Alexander Mann, a recruitment-services firm based in London, could hire 300 people in Cleveland within three years. The company is keeping quiet about its U.S. strategy.
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View full sizeAlexander Mann Solutions, which recently signed a short-term lease at the Tower at Erieview, plans to make Cleveland home to its operations center serving North and South America. The recruitment-services company, based in the United Kingdom, was close to choosing Raleigh, N.C., for the project before a Cleveland businessman and economic-development officials convinced executives to consider Northeast Ohio.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Alexander Mann Solutions was ready to make Raleigh, N.C., the center of its operations in the United States.
Then a Cleveland executive with global ties decided to pitch the London-based recruitment-services firm on his hometown. And in this battle between a southern growth state and a Rust Belt city, Cleveland -- strikingly -- triumphed.
The story of how Cleveland won Alexander Mann illustrates how the economic development system can -- and should -- work, said local and state leaders involved in the deal. What started with a personal connection turned into a full-court press, which brought the city the first major U.S. operation of a company well known in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Alexander Mann recently signed a short-term lease at the Tower at Erieview in downtown Cleveland. Now the company is planning its Cleveland operations center, serving North and South America. That center could employ 300 people and generate $12.9 million a year in new payroll within three years, according to information from an Ohio tax-credit application approved in April.
Cleveland will be Alexander Mann's fifth operations center, joining offices in the U.K., China, Poland and the Philippines.
"This is a very sophisticated company that, by most standards, should have gone to the Carolinas," said Ed Crawford, chairman and chief executive officer of Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. in Mayfield Heights and one of the business leaders who orchestrated Cleveland's bid for Alexander Mann. "It sure doesn't sound like a Cleveland story."
Alexander Mann takes on all aspects of the recruiting process for its clients, who sign long-term contracts for services ranging from campus recruiting to executive hiring. Owned by London private-equity firm Graphite Capital, the company employs more than 1,800 people, working in-house or at client offices across 60 countries. Its customers include Deloitte, Microsoft Corp., Nike Inc. and Rolls-Royce.
"Alexander Mann has certainly been the leader in the U.K. and Europe. They haven't stepped on the dance floor in any meaningful way, until now, in the United States," said John Younger, a founder of the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association in California.
Citing concerns about competition, Alexander Mann executives refused to discuss their U.S. strategy, disclose how many people they've hired in Cleveland, or elaborate on their plans for a Sept. 19 event at the Great Lakes Science Center.
But with the local business community bubbling over about the company's decision to come here, Alexander Mann leaders opened up about what lured them to town and why they decided to stay.
"If feels like Cleveland has had a pretty hard few years, been struck by the economic environment pretty hard," Jerry Collier, one of two executives who traveled here in February, said in a phone interview. "It feels like everyone, man, boy, woman, girl, is in to dig Cleveland out and to help it develop. And that sense of community, and that sense of common purpose and that energy was addictive, actually. I felt like a Clevelander after a day."
The discussions started with Doug Bugie, the director of international sales development for Supply Technologies, a division of Park-Ohio Holdings. A veteran of the international recruiting business, Bugie had a longstanding friendship with Rosaleen Blair, who founded Alexander Mann in 1996 and still leads the company.
"I was talking to them about doing some business together," Bugie said, "and they said 'Well, this is on the QT, but we're moving into North America. We feel like we've got to be in this market in a bigger way than we are.' They said, 'We're almost done. We're thinking seriously about moving to Raleigh.'"
Bugie had other ideas. He pestered the company to give Cleveland a chance before making a decision. And he appealed to Crawford and Matthew Crawford, Park-Ohio's president and chief operating officer, for help. In turn, the Crawfords reached out to JobsOhio, Gov. John Kasich's private economic-development agency, and Team NEO, a local group focused on attracting businesses to the region and keeping them here.
"If it hadn't been for Doug's repeated and insistent phone calls, they wouldn't even have come to Cleveland. It was not on their map," said Alan Schonberg, who joined the pitch team from his perch as co-founder, former CEO and chairman emeritus of MRINetwork, a recruitment business born in Northeast Ohio and now based in Philadelphia.
Collier and Vic Khan, another Alexander Mann executive, agreed to visit Cleveland after a trip to Raleigh. On Feb. 29, with just a few days' notice, the pair arrived. They were greeted by a daylong program, including a panel of human resources executives, representatives from local colleges and universities, a driving tour led by Chris Ronayne of University Circle Inc. and a talk with young professionals and students.
The whirlwind day involved more than 50 people and ended with a reception at Crop Bistro & Bar in Ohio City and dinner at Dante in Tremont.
"I've never been so tired," Collier said. "I was almost, literally, sick at the end of the day."
The executives tacked another day onto their visit. A week later, they were recommending Cleveland to Alexander Mann's board of directors.
On March 6, Kasich called Blair, the company's CEO, for a chat. By late April, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority had approved a 65 percent, eight-year job-creation tax credit for the company. The incentives were a factor, Collier said, but they didn't make the deal.
The company also discussed incentives in North Carolina, he said, declining to share details. A Raleigh economic-development official said he was not aware of any local incentives, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.
"When we met with those gentlemen, it was really just to show them the space that was here in Raleigh," said James Sauls, the director of Raleigh Economic Development. "You calling to tell us that they're locating in Cleveland is news to us."
Typically, a corporate decision process like this takes 12 to 18 months, said Jay Foran, senior vice president of business attraction at Team NEO. He believes Alexander Mann was won over by the level of community support, Midwestern work ethics and the enthusiasm of the young people who met with executives.
Raleigh offers a non-stop flight to London, and Cleveland does not. But the status of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport as a United Airlines hub also played a role in the deal, Foran said, as Team NEO mapped out access to Fortune 500 companies nationwide. Alexander Mann executives said they considered transportation, available downtown office space, the cost of living in Cleveland and access to a strong talent pool. The company expects to hire locally.
"No one organization can pound their chest on this," said Deb Janik, senior vice president of real estate and business development for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the local chamber of commerce. "This was a community win, all around. The city, county, business community, University Circle, state, corporate leadership who met with these guys. This was the full team."
In July, Alexander Mann signed a one-year lease on its starter office, 6,000 square feet at the Tower at Erieview. The Chartwell Group brokerage is working to keep them there. But Collier and Mark Jones, the U.K. native running the operations center and planning a move to Cleveland, are still evaluating their options downtown and in University Circle.
"We'll welcome them to the city and let them get a little bit settled in," said Michael Deemer, vice president of business development for the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. "We'll certainly continue to make the pitch for downtown Cleveland. But I ultimately think that downtown Cleveland will sell itself."
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