7.2. EDSR 05-20-2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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available land to grow. In relation to community partners, BNSF asks that we track our rail-served leads and share. We toured their corporate campus and control center which coordinates all train traffic in the United States. Copart, Inc. John Reed, Director of Property and Development Mason Laycock, Manager of Property and Development Discussion with Copart focused on company growth, location needs, workforce and company culture. Copart, Inc. is an asset liquidation services company to institutional, commercial and private owners of used, undamaged or damaged vehicles, trailers, watercraft and power sports, industrial and construction equipment. Most sellers are insurance companies, licensed dealers, financial institutions, charities, municipalities and fleet operators. They are a $15B publicly-traded company (NASDAQ: CPRT). They have roughly 200 locations worldwide in more than 150 countries with 7,500 employees. The top five countries their buyers export vehicles to are Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Guatemala, and Honduras. All transactions take place on-line. Their staff is split 50/50 between IT folks and asset managers. Copart’s staff development includes a management program called Copart University, quarterly leadership training, and promoting from within. Copart recently submitted a CUP for a site they are considering in Elk River with room for expansion. They have been looking for a Twin Cities regional yard location (50-100 acres) which would employ 15 – 40 people and are sensitive to community and environmental issues. They pride themselves on environmental compliance and becoming part of their communities. Copart is considering a new call center for title processors with 50-200 employees and considering Lexington, Atlanta and Columbus. We suggested Elk River. BBA Dean Barber, Principal of Barber Business Advisors. BBA is an economic development and corporate consulting firm. Dean’s team has developed a process or formula specifically designed for taking action: SWOT + LMA = TI/IC or Translation: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) plus labor market analytics (LMA) leads to identification of target industries and specific companies within those industry sectors that would be an appropriate fit for a community. (TI/IC). Dean talked in great length about how he works with corporate decision makers to understand their strengths and weaknesses to identify opportunities and threats as it relates to location decisions for the company. Site Selection Group We were able to meet with three members of the team: Jenna Keller, an associate project manager who focuses on incentives, her new colleague Cody who also concentrates on sites and incentives, and Tommy Hankins a senior associate of research, labor analytics and projects like call centers. The firm manages a lot of large scale, high employee number, projects nationwide and echoed trends that we are all hearing – too few food grade buildings on the market, shrinking workforce, etc. We highlighted parts of the state that may be overlooked – St. Cloud Electrolux building/workforce, the Elk River GRE Energy Recovery Station plant shutdown/available workforce and Iron Range unemployment and skill in call centers. Tommy was unaware of these opportunities and also asked about graduate retention rates. Jenna offered to send a link on a webinar they recently hosted on how communities can “stand out” to site selectors. JLL, Jubal Smith This was a very informal, but extremely interesting conversation with a seasoned site selector. Jubal’s focus is Texas and he discussed a number of firms that are moving to the area – but not all are