
- Site selection for a $175 million solar manufacturing start-up.
- Site selection for a $150 million cleantech/ nano-technology start-up.
- Site selection for two vehicle parts manufacturing facilities.
- Incentive negotiation for Americas Headquarters of a global company.
- Incentive negotiation for a commercial truck manufacturing facility.
- Advising a financial services company on relocating headquarters jobs.
- Advising a bio-fuels start-up and a waste-to-energy start-up on site selection strategy.
