Corporate real estate departments are focused more than ever on supporting corporate expansion into new global markets and transforming workplaces into more collaborative areas to attract talent, according to a panel of top corporate real estate professionals and service providers. The panel, co-sponsored by CoreNet Global and CPN, convened Monday at the CoreNet Global Summit in San Diego. All panelists agreed that global expansion is a mandate at large corporations. While the economies of the United States and Western Europe are challenged by the economic slowdown, Nokia sees significant expansion opportunities in countries such as Brazil and other markets in Latin America, Russia and emerging countries in Africa. \u201cWe want to be less reliant on the U.S. and Europe,\u201d said Mark Tamburro (pictured), vice president of workplace resources at Nokia and CoreNet Global\u2019s chairman-elect. He said that Nokia\u2019s real estate department must enable the company to have the \u201cflexibility and agility\u201d to grow globally. \u201cWe have to have the real estate portfolio to support that change,\u201d Tamburro said. Growing in India and China is a major initiative for Cisco Systems Inc, according to Mike Zamora, senior manager for the Asia and Pacific regions for the company. But, finding real estate professionals on the ground to support expansion in Asia can be a challenge, he said. When Zamora worked in Asia as a consultant 12 years ago, he said many real estate brokers were \u201clike marriage brokers–here\u2019s the tenant, here\u2019s the landlord, now pay me.\u201d While he said things have improved, what he called \u201ca shallow labor pool\u201d is a challenge to many corporate expansion plans. Corporate global expansion plans have meant that service providers must continue to stay ahead of the curve, according to Richard Bertasi, vice president of global real estate and facilities management for the EMEA region of Johnson Controls. Johnson Controls has become less \u201cgeographic centric\u201d and more \u201ccustomer centric\u201d to support its clients\u2019 global expansion. Clients are focused not only on growing in India and China, but Johnson Controls\u2019 clients have asked the company to provide services in Pakistan and Angola. Bertasi said Johnson Controls will not gain a large return on investment by having a presence in Angola, but has a presence there to support its client base. Crafting more open workspace, to encourage collaboration, and instituting mobility programs are major initiatives for Sun Microsystems Inc. Sun\u2019s senior vice president of workplace resources and chairman of CoreNet Global, David Harris, said 45 percent of Sun\u2019s employees are now \u201cflex,\u201d that is, do not have an assigned office space. The bar has been raised for employees to use individual office space less and less, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s game-changing,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThis is what millenials are expecting.\u201d For Tamburro, offering employees greater flexibility is a key way to attract new talent. \u201cYou have to give people the choice of how they are going to work,\u201d Tamburro said. The slowing U.S. economy has provided opportunity for service providers, said Karen Ellzey, executive managing director for global corporate services at CB Richard Ellis Inc. Corporations frequently look to service providers to take a fresh look at their real estate portfolios, she said. \u201cCompanies may want to take a second or a third look at their office occupancy,\u201d Ellzey said. A city or regional economic development can also help a company navigate an economic downturn, said Mary Jane Olhasso (pictured), director of economic development for the City of Ontario, Calif. For instance, such an agency can assist an entrepreneurial company gain greater access to growing markets in Asia, she said. \u201cFor a large company, it means making sure they are taking advantage of tax breaks,\u201d she said. (Commercial Property News will run extended excerpts from the Roundtable in the June issue.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Corporate real estate departments are focused more than ever on supporting corporate expansion into new global markets and transforming workplaces into more collaborative areas to attract talent, according to a panel of top corporate real estate professionals and service providers. The panel, co-sponsored by CoreNet Global and CPN, convened Monday at the CoreNet Global Summit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003801000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n