This is the story of a big company that perhaps moved to Northeast Florida, and how a few real estate agents perhaps made a lot of money because of that move. In this story, the company is fictional but represents the dozens that are looking to relocate. For you, the real estate agent, it is vital information if you’re going to be part of the process.
The plant owner
Mr. X owns the X Manufacturing Co. and he’s tired. Tired of the lousy weather in his Northeastern state, tired of dealing with the unions, tired of spending money to fix his aging equipment and buildings and tired of his state’s personal income tax.
He decides to move south but there are problems. He doesn’t want anyone to know his plan. Certainly not the unions, because they would stir up his employees. Certainly not the local politicians, because they could make his life even more miserable. And, if he is to get a good deal down south, certainly the land price will go up if someone knows that he’s interested.
He shuffles through his Rolodex and finds a business card. A guy came by a few weeks ago and said, “If you ever think of moving, I can make it easier.”
The site consultant
The phone rings on Mr. Y’s desk. It is Mr. X calling. He wants to move.
Mr. Y is a site consultant. It is his business to help companies move and he’s good at it.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks Mr. X.
The reply: somewhere that has low taxes, plenty of land, a trained workforce, reasonably priced housing for his 200 employees and, for he and his wife, a choice of gated communities with a good golf course. Lots of water — maybe even the ocean! — would be nice, too. He wants his employees to follow the company’s move and water would be a great lure, particularly compared to his Rust Belt city’s bleakness.
The contact
The phone rings on Jerry Mallot’s desk. If you’re a real estate agent and don’t know the name, you’ve lost ground to your competitors.
Mallot heads the Cornerstone initiative of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and, to some people in this area, he is the most powerful man they know because he is the go-to man for companies wishing to relocate.
It is Mr. Y, the site consultant, calling.
“Got a prospect,” says Mr. Y. “Manufacturing company. Clean industry. They need 20 acres near an interstate, they need all the infrastructure provided, they need a smooth path through the bureaucracy and they need a good housing for up to 200 families.”
Yes, says Mallot, he can handle that. Count us in.
How much competition?
Maybe a list of 20 cities right now, says the consultant, but you’re in good shape. Mallot can guess the other cities because they’re almost always the same: Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, Charlotte, Nashville, Tampa — large Southern cities that aggressively seek relocations.
Mallot knows how Mr. Y works because it’s his business to know site consultants. He has spent years gaining their trust, going to their conventions and handling their clients, and staying in touch. He trusts Mr. Y and the trust is returned.
Cornerstone
Mallot calls in his chief lieutenant, John Haley, and the two start on a game plan. They may not know the company but they know generally what it does and what it needs, and their combined 40 years of doing this has honed their sense of smell — if it smells good, it probably is, and this one smells good.
They get their staff — a dozen or so, depending on the prospect — together in a small meeting room on the northwest corner of the Chamber’s third floor of its downtown Jacksonville building. This is the strategy center and it has near-Pentagon capability when it comes to communications and computer gizmos.
The big question: what will it take to get this company? And, off that question, the group hunts for answers. They need land, so what’s available? They need power right away, so where is the infrastructure in place? They need housing near the site, so what fits that need? And they need workers skilled in their business, and that’s a question that can’t be answered until they know the business.
The plan is started and soon it will be in place.
The first visit
The site consultant arrives and is taken directly to the war room. This is not a visit that requires impressing anyone. The consultant knows the Jacksonville area well and he’s here to find out as much as he can without divulging too much information about his client.
But his visit is significant — he has Jacksonville in his list of five cities that his client should consider.
Right now, he wants information. Mallot, Haley and their staff has it and the site consultant is again impressed. No one does it better.
The city
Mallot has learned a little more, certainly enough to start working on specifics. He knows the land needs, the housing needs and the workforce needs.
He brings in the city, calling Ron Barton of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. Barton is the public sector’s link when it comes to business development and he knows how to move needs through the government process.
Barton also may have a handle on available housing. If he doesn’t, he calls in the city’s Planning Department.
Mallot’s next call is to Florida State College at Jacksonville. Its president, Steve Wallace, was the Chamber chair in 2007 and understands the process. Even more, he understands that his school’s role is to train people to get a job, and the prospect of a big company coming means he may be able to place students.
The proposal
More information comes in and Mallot now has enough for a proposal. He still doesn’t know the company’s name but his deep network has provided enough hints, and his experience gives him a feel for the needs.
In this (fictional) case, there are perfect matches:
• The company’s land requirements fit Cecil Commerce Center with its available space and proximity to an interstate highway.
• The infrastructure is there, left over from the Center’s days as a Navy base named Cecil Field.
• The housing needs are the easiest: plenty of good homes are available in the nearby subdivisions including OakLeaf Plantation and Argyle Forest.
• Wallace says he can fill manufacturing jobs quickly, either from students who already have gone through the school’s various programs and through specialized training at the campus across Normandy Boulevard from Cecil Commerce Center.
The choices
The site consultant has given Mr. X three recommendations. Savannah, Charleston and Jacksonville make the final cut.
Most major Southern cities can provide the land and housing needs, and the infrastructure, but his other requests have pared the field because not all have good interstate access and very few are close to the water, have a good workforce available and can provide Mr. X with his dream of living in a gated community with a good golf course.
Mr. X agrees with the three and, for the first time, Mallot is told exactly who is looking for a move. He now can make a final plan based on specifics.
The visit
Mr. X now takes control of the process and makes his visits.
In Jacksonville, Mallot takes him to see Cecil Commerce Center and the nearby subdivisions. They meet with the college’s workforce experts. Barton and his JEDC staff assure him that they’ll do everything possible to insure he will have a smooth path through the governmental licensing requirements.
Mallot knows Savannah and Charleston, and he knows that they’ll provide those things, too. But he knows they can’t provide some things.
A call to Marsh Landing General Manager Bruno Couturier lines up a golf game in the afternoon. Yes, says Couturier, I’ll see if one of my better-known residents will just happen to drop by and say hello. New York Giants Coach Tom Coughlin is in town.
A call to the Ponte Vedra Inn’s general manager, Dale Haney, sets up that evening’s meal at the resort’s Surf Room with its giant windows looking directly into the ocean. Just so happens that pro golfer Fred Funk and his family will be there tonight and next-table seating can be arranged.
The decision
Mallot is a patient man. A major move always takes at least six months and, like the Pilot Pen plant relocation, it can take up to two years. He knows not to push the decision maker, and he also knows that he needs to stay close to the site consultant.
In this case, the decision should come fairly soon. There are only three cities in the final running. While each meets the requirements, each is distinctive. The owner shouldn’t fret too long over his decision.
Mallot gets a call from the consultant. He’s been told that a decision will be made within an hour. Stay close to your cellphone.
Jerry Mallot has received calls both ways. If it will be the owner on the line, North Florida has won. If it will be the site consultant, he’s bearing bad news.
This story has no ending, good or bad. What you have read has related the process that a company goes through to select a new site.