Hill
International, the global construction and claims management company
named for Cherry Hill where the founder lived, moved from New Jersey to Philadelphia
about a year ago. "As much as we like Marlton and as much
as it was an easier commute for me coming down from Princeton, I just felt that
we should be downtown," David Richter, chief
executive, explained in our Executive Q&A interview published in Sunday's
Philadelphia Inquirer.
"We had a Marlton office
and a Philadelphia office, and two big offices 30 minutes apart didn't make a
lot of sense because we were really segregated. So it gave us the chance to put
both offices together. We wanted to be downtown because of access to travel
--the train station, the airport. It gave us access to a much bigger labor pool
to hire from."
Question: Has that helped?
Answer: To some degree. We lost a
couple of people who liked working in South Jersey and didn't want to commute
over the river. But I'd say as far as the people we've been adding in the last
year. I think that we've had a bigger and better pool to choose from. We're
closer to decision makers and I think that's raised our level of exposure.
Q: Locally?
A: In the Philadelphia business
community, and I think it sort of raised our credibility internationally. We're
in Philadelphia, which everybody instantly knows. You don't have to explain
where Marlton is, spell it for people and tell them where it is in New Jersey,
and have them, oh outside of New York. We're in a world-class city, and to
we're a world-class company and this is where we should be.
Q: I remember also your dad
saying, `Oh it's because Jersey didn't give us enough money to stay.'
A: Jersey never gives you money
to stay. They give you money to move in. Otherwise, every time anybody renewed
their lease the state would write you a check. Certainly, Philadelphia and
Pennsylvania supported our move. Encouraged us, both with words and with
dollars to come to Philadelphia, and it did make the difference. Because this
move would have been too expensive without the financial support that we got.
Q: But you said you wanted to
come here. So would it have been too expensive really?
A: Yeah. It would have been a
tough move at that time for us.
Q: Why? Because it was right at
the end recession?
A: Yeah. The build
out here costs us about $8 million, and the landlord paid half, and the city
and state paid about half. So the move was basically free to us.
Q: Free?
A: No, well, we had to
upfront the cash. We had to pay. A lot of stuff that we're getting from the
city and state comes later. Tax credits and things like that. Loans that
might not have to be repaid if we grow our staff big enough.
Q: How big is big enough?
A: I think the number was
300 that we were expected to be within a couple of years.
Q: So do the mathematics for
me.
A: We moved over about 120
from Marlton. We had about 80 from Philadelphia. So we already had 200.
Q: Then you only have to add
100? How are you doing on that so far?
A: Well, we're growing. If we get more work from
the city and more work from the state then we can grow even faster. But we were
definitely getting more work from Pennsylvania then we were from New
Jersey. So it made more sense to be in Pennsylvania. In Jersey
strangely enough from public sector contracts from the state gives no benefit
to New Jersey based companies. In fact, we'd often see it being a disadvantage.
The view was, `Oh, you're just that local company. We want a big firm from New
York or Philly.' Well, we're bigger than the firms from New York or Philly
you're talking to for this contract. But it certainly was not an edge. No
advantage at all. I think in other places, including Pennsylvania, I think it
is an advantage.
Source; Philly.com
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