The Best Location on the East Coast for Middle Office
More and more companies are moving jobs and investment from high priced metros in favor of mid-size markets like Greater Richmond, Virginia, especially in middle office operations like accounting, finance, legal and marketing. Why? The opportunity to save big without sacrificing talent.
One of the country’s top site location consultant companies, Wadley Donovan Gutshaw Consulting Group (WDGC), recently analyzed critical data from six regions across the country on the suitability for a corporate ‘middle office’ operations - Richmond, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Based on our findings, the Richmond Region is a very favorable location for middle office which could save a Manhattan or D.C.-based headquarters 15 to 20 percent annually,” said Dennis Donovan, Principal of WDGC.
Over the last few years alone, Greater Richmond has seen these companies locate middle office operations:
- AvePoint, a Microsoft partner, established its operations office in the region from NY/NJ metro;
- ICMA-RC, a retirement service corporation, established a second location from Washington, D.C.; and
- CoStar Group established its Global Research Headquarters from Washington, D.C. going from 0-600 employees within a year.
In addition to these moves, there are several other companies that are considered middle office:
- Capital One, the region's largest employer;
- McKesson, operates its Medical-Surgical divisional headquarters;
- SunTrust has its mortgage headquarters here;
- UPS Freight has its divisional headquarters in the region.
In addition, there are 10 Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in the region meaning the Richmond area has the talent required to meet any company's needs at a fraction of the cost. Add in savings of 33 percent on Class A office space and you have a combination that can't be beat.
