Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) has been a notable employer within the city of Austin for decades. Located in downtown Austin, the company has employed more than 200 people and is one of the city’s more respected employers. They hired AngelouEconomics to relocate to a more cost-effective location in the Austin metro area.
CASE STUDY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Keeping HMH
In the Austin Region
Case Study: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) has been a notable employer within the city of Austin for decades. Located in downtown Austin, the company has employed more than 200 people and is one of the city’s more respected employers. However, the real estate market has changed significantly over that time period. In 2015, HMH’s long-term lease expired and defaulted to the current market rates. This presented HMH with sticker shock, to say the least.
It was no longer feasible to be located in downtown Austin, but HMH wanted to remain within the Austin region. Working with a real estate broker, HMH found a site they liked in a northern suburb of Austin and received an offer of approximately $150,000 in incentives. In March of 2015, HMH reached out to AngelouEconomics as a way to increase the incentives being offered. However, AngelouEconomics started from a limited position due to the prior engagements that the client and their real estate broker had had with the community. The competitive process had been subverted.
At our consultation, the client gave AngelouEconomics the lead position on the site relocation project. From there, we were able to reincorporate competitive aspects back into the projects and renegotiate the incentives being offered. By the end of the process, AngelouEconomics had negotiated $1.2 million in incentives for HMH, an incentive package approximately eight times larger than the original package offered to the client.
Case Studies in Site Selection
Case Study: Citgo Petroleum
AngelouEconomics was engaged by CITGO to assist the CITGO Petroleum project team in the evaluation of Texas for its corporate headquarters and new refinery investments. The firm performed an economic impact study of the headquarters and manufacturing projects, and assisted CITGO with its incentives negotiations.
Case Study: Conoco Phillips
AngelouEconomics was engaged by Conoco Philips to conduct a site location analysis for the development of a global technology and corporate learning center. The center will serve as the company’s hub for research and development of renewable and alternative energy and high-tech carbon fuels recovery. The project selected a location in the Denver, Colorado region.
AngelouEconomics helped me define New Mexico’s industry clusters but then went many steps further with a marketing plan, contact lists and assistance is setting up strategic meetings. All in all, an impressive effort. AngelouEconomics is a well-rounded firm that excels in strategic development ranging from marketing plans and cluster analyses to economic impact reports for recruitment.
Rick Homans
President/CEO Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation
Former Cabinet Secretary of Economic Development, State of New Mexico
