Headquarters sweepstakes heats up

The big to-do in national corporate headquarters relocation news so far for 2015 is Mercedes-Benz blowing out of New Jersey for metro Atlanta.

While Atlanta is 455 miles from Tampa, the move is a minor victory for area economic development officials: Tampa was a finalist for the relocation, along with Charlotte, N.C., Dallas and Plano, Texas, according to the Wall Street Journal. Area officials don't want to celebrate consolation prizes, but the closeness of the decision signifies progress.

“Being cited by the Wall Street Journal as one of four finalists is the next step,” Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Rick Homans tells Coffee Talk. “You have got to make it onto the radar to win a project like this. There are a number of companies like Mercedes that we want to get in front of.”

The Mercedes-to-Atlanta relocation news came the day before Tampa made its own headquarters announcement, on Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The nonprofit organization, run by former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, will move its headquarters from Dallas to Tampa later this year. “By relocating to Tampa, the national headquarters will undoubtedly grow and prosper in our positive business and philanthropic climate,” Iorio, president and CEO of the Big Brothers Big Sisters, says in a release. “This is our new and permanent home that will reinvigorate our national organization for decades to come.”

Homans points out an interesting nugget in the Big Brothers Big Sisters relocation, something he read in the Dallas Business Journal: It's not often that Texas, home of a booming job market and bustling economy, loses a headquarters to anywhere. So both announcements give Homans serious hope that more good news is forthcoming. Says Homans: “It signifies that we are a force to be reckoned with in the Southeast.”