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Online Exclusive: Tips from BRAC’s early movers Mary Paramore
Seven advance party leaders from R4 Incorporated (R4), Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), CACI International (CACI), Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Program Executive Office – Command, Control and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T), Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), and MITRE Corporation (MITRE) sat on a panel discussion of early movers at the 2008 APG BRAC Update conference sponsored by the Chesapeake Science and Security Corridor (CSSC) Oct. 3 in Edgewood. Here’s what they said that could help local businesses target their marketing efforts and dollars. 1. Spouses are dealmakers or deal breakers. PEO C3T’s Ed Patches sold his wife on moving with a five-chart PowerPoint presentation that explored the pros and cons for the family. “We got a 1,000 sq. ft. bigger house, an extra bath and a two-car garage for $3,000 less than we sold our house. We pay $2,000 less for taxes,” Patches said. Mitre’s Danny Demarinis said he and his wife had spent 33 years in their New Jersey community, raising their children and making hundreds of friends and colleagues. “You leave more than a house behind. It’s a psychological issue,” he said. The take-away is that industries targeting moving BRAC workers should consider the needs of moving spouses and children, too. Find ways to help parents and kids feel connected, or at least the potential to connect, to people, places and things here in Harford County. 2. Roots override commutes. CACI’s Rick Busko and Patches settled with their families in Pennsylvania. Both say the 90-minute commute is not a big deal to them. Buskos, who is retired military, said, “The schools in Oxford are like what we grew up with and it was always our long-term plan to get back to Pennsylvania.” Patches, who is from Lancaster County, likes the commute through “beautiful farm lands” to APG. “I listen to 98 Rock on the way in. On the way back, I catch up on my calls -- hands-free, of course,” he said. The moral here is that the footprint for BRAC impact is much broader that Harford County. Residential communities with short commutes may need to sweeten their deals to get BRAC workers to settle here. 3. Real estate expectations can be unrealistic. ATEC’s Dele Omole said many workers think they will be able to “buy a mansion” with the economic differences between New Jersey and the CSSC area. “I’m telling colleagues that’s not true,” Omole said. “They have to fit the neighborhood to their budget.” Demaree had this advice. “Get a Realtor who really knows the area.” He said agents who know the suburbs, but not the city, or vice versa, can misrepresent an area they are showing. Although some BRAC movers will be able to afford high-end homes, savvy businesses will remember that not everyone is looking to upgrade and that not all jobs moving to the area pay big bucks. Less expensive areas can and will grow with BRAC, too. Businesses should target a spectrum of incomes with BRAC marketing. 4. School quality is paramount for families with children. CERDEC’s Michael Lombardi used family and friend networks to learn about Harford County schools. Lombardi has a friend who has a cousin who lives here already. “We selected Bel Air because the schools are very good,” he said. “I also wanted to be close to the office so at the end of the day I could go home and have time with my family.” Schools were important to R4’s Scott Cheseldine, too. “My wife and I looked at education. New Jersey’s schools are No. 5 in the nation. We looked at Aberdeen and Bel Air and chose Rising Sun,” he said. The lesson here is that school quality is very important to families with children. If you’ve got great schools in your area, consider supporting them, even if your business isn’t directly related to education. They’re already supporting your business interests. 5. Young, single workers have different wants, needs. ARL’s Derek Demaree moved to the area with a previous BRAC shake-up and said the emphasis then was on families and homeowners. He encouraged businesses not to forget the 20-somethings who don’t yet care about school quality or buying a home. “Young people want nightlife and should consider Baltimore City,” he said. He also hoped the area offered more rental opportunities than it did when he moved here 15 years ago. Take-away: Marketing plans should target the needs of recent college graduates, young families, mid-career movers, families with older children and empty-nesters. 6. Contractors are developing in-house resources for moving employees. Busko used resources offered by USAA, an insurance and financial services company that caters to military families, to organize his move. Other businesses, especially defense contractors, are following USAA’s lead and developing substantial internal resources to help employees make BRAC and other business-related moves. These companies are hooking up their staff members with Realtors, assisting with spouse employment and offering transition services, such as moving company references and resume workshops. Smart marketers will cultivate their defense industry contacts to get ensure his or her services are respected and recommended in-house. 7. BRAC-impacted workers love to surf… the Web. Patches said, “In New Jersey, there’s no cheap place to live. I didn’t want another New Jersey, so I used the Internet and Google to research Bel Air, Elkton and North East. Then, we looked at model homes all along Route 40.” Cheseldine also relied on the Web and recommended www.greatschools.com as a resource for comparing school districts. The take-away here is that your business must have a Web presence to be in the BRAC game. Learn what transition sites are getting the most visitors and find ways to get those sites to link to your services. Maximize your site’s visibility to search engines and consider purchasing online advertising on portal sites. |
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