How Do Companies Choose a Location for Their Headquarters?

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Cities have a growing list of requirements they need to meet when trying to entice companies to move their businesses there, according to a report from Knowledge@Wharton.

“For most businesses, the issue of location choice now is driven by labor: Will we be able to attract the white-collar skills we need?” said Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli, director of the school’s Center for Human Resources.


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The decision usually comes down to access to clients, labor force, and suppliers. For example, Amazon wants financial incentives, along with a labor force that is young and educated, for its HQ2, so the needs of millennials play a big role.

What millennials want is “a city with all the cultural amenities,” and to live close to people like themselves, said Fernando V. Ferreira, Wharton professor of real estate and business economics and public policy.

In a mock proposal created by Wharton students to make the case for Philadelphia, one of the suggestions was encouraging the talent from nearby colleges and universities. Another suggested having a “chief happiness officer” working in city government to help business with their needs.

Read more about how to attract businesses from Knowledge@Wharton here.

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