Resources to help keep your world moving

How many desks in your office sit unused during the work week? Before the pandemic, Inc. Magazine reported that as much as 40 percent of an office’s dedicated desk space was empty on any given day. Then COVID-19 hit the United States, and employees abandoned office cubicles for work-from-home setups in droves. As workers return to their offices, more companies are using shared seating schedules to maximize space. Envoy data suggests that the demand for flexible office environments is increasing rapidly, with hot-desk bookings growing 95 percent from April to May 2021. By eliminating assigned seating, companies reduce their physical footprints and allow employees to switch freely between remote and office work. Hot desking and desk hoteling have emerged as two of the most popular office layouts for companies with hybrid work arrangements. Though people often use the terms interchangeably, there are several key differences between the two occupancy strategies....

More laboratories are on their way to the Research Triangle. The Raleigh-Durham area is the most highly-esteemed region in the country for life science work. The Triangle is not only home to the leading trio of research universities — Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University — but also to more than 600 life science companies, such as Pfizer and Novo Nordisk. As the local life science sector booms, national and global institutions are moving their research labs to the Raleigh region. However, relocating a lab facility can be costly, stressful and time-consuming, requiring meticulous preparation and niche industry expertise. Here are seven steps to ensure your lab relocation goes smoothly. Transfer any grants to your new institution. If you’re moving your lab to a different institution, rather than just a different location, you need to start the complicated process of transferring over any...

Medical facilities have enough responsibilities on their plates. The logistics of relocating their medical practices shouldn’t be one of them. The right moving partner can take care of the day-to-day preparations for your relocation with expertise and efficiency, freeing you up to focus on your patients. But in the sea of legitimate and fraudulent moving companies advertising online, how do you know which is the right fit for your medical office? There are some critical factors to consider when determining who you will trust with your sensitive equipment, electronics, patient files and furniture. Cut through the noise by asking potential moving partners these five questions. Are you a full-service moving company? When it comes to healthcare relocations, finding a full-service moving company is a must. Rather than just providing last-minute labor, a full-service moving company is your dedicated support for every last detail, from the initial planning and budgeting to...

As the corporate world returns to in-person working arrangements, some businesses are ditching their long-held offices for even larger spaces. A recent Gensler survey found that top-performing companies are three times more likely to expand their real estate footprint in the future to accommodate more personnel, more collaboration and other work-related activities. Though the popularity of remote work has held steady during the pandemic, companies are finally returning to the office at higher rates, making now the perfect time to begin prepping those new accommodations. The national return to office trended at 42 percent as of late March 2022 compared to 18 percent in December 2021, according to Cushman & Wakefield. If you’re considering moving your team to a new office location, kickstart the planning process by asking and answering these five questions. What’s Your Plan for Handling Your Current Lease? Examine your lease and determine the earliest date you...

At the height of the pandemic, white-collar workers left their city offices at rapid rates. Some say they may never return, leading developers to get creative with the now-vacant commercial office spaces. According to Quartz, downtown vacancies in the United States’ top 10 metro areas are four percent higher than before COVID-19 hit. The Business Journals reported that the downtown office vacancy rate reached 16.3 percent in the third quarter of 2021 — the highest rate in nearly four decades. Some experts are sounding the alarm that these office vacancies could persist as employees occupy less and less office space because of work-from-home schedules. Gallup predicts that office buildings in big cities could see as much as 37 percent fewer occupied desks than in 2019. Faced with increasingly empty offices, city developers are considering new applications for the vacant spaces, such as converting commercial buildings into residential housing. Adaptive Reuse...

In recent years, Atlanta has transformed into one of the best metros for business, rivaling any urban area across the United States. Atlanta’s economic development and job growth continue to accelerate, with global companies making their marks on the city. Invest Atlanta predicts that employers will create nearly two million jobs in the metro by 2040. Here are five factors that have led Atlanta to a competitive position as one of the top places to relocate your business. Advanced Infrastructure Atlanta is one of the leading transportation centers in the U.S., making it convenient for companies with national footprints to receive, ship and deliver goods. Georgia maintains the largest rail network in the Southeast with over 4,600 miles of active rail lines and 28 freight railroads. Atlanta not only serves as a hub for the state’s impressive railroad system, but it also sits at the heart of Interstate 20, Interstate...

It’s a good year to be a Raleigh business. Part of the esteemed Research Triangle, Raleigh has long served as home to a thriving life-sciences sector, cutting-edge technology and top educational institutions. However, during the pandemic, Raleigh’s rapid economic growth has even exceeded that of its Triangle neighbors. Forbes named Raleigh one of the best places for business and careers in the United States — an honor that was no surprise to local employers or employees. Data from 24/7 Wall Street shows the Raleigh-Cary metro area grew by 25.6 percent from 2010 to 2020, exceeding the state growth rate by roughly 14 percentage points. The metro’s median annual household income is around $80,000, compared to North Carolina’s median of $57,341. Raleigh’s gross domestic product has increased by more than 72 percent over the past decade, reaching roughly $95.3 billion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. As Raleigh...

To say business is booming in Dallas would be an understatement. In recent years, Dallas has become a hub of talent and innovation, pulling international headquarters away from locations like Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. Today, the Dallas-Fort Worth metro is home to 24 Fortune 500 headquarters, according to the Dallas Regional Chamber. It’s also the only region in the United States to host three Fortune 10 companies: AT&T, McKesson and Mobil. Before the pandemic hit, Dallas had already attracted some of the country’s top businesses, such as Kimberly-Clark, Deloitte, Charles Schwab, Liberty Mutual, Toyota, CBRE and more. In 2019, the Dallas Business Journal reported that more than 30 companies were considering relocating to Dallas or expanding their local operations. Then families began moving to the DFW area in droves, and their employers followed suit. In the past year, multinational engineering firm AECOM, global fiber company Alkegen, construction...

When a commercial-printing company decided to consolidate two locations into a single facility, they knew they needed a moving partner with full-service capabilities, wide-ranging expertise and experienced project managers to stay on time and on budget. They partnered with Armstrong for a more effortless, efficient relocation experience from start to finish. Project Challenges This client has office and warehousing locations around the globe, two of which were only hours apart from each other. The printer wanted to consolidate the two facilities by moving the personnel, storage, equipment, materials and products from one regional site to the other. With extensive experience moving both offices and warehouses, Armstrong was the ideal partner for this undertaking. The project required end-to-end services, from packing desks and pallets to decommissioning the old office and warehouse location. Faced with ongoing supply-chain disruptions, Armstrong leveraged a nationwide network of owned agencies and vetted partners to ensure the...

Server rooms are foundational to the success of many modern businesses. As a hub for Information Technology operations, server rooms keep your most cutting-edge equipment safe and provide efficient networking. When you need to relocate your server room, it’s not as easy as packing up your hardware and driving it over to your new location. Server-room relocations can take six months or more of careful planning, budgeting and coordination. With the right moving partner and procedures, you can ensure a seamless transition that minimizes impact on your team, company and customers. Here are six tips for moving your servers like an expert. Schedule your relocation for after-hours. Prevent downtime for you and your customers by scheduling your move to occur over a long weekend, with servers staying offline from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. Build in time for troubleshooting by planning the relocation to take twice as long as you...