Anyone who knows me will say that I’m a diligent worker. So it was with some reticence that I decided to retire a year ago. In all candor, I missed my experiences as a Consultant and an Executive Coach and was reminded how helping business people succeed was burned into my DNA.
While considering whether to revive my company – The Business Relocation Coach LLC – external events motivated me to do exactly that. I was swayed in particular by the extraordinary number of companies seeking to leave states with difficult business environments – notably New York, California and Illinois.
Their Governors, Kathy Hochul, Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker, respectively, run states whose hostility to business appears to be hopelessly entrenched. Not one of those Governors has exhibited leadership to end their harmful policies, curb extreme spending, ease social chaos, or take any blame for companies and people leaving their states.
About families – California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are the five top states people are fleeing according to a National Apartment List report issued in January on migration.
So I’m back in business helping corporate executives and small-business owners who are searching for friendlier business environments.
As a Site Selection Consultant, I take an in-depth look at the pros and cons of relocating. I unearth extensive data about alternate states – including taxes, labor costs, facility leasing or construction costs, airline frequencies, utility costs, and lifestyle factors.
Quality of life for employees is a factor that has zoomed upward in importance – particularly in urban areas – because of sharp increases in crime, rampant drug use, under-performing public schools, construction restrictions that worsen housing affordability, and ever-increasing tax increases.
A question I often hear from leaders considering relocation is, “Should we stay, or should we go?” That’s where I rely on my Executive Coaching experience to help people sharpen their focus to make sound business decisions that also happen to be quite personal.
I’m also enjoying re-connecting with economic development representatives around the country, many of whom I’ve known for years.
Please allow me a quick, lighthearted aside: Those of a certain generation may recall the long-ago cowboy song by Gene Autry, “Back in the Saddle Again.” I admit I’ve been humming that a lot lately.
Feel free to call me confidentially at 469-907-4544 for a no-obligation exploration of whether a relocation, expansion or consolidation in a new community makes sense for your company. My motto for The Business Relocation Coach LLC is: “Helping Businesses Grow in Great Locations!”