3/4/2007
OUT OF THE CITY INTO THE SUN
By MARY SHEDDEN The Tampa Tribune
Nearly 280 New Yorkers working for the same company took a little persuading and a lot of faith to relocate to Tampa. Nearly two years later, all but a handful remain.
After nearly two decades commuting to Manhattan's financial district for work, Michael Longo's boss suggested he make a move.
The veteran human resources director wasn't getting fired, nor were all co-workers hearing the same pitch. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. wanted to shift a huge part of its operations south - really south - to Tampa.
"Initially, personally, I didn't even give it a thought," the lifelong New Yorker said of the plan company leaders anticipated would shift 180 of the company's 2,500 workers to a new operations center in a New Tampa office park.
But the response exceeded those expectations - by 100. Longo and nearly 280 of his co-workers ended up asking to be part of the decentralization of the company responsible for clearing and settling the nation's financial securities transactions.
Most of them moved in early 2005, arriving to old jobs in a new space. And two years later, all but a handful remain for a reason that has nothing to do with career climbing.
The move, several say, gave them something more: a chance to build a new home, increase family time and socialize with co-workers. George Novitski, a settlement supervisor, said the move made it possible for him and his wife to open up an Italian ice and ice cream store in Lutz.
"It's better here…we can stay open all year," he said of his longtime dream to own a business.
These reactions are emblematic of an evolution corporations no longer ignore. Employers wanting to retain experienced workers understand moves aren't made for solely professional purposes. Decisions tie more than ever to quality of life.
"People are making career decisions more and more as a whole life decision," said Tammy Allen, an industrial and organizational psychology professor at the University of South Florida. "It's not just about more money or a step up the career ladder."
In a nation where 360,000 workers relocated last year, keeping employees and their families happy before, during and after a move is critical from a financial and business continuity perspective. Sure, companies looking to move must look at financial incentives, operating expenses and the availability of local business services when making decisions.
But lose an experienced employee because they don't like the quality of life, and companies can expect to spend a year and a half of their salary finding and hiring a replacement, experts say.
Depository Trust's relocation couldn't handle the loss of its institutional knowledge, said John Faith, vice president for operations. The move, which stemmed from the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, was designed to create a secondary self-contained processing center for the highly-specialized business.
Depository Trust in 2005 settled more than $1.4 quadrillion in securities transactions, such as stocks and bonds.
When the company announced its move in mid-2004, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce helped coordinate weekend "look see" visits for the 280 workers and a spouse. The company paid for flights and accommodations. The chamber had public school officials, real estate agents and mortgage brokers ready to answer questions.
"Once you tell us you're interested in Tampa, we're rolling out the red carpet to make you feel welcome," said Myron Hughes, vice president for economic development for the chamber.
Promoting Tampa for corporate relocation first involves the behind-the-scenes pitch to executives: tax incentives, personal phone calls from local and state officials.
Depository Trust received $5 million in incentive refunds for its $35 million investment in its Tampa operations, said Stuart Goldstein, DTCC managing director of corporate communications.
More important than the incentives is the need for communities to identify an appropriate labor force and available land or office space, Hughes said.
"If you can't find that, it won't work," he said. In 2006, the chamber assisted 17 companies in expansions or relocations.
Persuading employees and their families to move is harder because it's so subjective. But it's a detail equally as important.
"If people are happy and content, they'll be in a better situation in the community," Hughes said.
Quality of life issues have become more important as the number of women relocating for a job has increased to more than 30 percent, according to a 2005 survey by Worldwide ERC, a professional relocation association. At Depository Trust, 40 percent of the transplanted workers were women, spokesman Rich Marulandasaid.
According to the survey, although both men and women usually transfer for a promotion, women likely will decline a move for family reasons, such as wanting to keep their children in a certain school. Ignoring those kinds of family concerns could serious limit a company's potential labor force, the report said.
Cost of living can also play a role, and though Florida residents face soaring home insurance premiums and property taxes, the city is attractive to some top-tier cities. National cost of living indexes for 2006 show living and working in Manhattan more than doubles the cost in Tampa.
A paycheck at depository trust goes a lot further in the Sunshine State, said an informal group of Depository Trust employees who made the move in 2005. The top stress wasn't money: main worries surrounded family.
Training specialist Leticia Cruz's teenage son was reluctant until he learned he could play baseball year-round.
Sha-Keisha Williams, an IT project manager, worried whether her 11-year-old daughter could make a smooth transition.
Tracy Barnes, an underwriting supervisor, desperately missed her elderly mother.
Longo - who now wears a Mickey Mouse watch - wondered whether his wife could replace her longtime career and be fulfilled professionally.
"I didn't feel that bad because I'm at work with people I know," he said.
Still, none of these individuals decided to return. They said positives such as weather and short commutes to and from work far outweigh the negatives. Many lived outside Manhattan and spent at least two hours a day commuting.
Mary Erbacher said her husband saw the move as an opportunity to look for a new career. He spent a year out of finance - and took a stint working at a local golf course - before returning to a full-time job.
Now, the couple revel in visiting local attractions and socializing with their Depository Trust friends at regular poker games and at sports bars watching the New York teams compete.
"In New York, it was hard for everybody to get together to do something," said Erbacher, a post-processing supervisor.
Allen, the USF professor, said the company's move may have worked because so many employees bonded through a shared experience - similar highs and lows. That bond has created a community of co-workers in Tampa.
"You have a community around you that's going through the process," she said. "It increases the sense of belonging."
Tiffany Archbell, a Depository Trust post-processing analyst, is one of 200 locals who work with the New York transplants. The Brandon native said despite constant complaints that Tampa doesn't have New York-style cheesecake, pizza and bagels, she thinks her co-workers are glad they moved.
For her, leaving her hometown is too much. Especially if she were offered an opportunity to work in New York, she said.
"I don't think I could handle the culture shock."
APPLES, ORANGES
Transplanted New Yorkers aren't shy about the highs and lows of living in Tampa. Here's an unscientific survey of what they pine for back home and what they found in Tampa.
Ya Godda Love It
Sunny days
Shorter commutes
Beaches (Yeah baby!)
… Not So Much
Indestructible bugs
Insipid chain restaurants
Insidiously slow fast-food service
Glad It's Not Here …
Smelly subway platforms
Hurried corporate atmosphere
Commutes longer than a Broadway show
But It Sure Would Be Nice To Find
New York-style pizza
Empire state cheesecake
Don't get me started about the bagels (It must be the water.)
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