Richardson is a special place. Its workforce, educational, business, governmental and cultural physical infrastructure are resources that enable many of its resident business to be more successful here than they would in other geographic locations. Just by being in Richardson, they enjoy an “edge.” EDGE also stands for “Economic Development Growth & Expansion”, so it is a fitting name that we apply to the REDP’s efforts in the retention of Richardson’s existing companies.
What’s the Richardson EDGE worth? Well, to a big business like State Farm, it’s worth the half-billion dollars it is investing at CityLine to access the IT-savvy workforce it needs to drive its financial services business. But having an EDGE is not something that applies only to large businesses.
Some cases in point:
An up-and-coming Richardson technology company was in desperate need of additional space with little time to secure it. Within a couple of days, the REDP found them an ideal, move-in ready space and they were able to maintain their business operations without interruption.
A suppler of communications services needed a contact to introduce their unique capabilities to the builders of the State Farm campus. REDP was able to make that connection for them.
A local company was transferring a dozens of employees to its Richardson facility and needed some community data that would assist with their working and living in the community. The REDP provided the data an electronic form so that it could be quickly disseminated to their employees.
An expanding engineered products company needed much more manufacturing space and was considering purchasing an existing Richardson building to fill that need. REDP provided some financial incentives that helped close the deal and retain the company in Richardson.
The lease renewal was coming up for a small financial services company, and the owner wanted to know what comparable rentals were for the market. REDP’s access to a sophisticated online real estate data base provided the answer and enabled the business to negotiate a lower rent.
While hiring a number of new employees, a Richardson company was looking for a source for both general and job-specific training. REDP connected them with Richland College which helped provide the funding through a State program, saving the company nearly $2,000 per job.
A 100-employee Richardson consulting firm needed to add onto its existing lease space to house some new hires but needed the new work spaces before the build-out of the new space was fully completed. REDP was able to assist in provide them a temporary occupancy permit to begin utilizing the space right away.
REDP helped a local customer services company gain a sizable contract with a large insurance company that was moving employees into the area that needed a computer lab set-up to train their new hires.
Whether your company is seeking local customer/supplier, financing or other types of business connections, introductions to city. county, state and/or federal officials, hiring sources, educational and training entities, knowledge of available financial incentives, commercial real estate information or any other external resource that would be beneficial, the REDP is your one-stop shop.
If you company does not already have the Richardson EDGE, the first step is establishing a communications linkage with REDP so that we can better understand your business and your needs. Even though REDP makes numerous visitations on local businesses, there are over 3,000 physical business locations in Richardson, so we need your help. Give us a call at 972-792-2800 and make an appointment that will put your business on the path to understanding and benefiting from all that the Richardson business environment entails.