Richmond is one of the best cities for company headquarters
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Richmond is one of the best cities in the nation for companies looking to relocate their corporate headquarters.
Driving the news: The River City tied for eighth in an annual ranking of which cities companies would consider for corporate HQ homes, according to industry publication Site Selection Magazine.
Why it matters: Corporate HQs bring jobs — generally "very good, high paying jobs," says Jennifer Wakefield, who leads the Greater Richmond Partnership, the metro area's economic development agency.
- Richmond jobs at companies with their headquarters in the city pay an
average annual salary of $135,675 a year, according to GRP's latest wage analysis. - That's compared to the Richmond area's average salary of around $63,000 using their data.
Plus, rankings like this — ones compiled from a survey of the business consultants that help companies make HQ decisions and published in a respected trade publication — are exactly the kind of list Richmond wants to land on.
- That's because they're read by the CEOs and site consultants that decide where to move headquarters. So when Richmond shows up as a hot city, corporate leaders are paying attention.
- Companies, like anyone else, get FOMO, Wakefield tells Axios.
Worth noting: Part of what makes Richmond's inclusion in this ranking so exciting is that it was named in response to a blank question, Wakefield says.
- Respondents were asked: "If you were running a company and needed to find a new home for its corporate headquarters, list three cities you would place on your short list."
Zoom in: A number of factors make Richmond attractive to companies, Wakefield says, including:
- Landing big-name projects in recent years, like CoStar's research headquarters and Lego's $1 billion manufacturing plant.
- Being in a state capital with close proximity to lawmakers for any lobbying needs — or a two-hour train ride away from federal lawmakers.
- Having a diverse and educated workforce.
- And finally, being the East Coast's northernmost "right-to-work" state, which is especially attractive to manufacturing companies.
The big picture: State and local tax policies and access to a workforce are the most important issues for consultants when considering cities for relocation, per Site Selection.
- Access to affordable housing and upskilling (workers willing and able to expand their skills) and child care rounded out the top five issues.