Project Summit first contacted the organization in March requesting information on industrial sites, workforce and utilities.
Economic Development Director Claire Lawson responded within 42 minutes.
The prospect replied once.
That was the last verified communication.
“We still consider it active,” Lawson said. “There’s been no indication they’re not interested.”
There has also been no indication that they are.
Staff have followed up eight times.
The first follow-up was described as “timely.”
The second was “light.”
The third was “just keeping the conversation moving.”
The fourth referenced a new incentive program.
The fifth attached an updated site flyer.
The sixth simply said, “Circling back.”
The seventh used the phrase “wanted to stay on your radar.”
The eighth avoided any language that could be interpreted as desperate.
“No pressure at all,” it concluded.
There was no response.
Despite the silence, Project Summit continues to appear in the organization’s monthly pipeline report under the category Active Projects.
“We don’t want to close something prematurely,” Lawson said.
Staff briefly considered moving the project to “Dormant,” but decided the term felt unnecessarily negative.
They also rejected “Inactive.”
“Too final,” said Business Development Manager Tyler Grant.
Instead, the project is now internally described as “active, low engagement.”
The distinction is important.
“Dormant sounds like nothing is happening,” Grant explained. “With Summit, something could still happen.”
Asked what is currently happening, he said, “We’re maintaining the relationship.”
The relationship currently consists of Alderford sending messages into what appears to be a highly secure corporate void.
The prospect’s original inquiry indicated a potential investment of $85 million and 220 jobs.
Those numbers have helped preserve its status.
“If this were 12 jobs, we probably would have moved on,” Lawson acknowledged.
The project has now survived two quarterly pipeline reviews.
At the first, a board member asked for an update.
“We’re still in the mix,” Lawson said.
At the second, the same board member asked whether anyone had heard from the company.
“Not recently,” Lawson replied.
“How recently?”
Lawson turned to Grant.
Grant looked at his notes.
“March.”
The board agreed the project should remain active.
“We’ve seen companies go quiet before,” one member said.
Several staff members nodded with the solemn experience of people who have spent years being ignored professionally.
Alderford officials remain hopeful because the prospect has not formally eliminated the community.
“No news can be good news in business recruitment,” Lawson said.
It can also be no news.
Project Summit’s consultant has likewise stopped responding.
Staff considered contacting the company directly but decided against potentially disrupting the process.
“We want to respect protocol,” Grant said.
The team instead checked the company’s website for clues.
Nothing suggested an expansion.
They reviewed LinkedIn.
No announcements.
They searched recent news coverage.
Still nothing.
One executive did post a photograph from a golf tournament.
The image was reviewed carefully.
“We were hoping maybe there’d be a site selector in the background,” Grant said.
There was not.
The project’s CRM record has become increasingly detailed despite the absence of new information.
Notes now include every outreach attempt, every opened email and every relevant company announcement.
One email was opened three times.
Staff remain encouraged by this.
“Somebody looked at it,” Lawson said.
The CRM does not identify who.
It may have been a security scanner.
“That’s still activity,” Grant said.
The project recently reached the six-month mark without direct contact.
No ceremony was held.
Still, the milestone prompted an internal discussion about whether the project should be downgraded.
Lawson argued against it.
“You never know when somebody is going to come back,” she said.
The team then reviewed several previous prospects that had gone quiet.
One eventually reappeared after nine months.
Another resurfaced two years later.
A third never contacted them again.
Staff preferred to focus on the first two.
Project Summit remains in the pipeline alongside newer opportunities that are currently returning calls.
Lawson said the organization has not reduced attention to more responsive prospects.
“We can do both,” she said. “We can pursue what’s real and stay open to what’s possible.”
Grant agreed.
“You don’t want to kill a project just because it hasn’t spoken to you in half a year.”
At press time, Project Summit remained classified as active after an automated email from the company’s marketing department arrived in Lawson’s inbox with the subject line “We Haven’t Forgotten About You.”
Staff described the message as encouraging.
