Corporate Relocation - Creative ideas from the fast food industry

Corporate Relocation: Mess-Cities for a business Climate

First Steps to a variety of communities around the country in my role in a corporate network relocation team, showed me the good, the bad and the simply ugly. Some towns were so difficult that they never the first cut.

The day-to-day difficulties, even getting through on the phone with a responsible City officials, was amazing. Or in other, no one seemed to be responsible for it and it took foreverapproved for the less far-reaching decisions. Compared to our corporate culture, decision-making process many cities approach was, in fact, in its glacial speed.

In other cities, many of which appeared in the same state or territory, an impressive efficiency. They were on the needs of the relocation of companies, their officers for consultation and decision making available, and they had to answer a good faith accommodation to our relocation concerns.

In a community they had developed such aproactive approach to help small employers (for example, recently they moved a body shop with 2 employees, an eBay entrepreneur with 5 employees and a tile shop / contractor with 4 employees) that it was an easy transition to effectively with the larger employers. Their successful focus on the growing small employers in their cities to expand economic base promoted. This proactive approach was suffering from a long period of economic malaise that has become a major employer whenmoved from the area for more than 20 years ago.

Along the relocation process, we have asked ourselves and we make decisions about the city or region, we would relocate or open up a new operation. To relocate our first step in finding a site or expand a new operation would be a subjective assessment of the overall business climate make in the community. In rare cases, a city would make the first cut, when the subjective factors were negative, although economic factors might look likesomewhat more favorable.

The first step is to cities that are motivated to generate revenue and job growth to be identified. That is the core train we were on the lookout for. Is the city for economic development happen? Not only "elephant" hunting, but the business climate attractive to smaller employers?

Here's a method to help with the ultimate short list is to arrive. We call it our "Wendy's" approach.

Began when the founder of Wendy's Dave Thomas, the storygoes, he could not afford a big expensive real estate department in researching new locations for its restaurants. After some reflection, he concluded was the big man on the block, McDonald's, a large real estate company, so he would just piggyback was analyzed for any position, and was picked out of McDonald's. When Thomas decided to find in an area that he would look for the busiest McDonalds and find homes for its new Wendy's traveled far on theStreet near the McDonald's. The strategy worked, and Wendy's took off like a rocket.

With the "Wendy's" concept, we first review the city's Recent economic developments to report. The city has recently announced a significant grant to HUD, or perhaps grants? The city has successfully attracted the development of one or more companies for mixed-use development? Depending on the size of the community is to develop the resources of the community?

Another sign is the cityready to help start a new company from scratch, she has a new business incubator program? What is his record? Again, the results look critically at the program. Business successes and failures of the program, interviews with participants. What do the community, get the value for money with this program? Compare the program to others in the state. With this information you can find an early picture of a serious attempt or a community have just the benefits offederal and state funding.

Another "Wendy's" tip is to look for the recent arrival of banks in the city or the expansion of local banks. A sure sign of a city that is friendly to business, the level of local investment. Banks enter the market to generate the quality of lending activities of newly established or expanding credit worthy companies. Also new look opened, trendy restaurants and measure their lunch and dinner traffic.

The retail sector, are to CartDistricts living? Better yet, are older and modernize malls spending dollars? These are vital signs of a rapidly growing business climate.

Finally, you have a view of Central Business District. Here you will find the results found when the representatives of the City in restoring the town center, where residents live, work and fun are successful.

Compare these two cities: In one, they put more than 80 planters filled with flowers in the downtown, but it failed toWater the plants as a positive instead of a colorful background, all you saw were dead flowers. In the other community, which they cut out planting areas in the centers of downtown boulevards for planting flowers and shrubs. They involved local service clubs and schools. A city employee had the task of driving a tractor pulling a trailer with a tank and watering the plants. Driving in the city the second city was like driving in a well-tended garden. Who do you think mademore in our "Wendy's analysis?

Overall, the "Wendy's" approach is an excellent starting point for defining winnowing possible candidate city for relocating or opening a new operation. From here you can more accurately study other data important to your company's needs. Finally, if the candidates roughly equal to the "Wendy's" factors can be used to break the bond.

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