In 2000, Vanguard senior management faced a ‘do I stay or do I go decision;’ Should the company keep its corporate offices in Chesterbrook where the company was founded and had grown to become the second largest mutual fund company in the world, or, was it time to move to another county or state?

“It’s a competitive world, and Delaware’s not far down the road, to be honest,” John Brennan, Vanguard’s then chairman and chief executive officer was quoted saying at the time.

Ultimately, Governor Tom Ridge and Pennsylvania’s Department of Community & Economic Development came through with a host of incentives, including Opportunity Grants, Job Creation Tax Credits, Customized Job Training and Infrastructure Development funds, even relief from sales taxes on building materials and a promise to improve highway infrastructure around Vanguard offices, and management decided to stay in Chester County.

In Part Two (Part One is here) of our Chester County Leadership conversation, VISTA Today asked Vanguard’s now CEO and Chairman Bill McNabb, about that ‘stay or go’ decision, the factors that kept the company here and the competitive advantages Vanguard realizes having their offices and operations here in Chester County.

In 2000, Vanguard looked at locations across the country and decided to stay put in Chester County, Bill.  Were you part of that process fifteen years ago?

While Jack Brennan, Vanguard’s CEO at the time, ultimately made the final decision in 2000 to stay headquartered in Chester County, I was part of that process.

Why did Vanguard decide to keep the company headquarters in Wayne?

In my work here at Vanguard I’ve had the opportunity to travel to almost every state, be in almost every city and be in places most people have never been.  I’ve seen the United States, and there are a lot of cool places with amazing geography across the country.

But what I keep coming back to is Chester County is one of the most phenomenal places to live.  Not that we don’t have our challenges.  We do. But the combination of the opportunity we have from an academic standpoint and to be so close to one of the nation’s five biggest cities and not feel like you’re way out were two big factors in the decision to stay.

There’s something about Chester County that draws people back.  We hire a lot of young people who grew up around here but went away for school.  When they’re done school, they want to come back.

You mentioned the opportunity we have from an academic standpoint.

One of the least understood aspects of the Delaware Valley is the region’s phenomenal university level education system.  There are more than 100 universities within a two hour drive of Vanguard, universities from which we draw talent.  The region’s universities are an unbelievable resource.

Back in 2000 when we were considering our options and deciding if we should move Vanguard to XYZ part of the country, you couldn’t find another area of the country that had the diversity and depth from a university standpoint that we enjoy here in Chester County and the Delaware Valley.  From a talent perspective, that was incredibly important.

But not all your hires are entry level positions.  How challenging is it to recruit senior level people to Chester County?

When we want to make high level hires, we show them Chester County and point out the places they can live within twenty minutes of Vanguard.  New hires can live in Devon, and be close.  Or they can opt to be out in rural parts of the county in horse country and feel like they’re in Kentucky.  Families have great public and private schools to choose from as well as a pretty wide variety of housing, from starter level up to those with more substantial needs, to choose from.

Do you have an example of a senior level hire falling in love with Chester County?

The story that comes to mind is one of the leaders who came to us from Australia, and had spent most of his career going back and forth between Melbourne and Sidney, two cosmopolitan cities. He gets here to Chester County and says whoa, this is different. This is not the environment I am used to.

After a year, his attitude towards the area had changed completely.  He told me, he and his wife were both amazed at the amount of choice they had here.  A couple of years later we asked him to go back to Australia, and he and his wife were sad to leave Chester County.