Indeed, Greater Boston is luring companies these days almost solely on the strength of its human capital. CEO Jeffrey Immelt’s stunning decision to move GE’s headquarters from high-tax
Connecticut to high-tax Massachusetts because of this factor ratified the growing notion that having access to a high-tech workforce has become the most important factor in corporate siting decisions in the digital era.
“Everybody is becoming a ‘software company,’” says Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate, an e-commerce software outfit based in Philadelphia. “Everyone will be fighting over talent.” In fact, because of a relative paucity of digital talent in his city, Gupta has also opened offices in Seattle and New York, “where you’ve got pools of [tech] talent looking to leave boring corporate jobs in search of something far more meaningful.”
Andrew Rose chose Richmond, Virginia as a base for his online insurance-shopping startup, Compare.com, over a handful of major cities, including Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, because of the city’s ideal geographic location, its strong base of colleges and universities, and its overall lifestyle appeal—which, in turn, has nurtured an ample base of digital cognoscenti. “Plus, we didn’t have to go to a really expensive marketplace like Silicon Valley or [Washington] DC,” explains Rose, over the background din of some employees playing Nerf darts outside a conference room. “In Richmond, we can get great talent at a cheaper cost and give them an exceptionally good work-life balance.”
SWINGS IN SUPPLY
However, trying to land good tech talent at a reasonable price can be challenging these days as geographic disparities in both the cost and availability of in-demand millennials even out. San Jose, California-based Xactly, for example, a sales-management software company, opened a second office three years ago in Denver and now employs about 120 of its total 450 staffers there. But in Xactly’s last few hires, reports CEO Christopher Cabrera, “our pendulum seems to be swinging back toward Silicon Valley because costs in Denver are exploding. Where we used to get someone there for $60,000 a year, it’s now $80,000. And you can hire people for that at our headquarters.”
This factor raises alarms even in Boston, where the presence of dozens of colleges and universities including tech icon MIT isn’t enough to erase concerns about supply of the coveted techie. “There are simply not enough digitally experienced employees in Boston for all of the companies who want to hire them,” says David Hayes, president of HireMinds, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based recruiter. “Therefore some companies are winning the war on talent and others are losing.”
Review the entire 2016 Best & Worst States for Business results, including individual state rankings, CEO comments, methodology and more at https://chiefexecutive.net/2016-best-and-worst-states-for-business
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
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Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
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General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
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General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
