Howard County prides itself on its many accolades, including its status among the “Top Five Most Desirable Places to Live in America” as designated by CNN and Money magazine. With a reputation such as this, it’s no wonder that employment projections are expected to reach 214,854 by 2015; more than a 10% increase from 2010.
But it is not just the number of businesses that will continue to climb in Howard County’s thriving marketplace; it is the businesses themselves that, with both vision and strategy, will expand. This growth, as James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney stores, stated, “is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”
The forces currently working together in today’s business climate have inevitably fueled the growth and popularity of executive and virtual offices.
Flexible Option
Executive offices, also known as business suites, serviced offices or shared office space, provide an affordable and flexible alternative to traditional commercial office space. Typically, commercial office space requires a longer lease commitment, somewhere in the range of three to five years; executive offices provide shorter lease terms, anywhere from six to 12 months.
Jim Farrell, senior director of leasing & brokerage at the Rappaport Companies, pointed out that “commercial office space usually requires a tenant to invest a significant amount of money into the space: in costs to finish to their standards, Internet and phone service and furnishings and equipment,” all services that an executive office suite not only provides, but takes care of maintenance for.
While each executive suite varies in size and services offered, the basic blueprint of the business model involves a management company or team renting offices to individuals and/or companies on an as-needed basis at a fixed monthly cost.
Along with the amenities provided with each furnished office, typically including use of the mailing address, a unique local phone number and Internet access, renters also are afforded usage of the suite’s common areas. This shared space will include a staffed reception and waiting area, conference and/or meeting rooms, a workroom equipped with a shared fax machine and printer and a kitchen.
The reception area at Business Suites of Columbia portrays a professional atmosphere required of a growing business.
Virtual offices are an extension, then, of the executive office suite; they offer access to all of the amenities provided without the four walls of a traditional office. Virtual offices are a logical first step for individuals who are considering moving out of a home office or companies that need a satellite location that is turn-key.
Popularity Is Increasing
“While the executive office business model has been around for the last 22 years, it has really been in the last three years that they seem to have multiplied,” noted Rob Freedman, managing director and principal for Colliers International.
This, in large part, is due to the ever-changing market and demands of an increasingly mobile workforce. As Eric Bednash, CEO of RackTop Systems, stated, “Our [RackTop] team is spread across three states and two countries. Almost all of our collaboration leverages technology. However, collaboration will only get you so far. You actually need to have customers. And unless you want to entertain those customers at Starbucks or invite them into your home office,
you need to have traditional office space.”
Hence his investment in an executive office; as Bednash declared, “It’s a cost-effective option that gives us all of the benefits of traditional office space without the hit to the bottom line.”
It is attention to the bottom line that spurred Mary Albert to open Business Suites of Columbia, a locally-owned and operated Class A executive suite in Columbia, three years ago.
“The executive office business model has emerged over the past few years as an essential ingredient of the infrastructure required for growth for entrepreneurs, small businesses and corporations alike. It allows these entities to expand their presence in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor without breaking the bank,” stated Albert.
And no one knows this better than the clients themselves. Patricia Talavera, co-owner of BCBS Media, a social media company that she started with her sister Lily Dagdag in September 2010, said, “In the future, [BCBS Media] hopes to maintain a separate office, but right now it is convenient to have a virtual office that provides us access to a workspace or conference room when we need it without committing to significant monthly expenses.” Talavera hopes to put the resultant savings towards expanding BCBS Media by hiring an additional virtual assistant and becoming a member of the chamber of commerce.
While it has taken nearly two decades to cement the executive office as a viable option for businesses, its recent popularity will only continue to fuel the growth, demand and need for this business model.
