Greater Reading is ready.

Transcription

1 Greater Reading is ready. GreaterReading.com

2 contents Stone Pointe Building Information...1 Telecommunications and Utility Infrastructure...2 Layouts and Workstation Schematics for Workstations...3 Local Workforce Availability, Skills, and Labor Rates...4 Local Incentives...6 GreaterReading.com Welcome to Greater Reading! Available, affordable, accessible, and ready to go call center space with infrastructure and workforce. We ve got an incredible opportunity for a call center or customer service center to locate in Greater Reading, PA at the Stone Pointe Corporate Center. Strategically located in eastern Pennsylvania and the Northeast U.S. corridor, this location offers plug and play capabilities, affordable lease rates, a cooperative community and business partners, an attractive bilingual labor pool, and local incentives. So, if you are looking for an excellent location to begin your next business opportunity, look no further. Greater Reading is ready! 2 GREATER READING Economic Partnership

3 the facility Stone Pointe Corporate Center features Acreage : 133 acres Total Building Size: +/- 1,077,000 SF Total Office Area : +/- 279,000 SF Available Office Space: 204,700 SF Space: Lower Level: 25,000 SF 1st Floor: 94,900 SF 2nd Floor: 68,300 SF 3rd Floor: 16,500 SF Parking: Over 3,000 spaces on site Elevators : Three (3) passenger elevators rated from 2,000-3,000 lbs and one (1) freight elevator HVAC: Heat provided by gas and oil steam boilers Entire facility is air conditioned 2525 North 12th Street Muhlenberg Township Reading, PA Power: Dual 69 kv power supplied by First Energy In excess of 12,000 amp service available Fire Safety: Wet sprinkler system covering the entire facility Lighting : Recessed fluorescent GreaterReading.com/call-centers.aspx 1

4 the facility Stone Pointe Corporate Center 2525 North 12th Street Muhlenberg Township Reading, PA telecommunications and data systems infrastructure Dual 69 kv electric power feeds, and multiple generators available on site for a 3rd tier of redundancy. Dual telecommunications providers have lit this facility with fiber optic cable to provide complete network services including high speed broadband internet, and voice and data services. The facility has dual telecom and fiber entrance points, one from the City of Reading and one from Muhlenberg Township to provide network redundancy. Telecommunications are provided by Windstream and Verizon. Multimode fiber between phone closets. Cat-5 and Cat-3 wiring throughout the facility. Copper wire between phone closets with capacity for 5,000+ phone lines. location Few locations on the East Coast offer a more central location than Greater Reading, with easy access to markets, hubs and major cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Philadelphia is just 50 miles to the southeast, and New York and Washington are a little more than 100 miles away. Greater Reading is an affordable location too, with occupancy costs among the most attractive of any comparable area in the eastern region. Over 100 million people within an overnight s drive Class-A office buildings, industrial parks, manufacturing sites and prime retail locations Reliable electric grid Good management relations Stone Pointe is located in Greater Reading, Pennsylvania, just a few miles northeast of Reading in Muhlenberg Township. Routes 222, 61, and 422 are main state roads through Greater Reading, connecting Reading and its suburbs with the Lehigh Valley (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton) to the north and east and Central Pennsylvania (Lancaster/York/Harrisburg) south and west. I-78, I-476, and I-76 are interstates connecting Greater Reading to the rest of the region. Greater Reading is home to such companies as Carpenter Technologies, Penske Corp., East Penn Manufacturing, Godiva, and Boscov s stores. Take advantage of a diverse workforce and a great lifestyle. Greater Reading is naturally beautiful and family oriented. Its diverse community lifestyle means there s something for everyone. In addition, residents enjoy a much lower cost of living then those of neighboring metropolitan centers. 2 GREATER READING Economic Partnership

5 Space Plans and Workstations 35,000 SF Space Plan and Workstation Option 1 Space Plan and Workstation Option 2 Space Plan and Workstation Option 3 GreaterReading.com/call-centers.aspx 3

6 Stone Pointe Corporate Center 2525 North 12th Street Muhlenberg Township Reading, PA Amenities A tremendous selection of eateries are within a 5-10 minute drive of Stone Pointe. Downtown Reading is only minutes away via 5th Street Highway. Alvernia University, Albright College, Penn State-Berks, and Reading Area Community College are all easily accessible. Reading is home to the Reading Phillies, the AA affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Reading Royals of the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League). Wage Information and Employee Availability in Greater Reading The Greater Reading community obtained an assessment from a site selection consultant on workforce availability, which confirmed a local CareerLink assessment and provided some additional empirical data. According to their evaluation: The metro Reading labor market could accommodate another 4,100 customer related positions (FTEs) As a rule of thumb, labor saturation is reached when call center employment exceeds 3% of the civilian labor force Metro Reading s labor force is 202,300 At 3%, the market could likely sustain a call center base of 6,100 Looking over the employer roster, the best estimate is that current call center employment approximates 2,000 FTEs This leaves excess capacity of about 4,100 A new call center paying market competitive wages would be able to sustain an HR level in at least the 750 FTE range The estimated white collar underemployed pool (employment in lower wage occupations) is about 15,000+/- A new employer would likely be able to find 5% of that total to be well-qualified This translates into 750 additional positions As a buffer, a new call center could also draw from: The unemployed 7.9% or 16,000 people Annual college graduates Two Year 700 Four Year 3,500 Total 4,200 Availability of a bilingual workforce Population ages is roughly 264,000 About 6% of metro population ages is bilingual (English/Spanish according to the US Census) 4 GREATER READING Economic Partnership

7 At 6%, this equates to 15,800 bilingual working age adults Tapping only 1% of this pool would allow a new employer to staff about 150 bilingual positions The CareerLink is a one-stop workforce development system comprised of a partnership of several public and private workforce development agencies. They offer a variety of employer and employee support services including: Screening and referral of applicants to employer specifications Information on hiring incentives such as tax credits and new-hire training programs Specialized recruitment, including management of large recruitment campaigns Recruitment facilities (meeting rooms and private office) for daily rental WorkKeys Functional and Personal Skill Assessments for applicants and incumbent workers WorkKeys Profiling to better assess skill needs of specific jobs The CareerLink partners assessed that an employer would need to pay an $11/starting wage, with increases based on performance. They believe that there will be second-income individuals and singleparents applying for customer service positions. For bilingual needs, the applicant pool will be strong. If a high school diploma is not required, the applicant pool would be even greater because there are very capable people in our community who lack that credential but would be good employees. The CareerLink website can act as one of the bases for recruiting as well as the physical office if there is a desire to do paper applications. CareerLink also offers pre-employment assessments for example, providing a short script that they ask folks to read. Additionally, Greater Reading Economic Partnership confirmed that students at the five local colleges and universities could play a role in filling 2nd, 3rd, and weekend shifts at a call center. Below are the current enrollment numbers for each of our higher education institutions. Albright College 2,358 Alvernia University 2,906 Kutztown University 10,634 Penn State University 2,759 Reading Area Community College 5,425 Note: All five colleges and universities offer Spanish as part of their curriculums. Wage and workforce availability confirmation was also obtained from one of the community s premier employment agencies, Gage Personnel. Lastly, employer surveys annually conducted by Greater Reading Economic Partnership of call center operations in Berks County, confirmed the following ranges: Entry-Level: $11-12/hr mid-level: $12-14/hr senior-level: $15/hr Pay rates for a supervisor in a call center are in the $45-55K range. Summary The wage rates contemplated throughout the entire evaluation was a salary of $11.50 as a starting point for employees. This salary would be competitive and attract a stable employee base for these type of positions. A bilingual workforce will be available in Greater Reading due to the large Latino population and correspondingly available workforce. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the PA CareerLink office, and the Greater Reading Economic Partnership and its workforce partners can offer support and substantive resources for new employee recruitment and training. Sources: Berks County Office of PA Career Link Greater Reading Economic Partnership Wadley, Donovan Gutshaw Consulting Gage Personnel GreaterReading.com/call-centers.aspx 5

8 Incentives New Hire Marketing Businesses will receive support for a range of hiring activities including: advertisements to promote and facilitate the initial hiring process; participation in CareerLink s Job Fair for initial and continued employee recruitment; and participation in Greater Reading Young Professional s Job Fair for initial and continued employee recruitment. On-the-Job Training (OJT) Businesses may qualify for a training reimbursement amount equal to 50% of the wage of a new hire. The average reimbursement per employee is in the range of $3,000 - $4,000. Hotel Expenses Hotel accommodations for visiting or relocating executives, managers, and trainers will be made available. Business Networking Memberships Businesses will be provided a one year membership for Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce and Industry which specializes in HR services, training, and networking. Businesses will be provided a one year membership for Greater Reading Economic Partnership which garners access to the top business leaders in our region. Additional state and local incentives may be available depending upon the type of project. For more information on locating a call center in Greater Reading, PA, contact: Pamela J. Shupp, AICP, CEcD, Vice President [email protected] Phone: (610) GreaterReading.com/call-centers.aspx If you are looking for an excellent location to begin your next business opportunity, look no further. Stone Pointe Corporate Center 2525 North 12th Street Muhlenberg Township Reading, PA GreaterReading.com 6 GREATER READING Economic Partnership

9 Greater Reading is ready.