The biggest business story in years down here was Hertz' 2013 decision to relocate its global headquarters from New Jersey to southwest Florida. In a region based on
seasonal tourism and retirement living, the prospect of adding
Hertz' 700 full-time, year-round, highly paid jobs is exciting.
seasonal tourism and retirement living, the prospect of adding
Hertz' 700 full-time, year-round, highly paid jobs is exciting.
Construction crews are racing to construct a sleek glass $70 million building in Estero,
to be completed a year from now. The goal is to attain a gold LEED certification for the building,
the second highest rating of environmental friendliness.
Update: Hertz decided to relocate after merging with an Oklahoma-based car rental company. OK-based employees didn't want to move to NJ and NJ-based employees didn't want to go to OK, so Hertz needed a neutral location. Most HQ employees were given the opportunity to move to SWFL with the company. Those who declined get generous severance payments. Florida is Hertz' biggest car rental market, so they are moving to where their customers are. And, Hertz got tax incentives, but I have seen analyses that the incentives are offset over time with employee spending, etc.
to be completed a year from now. The goal is to attain a gold LEED certification for the building,
the second highest rating of environmental friendliness.
Update: Hertz decided to relocate after merging with an Oklahoma-based car rental company. OK-based employees didn't want to move to NJ and NJ-based employees didn't want to go to OK, so Hertz needed a neutral location. Most HQ employees were given the opportunity to move to SWFL with the company. Those who declined get generous severance payments. Florida is Hertz' biggest car rental market, so they are moving to where their customers are. And, Hertz got tax incentives, but I have seen analyses that the incentives are offset over time with employee spending, etc.
Relocating global headquarters is a huge decision. I wonder what kind of tax break it got?
ReplyDeleteThat is good news!
ReplyDeleteIt seems a good idea, but what they say about it in New Jersey?
ReplyDeleteHope they're building on high ground since so much of Florida is so close to sea level.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. Isn't southwest Florida crowded enough now?
ReplyDeleteNice to hear about the "environmental friendliness" rating.
I'd guess Estero ain't the place I used to know. :)
Hope they get their high rating. Then they'll jack up the cost of car rentals. There is a method to ALL madness.
ReplyDeleteGood for the economy. It does make me wonder if management was approaching the retirement years and wanted to be located in warmer climes when the time came.
ReplyDeleteIf they're bringing new jobs, that certainly can't be a bad thing. Although I hope the people back east won't be losing theirs.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with Halcyon and Sharon, new jobs in one place, pretty much guarantees a loss of them in another, but management will have a great place to retire. Ah, well! What do I know?? What I do know is you got great pics as always! Hope your week is going well!
ReplyDeleteI've got the same concerns about this as others- what about the jobs further north, and what tax breaks are they getting down here?
ReplyDeleteGood for Florida but probably a hit for New Jersey.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else has already said, didn't NJ need the jobs?
ReplyDelete(It's my rental co. at SeaTac btw.
And yes, I live in a museum. I'm an artifact.
It sounds like at least they attempted to find something like a middle ground. And it makes sense to get close to its biggest market.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure our illustrious governor has already taken the credit for luring them here.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what perks they received to move.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a coup - I hadn't heard. It's a heck of a change of environment from either OK or NJ.
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