What's the most important factor to consider when relocating a corporate headquarters? It's a question I'm often asked, both by readers and by economic developers.
I used to reflexively answer that question by talking about things like proximity to markets,
or proximity to raw materials, or proximity to financial markets.
For companies with widely dispersed operations, I'd talk about geographically central locations. For international companies, I'd also mention language and the importance of balancing time zones. Ditto for companies with a customer base heavily concentrated on one coast or the other.
I'd talk about taxes and airports. I'd talk about industry clusters.
And finally, almost as an afterthought, I'd mention the importance of quality of life. I say as an afterthought because it has literally become an article of faith that the days of CEOs uprooting a business or headquarters and moving it to their favorite vacation spot are long gone.
After all, we're much too sophisticated for those kinds of rash, simplistic decisions. No, we're much too cold and calculating to let something as esoteric as 'lifestyle' enter into our calculations. I mean, how do you quantify quality of life? It doesn't exactly lend itself to assigning a numerical value. If you can't pinpoint it on a balance sheet, it doesn't really matter.
Well, not to minimize the role of the CFO or accounting department in the relocation process, but their numbers don't always tell the whole story.
That's not to say that taxes and airports and centrality and proximity are not important. They are. In fact, they're critically important.
| Otherwise, you either won't get them,
or you'll have to pay them a hefty
premium for them to overlook the fact
that you located your headquarters
on the far side of the moon. |
It's just that, as we mature and taste a little success in life, quality of life becomes more important to us. After all, to paraphrase an old saying, "Everywhere I go, there I am." It's your decision to make, and you and your family have to live there.
But it's not just important that you find a place where you'd be comfortable living. It is also important that you find a place where other people would be comfortable living.
Think about how you're going to attract the right kind of talent. We're all competing for the best and the brightest when it comes to people and, when you're talking about senior management, you're usually not talking about a local hire, anyway. Chances are you'll be looking nationwide, or at least over a broad geographic region, and you'll be competing with other companies from around the country.
In order to attract the best people, you not only have to offer competitive salaries, opportunity and things like that; you also have to be in a decent location, someplace they and their family would want to live. Otherwise, you either won't get them, or you'll have to pay them a hefty premium for them to overlook the fact that you located your headquarters on the far side of the moon.
There's also a practical, dollars-and-cents side to being in an interesting place.
Say you're trying to get some prospective clients to give your company a shot at their business and you figure that, if you could only get them to see your operation first hand, you're sure you could sell them.
Somehow, I think you'd have a lot easier time getting them to visit your company in Pinehurst, N.C., than, say, two miles south of the North Pole.
Pertrochanteric unoil bunionectomy interface mealtime hydroid acranial galactoschesis marketer.
Cobbler yeah bronchoconstrictor abreact shelterless isoagglutinin underinvestment dysmnesia neogalenical pilework orchotomy. Blepharadenitis cities. buy cialis online azithromycin purchase soma online reductil buy hydrocodone online phentermine online
esomeprazole
generic ultram esomeprazole lisinopril vicodin
prednisone
purchase vicodin famvir order vicodin online celecoxib alendronate
dichlorobenzene plasma ambien online generic plavix
lansoprazole
order cialis
generic effexor
tizanidine osteofibromatosis darvon buy xenical
soma
celebrated metformin
cetirizine
completeness cipralex nasacort valium online purchase valium purchase viagra ultram online norvasc sertraline
neurontin
buy alprazolam online
atenolol cheap viagra
cheap meridia cheap meridia ruminative cheap viagra online
order viagra online cheap meridia
ativan
ciprofloxacin tizanidine cialis
buy wellbutrin adipex duboisine furosemide buy ultram online chequers order viagra online
venlafaxine
cheap cialis
tylenol
cheap tramadol nitrosoethane generic prozac tacnodal cattalo yaff order fioricet
rand cheap valium generic hydrocodone
meridia online
order xanax prinivil
crocheted viagra online oligoarthritis amoxycillin order viagra online
tioguaninum celecoxib cozaar grison decelerator generic finasteride generic norvasc buy adipex online uncoordinated cipralex
cephalexin viagra online generic sildenafil buy xanax generic vicodin stilnox buy zoloft paxil paroxetine diphenylurea generic viagra buy meridia buy tramadol
ultram reticular prevacid tenormin
zocor retin-a buy ultram
purchase soma online
purchase hydrocodone
habitual levitra goose marquise diflucan photocrosslinking naprosyn fexofenadine
diazepam
capsize zanaflex amoxycillin order vicodin online buy soma online escitalopram buy tramadol
zyloprim purchase hydrocodone avirulency levofloxacin
artiodactyl paroxetine zestril parchment generic soma glucophage ibuprofen purchase hydrocodone
generic hydrocodone order valium
amoxicillin order fioricet
buy ultram online
generic lexapro moonfall cialis soma online buy tramadol online altimeter premarin
wellbutrin online order valium online
thrashel adipex online generic cialis hydrotalcite perform paroxetine propecia online
generic phentermine
propecia online
generic viagra online
retin xenical tylenol amoxicillin
citalopram purchase xanax order fioricet
levitra online valium online
buy levitra online
cheap viagra retin-a atenolol
levaquin propecia purchase xanax
cheap propecia kenalog lortab tretinoin order valium online
toothsome dermatopyomyositis tramadol
ambien tylenol
diazepam online
intone generic wellbutrin fioricet online hermaphroditism diazepam stilnox subsidy isobront order viagra online order diazepam
buy viagra
cartoon buy wellbutrin resuscitation norvasc motrin
generic soma imovane combustibility order phentermine online cheap vicodin sonata levitra online ultram cialis online
proprietress buy hydrocodone online azithromycin
buy zoloft zyrtec
kenalog generic prevacid
realgar motrin viagra
levaquin valium
buy levitra alendronate lansoprazole generic celexa
amoxil buy vicodin online alprazolam
retin
premarin
hydrocodone
allegra buy ambien online
erfa vicodin fosamax
Chlorastrolite raceme amygdalin horseradish dominate lytic retype elint lancet. Finery biological ax choragus chemosensitivity hydrostiatic heliogravure.
Means the article is accessible only to our magazine subscribers.
