Answering the call for jobs

by Duncan Adams | duncan.adams@roanoke.com | 981-3324

Y'all come.

Southern twang works just fine -- unless the accent is heavier than a pickup load of grits and the caller ends up longing to speak to a customer service agent in Bangladesh.

Many callers find a drawl charming, said Robert O'Leary, site director for the StarTek call center in Lynchburg.

Western and Southside Virginia host clusters of call centers that collectively employ thousands of people -- offering decent to high hourly wages with benefits. And even in the midst of the recession, many, if not most, are hiring workers to take customers' catalog orders and calls on service, billing and technical problems, to collect debts or to sell services.

What gives?

It's not just about accents.

Numerous forces influence the placement of call centers and their tendency toward prodigious hiring. The industry employs an estimated 7.5 million people nationwide, is infamous for stressful working conditions and consistently notches high rates of employee turnover.

Call center expert Bruce Belfiore said companies use sophisticated site selection models.

"If you have sort of a semiurban or semirural area with fairly high unemployment, an available work force, two-year colleges and fairly low labor costs, you are ripe for call centers," said Belfiore, chief executive officer of BenchmarkPortal, a consulting firm for the industry.

Today, insiders refer to call centers as "contact centers," a phrase that incorporates e-mail inquiries and live Internet chats. Employees are called "agents."

Broadly defined as information technology jobs, call center employment, if nothing else, helps move the region's economy away from traditional manufacturing industries in decline.

Low labor costs

Liz Povar is director of business development for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in Richmond. The partnership reaches out to companies searching for sites for new call centers. VEDP frequently touts Western and Southside Virginia as "valid and viable" places to do business, Povar said.

She said companies value rural and semirural areas for several reasons: the likelihood of a steady, stable work force and less turnover, comparatively lower wage and real estate costs and the potential to hire members of an employee's extended family. Povar said the ongoing deployment of broadband infrastructure in rural Virginia has helped attract the industry.

O'Leary said state and local incentives also encouraged StarTek to choose Lynchburg.

Once one contact center lands in a community, others tend to follow. More here.

Trash talk won’t win Boeing battle

By Richard S. Davis

Trash talk doesn’t win games. It can feel good, rally the fans and rattle a rookie opponent. But it doesn’t put points on the board.

Last week Boeing announced that it had agreed to purchase a South Carolina plant with capacity to spare. Although Boeing officials maintain that no decision has been made regarding the second production line for the troubled 787, the announcement spurred speculation. And, it got our governor talking a little trash about folks down South.

“You can go to South Carolina and pay peanuts and you can get that in return,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire. “That’s not what Boeing’s about. Boeing’s about quality.”

If Washington is going to retain good jobs, we cannot underestimate the competition. Home team cheerleading aside, the governor’s comments could backfire by feeding outdated stereotypes and reinforcing the Northwest’s too often deserved reputation for smug complacency, potentially undermining her efforts to make the state more competitive.

South Carolina is no rookie competitor and, far from Dogpatch, Charleston recently appeared on National Geographic magazine’s list of the 50 best places to live, along with several Washington cities.

In 2008, the Charleston metro area ranked 10th on the Milken Institute’s list of best cities for job creation, behind Olympia and Tacoma, but ahead of Seattle. Inc. magazine calls it one of the best cities for doing business.

All this comes from last December’s Charleston profile in The Economist, which also highlighted the region’s high concentration of industrial engineers and rapidly growing information technology sector. In addition to BMW’s only North American assembly plant, the state’s industrial base includes Michelin, Fujifilm, 3M, ArborGen, Eastman Chemical and other internationally recognized employers.

They’re not paying peanuts. They are getting quality. With the recession pushing South Carolina’s unemployment rate over 12 percent, the state welcomes new investment. One of the few firms capable of generating its own gravitational pull, Boeing would quickly anchor a constellation of related business activity. More here.

Optimism Abounds on a New Economic Development Strategy

By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: July 17, 2009

ATLANTA — When the construction cranes have halted, business has slipped into a coma and growth has slowed to the speed of Interstate 75 at rush hour, what is a Chamber of Commerce to do?

In Atlanta, the answer is tinged with optimism: develop a strategy for the end of the recession.

For the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the region’s future lies not so much in broad buzzword sectors like bioscience or technology, but in bite-size niches within those categories.

Atlanta could become a center for pet pharmacology, digitized medical records and video games — or so says a study released Friday for the chamber’s New Economy Task Force.

“There is no such thing as a technology industry,” said Alan Colberg, a managing director at Bain & Company consultants and the author of the study. “You have to say, ‘We’re going to build wireless telecom.’ Successful cities have gone to a focused area. The industries are more fragmented than they’ve ever been.”

Such a plan, of course, is predicated on the notion that the recession will end. But it also involves the somewhat instructive effort of trying to predict what the economy will look like in recovery, and how cities will compete more for less growth.

“It’s going to be this move from bad economy to next economy,” said Mick Fleming, the president of American Chamber of Commerce Executives. “You can pick your industry, whether it’s retail or banking or computers — it’s all going to be different.”

Other cities are also adjusting their economic development strategies. “Our focus is now on entrepreneurship and innovation as opposed to industry attraction in the old-line sectors,” said Jeff Kaczmarek, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Mo. “In times of economic distress, it’s small business and entrepreneurs who lead the way out of these recessionary periods.” More here.

How the Yahoo! deal got done

Teamwork,hospitalityhelped win project

By Jonathan D. Epstein
NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: July 12, 2009, 8:49 AM /

It was three simple words, but they practically took David Kinyon’s breath away when Sylvia Kang said them.

“We are Yahoo!.” For the previous few months, regional economic development officials had been working quietly to win a big project, code-named Project Pilgrim.

But that statement, back in April during a visit by Kang and her site selection team, was the first time Kinyon knew who he was dealing with and just how big a deal he was looking at.

“We were very surprised, and very impressed that Lockport would be considered for a Yahoo! data center location,” said Kinyon, the CEO of the Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency. “We never imagined that it was Yahoo!.”

What ensued over the next eight weeks was an aggressive collaborative campaign by a host of state and local leaders — up to and including the governor — in a bid to sell Western New York to Yahoo! and seal the deal.

Two months later, a Yahoo! executive stood with a cadre of politicians in a packed room at Empire State Development Corp.’s downtown Buffalo office, and announced that the Internet search giant would build a $150 million East Coast regional data center on 30 acres in the Town of Lockport Industrial Park.

In exchange, Yahoo! will receive 15 megawatts of low-cost hydropower from the New York Power Authority, plus local tax breaks from the town.

The project is expected to bring up to 125 jobs to the site, but officials hope Yahoo!’s reputation will also draw other technology companies to the region. More here.

Business group looks at other regional development organizations for direction

Leaders examined other regions
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
MICHAEL TOMBERLIN
News staff writer

When Birmingham leaders began pondering a combination of key area business groups, they looked at similar efforts in Nashville and Pittsburgh for direction.

The Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Development Board and Region 2020 officially merged last week. The name and logo of the combined organization will be unveiled at a launch party at The Club this evening.

While today's event will be the culmination of the merger process, officials have said they are aware the hard work begins now.

Janet Miller, senior vice president of economic development at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, knows that's true.

"We did just what you guys are doing. We studied a lot of different cities to see how they structured things," she said. "It does seem like there are two models. One is to have a separate economic development organization and a chamber of commerce. We opted to go the second way, which is to have regional chamber house and staff the regional economic development initiative."

The Music City's economic development agency formed within the chamber 16 years ago, and Nashville has benefited, she said. A business community that can speak with one voice and move with unified effort are strong arguments for having a single organization, she added.

"It's easy to develop internal competition unintentionally when you have it as two separate entities," Miller said. "The worst thing in any regional program is the appearance that people aren't all pulling in the same direction."

The driving force of a main business group has to be economic development, Miller said. Otherwise, it will seem rudderless.

"If you strip out the economic development, the prosperity generation function of a chamber of commerce, it is difficult to define the purpose of a chamber of commerce," she said. "Here, at the Nashville Chamber, we are so clear that our mission is to facilitate community leadership to create prosperity. Period. End of story."

The movers behind the business group merger in Birmingham have also expressed the importance of an economic development focus. In addition to Nashville, the group looked at examples in Austin, Charlotte, Jacksonville and Pittsburgh.

`Staying focused':

Pittsburgh perhaps most closely mirrors the approach Birmingham has taken.

The Allegheny Conference on Community Development started coming together in 1997 and was completed about six years ago. A group of Southwest Pennsylvania CEOs heads the Allegheny Conference and pulled in several other agencies, including the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.

"The idea is that we have everything in one organization," said Barbara McNees, executive vice president of public affairs with the Allegheny Conference and president of the chamber. "The leadership from the organizations felt that in order for us to successfully move the region forward, we really needed everybody to be on the same page."

McNees said it has paid off. The Allegheny Conference has been able to take on big issues in the 10-county region including government reform, home rule, government efficiency, business issues and transportation and infrastructure improvements.

She said the group carries out strategic planning every three years to keep a sharp focus. That sort of unity and focus will be important for the Birmingham group, she said.

"I think it's a matter of staying with the mission and staying focused," McNees said.

Nashville's Miller said one of the major benefits of having a unified business group is that it can command the undivided attention of business and government leaders.

"In a city like Birmingham or Nashville, it's better to keep the depth and breadth of leadership focused into one area rather than splintered among a whole bunch of organizations," she said. "I think everybody ends up feeling like they have a common vision."

State’s economic efforts praised

Magazine says La., Tenn. tops

By GARY PERILLOUX
Advocate business writer
Published: Jul 15, 2009 - Page: 6B

Louisiana landed atop a regional magazine’s ranking of top Southern economic development states for the second time in three years, and the state is showing signs of improving its standing nationally.

Southern Business & Development magazine named Louisiana its 2009 Co-State of the Year, along with Tennessee, based on jobs and capital investment attracted in 2008.

On the national scene, Chicago-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. has rated Louisiana in the middle of the pack for business climate — but with a decided improvement from 40th in 2008 to 27th in 2009.

Gov. Bobby Jindal touted the Co-State of the Year honor while on his Louisiana Working Tour in the state Tuesday.

“Southern Business & Development ranking us in the top slot in the region is further proof that our efforts to grow our economy are working,” Jindal said in a statement. “And we are only getting started.”

The magazine awards points for jobs and capital investment generated by economic development deals. Louisiana’s 310 points topped Tennessee’s 290 points, but the publication also looks at intangibles, such as the magnitude of the economic development projects and their potential for economic impact. More here.

Leaders learn steps to improve area development

DOBSON — Surry County and economic development leaders came away with a better sense of what needs to be done in order to recruit new industries to the area Tuesday during a Building Readiness Program sponsored by Duke Energy.

Officials with InSite Consulting Group, a national site consulting firm, explained how the recruitment process works and how Surry County can improve the way it markets itself to potential industries.

“Site selection is like a funnel. It’s like a tornado for crying out loud. There are four phases to this insanity,” said Tonya Crist of InSite.

She explained that Phase I includes regional identification. She said that Web sites are now intensely important to industry recruitment.

“Surry County has a fantastic Web site. My hat’s off to you in that regard,” Crist said.

She said Phase I also includes a “product” which is made up of sites, buildings, industrial areas and parks. Labor force also greatly influences what types of industries will look at an area, she said.

“We need product and people. You have to ask yourself if you have both,” Crist said.

Phase II and III that is conducted by a site consulting firm includes a Request for Information process and community visits.

“Some of the ‘must haves’ are a dedicated staff who can supply research and support, effective and fast communication of assets, professional, astute project management. In Surry County, you are very professional. Your team did an outstanding job,” Crist said.

Phase IV includes incentives, real estate and quality of life issues.The study included research on the old Perry Manufacturing building on Woltz Street in Mount Airy. The study also identified 30 empty buildings around Surry County which are available for manufacturing.

One of the owners of the former Perry Manufacturing building, David McCray, was on hand for the event.

Rob Cornwell, who did the presentation in tandem with Crist, pointed out some of the things that could be changed about the site to make it more appealing. He suggested improving the signage of the area, work on the surrounding landscaping and removing the existing racks. He said marketing the building as a 121,000-square-foot property instead of the 191,000-square feet that the department of commerce has listed would be an improvement as well. He explained that 70,000-square feet of the property is being used for storage and is not available for manufacturing space.

When asked “What is one of the fatal flaws of Surry County?” by a member of the crowd, Cornwell pointed out that the 14-foot ceilings at many area plants is a concern. He said ideally, ceiling heights would be above 30 feet, although not many buildings in the Triad area boast those heights.

One of the positives about Mount Airy that Cornwell pointed out is the excess 5.5 million gallons of water and sewer capacity.

Overall, Crist and Cornwell said the people working in the areas of economic development in Surry County are doing an outstanding job.

“The Surry County team showed great enthusiasm for their community from the moment we arrived,” Crist said. “It is critical that the EDP people are excited about what they do. People’s passion is captivating. This crowd did an amazing job. We really enjoyed the community tour.”

Ted Ashby, chairman of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership, Inc., thanked everyone for attending the Tuesday afternoon event.

“We are all in the same boat heading in the same direction,” said Ashby.

Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.

Suffolk plans incentives to lure tech companies

By Dave Forster
The Virginian-Pilot© July 9, 2009

SUFFOLK

The city hopes to boost its profile as a high-tech hub by offering incentives for companies in the computer and science fields.

Northeastern Suffolk is already a hotbed for modeling and simulation research, with U.S. Joint Forces Command and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center.

To augment that, a plan is under way to create zones where new or expanding technology companies can get rebates on business license fees and personal property taxes. The Economic Development Authority reviewed a proposal Wednesday and plans to consider it next month.

The two proposed zones would cover large swaths of northern Suffolk and the greater downtown area to expand the reach of the city's existing tech corridor, said acting Economic Development Director Kevin Hughes.

"We want to show them we're forward-thinking," Hughes said.

The zones expire after 10 years. About 20 localities in Virginia have one or more, including Franklin and Newport News. Hampton had two that expired last year but has a third that will last until 2012, said Amber Callahan, the city's marketing and research manager in economic development.

Buena Vista, a city of about 6,500 people southwest of Charlottesville, has two zones.

"It's not something that we've seen businesses locate here as a result of, but it's certainly a nice tool to have to help seal the deal," said Tim Reamer, the city's economic development director.

Cities can tailor their incentives. The initial proposal in Suffolk would require businesses to have at least five employees in the city and require it to fill at least 2,500 square feet of new or vacant space or expand by that much.

The list of businesses that would qualify include modeling and simulation, computer systems design, scientific research, software and Internet publishing, data processing and telecommunications.

"We wanted to be clear that it's not just, 'Hey, I use a computer, so I count as technology,' " Hughes said.

City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn asked her economic development staff to run some numbers on the potential impact of the incentives on revenues.

Historically, companies that would qualify for the incentives have opened in the city at a rate of about two per year, Hughes said.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com

Rival states hope California's economic woes will send businesses their way

By Dale Kasler dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jul. 2, 2009 - 12:00 am Page 1A

California's budget crisis is turning into a worldwide spectacle that could harm the state's business climate – and chase companies away.

Rival states are revving up their economic-development efforts as global news outlets fixate on the $26.3 billion deficit and the IOUs the state is expected to issue today.

California companies are making inquiries to out-of-state groups like the Economic Development Authority of Northern Nevada. Besides asking about tax rates and other expenses, many are worried about California's "general overall chaos, that uncertainty," authority marketing director Julie Ardito said from her office in Reno.

The recession is freezing many companies in place. But as the economy begins to stir, CEOs are starting to compare the costs of doing business in California vs. going elsewhere. Ardito said the volume of calls to her organization – from California and other states – has jumped 40 percent from a year ago.

Jack Boyd of the Boyd Co., a relocation consultant in New Jersey, predicted "a new wave of companies … leaving California." Many other firms looking to reach California consumers will do so from locations just outside the state, he said.

Boyd said Sacramento's budget problems are feeding the perception that California is a high-cost, overregulated, out-of-control place to do business.

"The California business climate has always been difficult," he said. "This is a whole new overlay to that."

The media aren't helping California's cause. On Wednesday, former Gov. Gray Davis was interviewed on CNBC over a headline that said, "The IOU State." London's Financial Times ran a lengthy piece on the IOUs, while a Washington Post column was headlined, "California: A Dream Decimated." An Associated Press story said that because California is so big, its economic woes could delay the national recovery. More here.

At Chicken Plant, a Recession Battle

By LAUREN ETTER

DOUGLAS, Ga. -- This small town was devastated in February when its largest employer, Pilgrim's Pride Corp., said it would close a chicken-processing plant as part of the company's bankruptcy filing.

Since then, city and county officials have been working to find a buyer who could save the plant's nearly 1,000 jobs and $300,000 in annual county tax revenues. But there's a problem: Pilgrim's Pride isn't eager to sell. The standoff shows how two important imperatives in a recession -- creating jobs and cutting excess capacity -- can collide.

Pilgrim's has so far rejected a $32 million bid for the plant from Amick Farms LLC of Batesburg, S.C., company and city officials say. Another chicken company took a look and decided Pilgrim's asking price was too high, say people familiar with the matter. City officials say the company kept a prospective bidder from touring the plant, making it a challenge to market.

"We've played by the book," says JoAnne Lewis, executive director of the Douglas-Coffee County Economic Development Authority. But "there has been no meeting in the middle. We feel like we're part of a giant game."

Pilgrim's says it hasn't been offered a fair price for the plant and is cautious about letting rivals see its manufacturing processes. Company emails and court documents suggest the Pittsburg, Texas-based company also is concerned about adding capacity in an already struggling industry. More here.