Improving Corporate America's Bottom Line - 02/16/01

STRATIS Business Centers:
Improving Corporate America's Bottom Line

As American businesses face renewed concerns over economic uncertainty, they are stepping up efforts to cut costs and become more flexible. They are looking to avoid long-term commitments, such as office leases, capital equipment purchases and staffing in the event of continued slowing of the economy.

The flexible, cost-saving solutions provided by the country's burgeoning Office Business Centers Industry have recently become the answer for fast moving companies of all sizes from Bristol-Myers Squib and Nortel to Estee Lauder and Pratt & Whitney. CFO's and are enjoying the benefits of outsourcing their real estate, telecommunications, data and clerical services functions using short-term service contracts. Business Centers, like industry leader STRATIS Business Centers offer fully serviced plans for 1 to 50 employees, complete with furnished offices, team rooms, conference rooms, receptionist, administrative support, voice and data services_all on contracts as short as one month. Companies can also arrange contracts for telecommuting employees to have access to conference rooms, televideo conferencing and administrative support by the hour in programs referred to as virtual office plans.

"Large corporations have identified headquarters office facility costs as being their largest expense next to staffing costs. Predictably, they are now working to reduce the amount of expensive headquarters office space they occupy," said John Arenas, CEO of STRATIS Business Centers. "Today, new technologies are enabling these companies to implement new workplace strategies, including satellite offices, virtual offices, job-sharing, and flextime. Companies recognize, that by utilizing business centers, they can significantly reduce corporate headquarters space requirements, while lifting employee productivity and morale. By using STRATIS Business Centers, companies can reduce facilities cost per worker by as much as 50%, with flexible service agreements for fully staffed and equipped office facilities vs. traditional long term leases."

"At Hyperion Solutions Corporation, we regularly base 40 to 50 field offices in Office Business Center locations around the world. Instead of setting up a conventional office, we often use Office Business Center offices for our field sales reps and consultants. Sometimes a representative wants to be near home and the bigger firms cannot provide that flexibility," said Vince Laurentino, Director of Real Estate and Contracts, Hyperion Solutions Corporation. "It makes sense because we don't have to take a long-term lease of pay for construction build-out, phone systems, and a lot of staff support. When we get up to 12 people in a field office, we'll usually set up our own office space."

"In a recent decision to relocate, Hamilton Research Group looked at several office alternatives with respect to price and discovered that STRATIS Business Centers represented real value. Once we researched all of the services that I needed with respect to price and all of my time that I would need to invest in the endeavor, we realized that if we attempted to build our own office from scratch that the time involved would be extremely prohibitive and the bottom line figures would be three times that of my monthly costs at STRATIS Business Centers," said John R. Taylor of Hamilton Research Group. "The bottom line is that everything I need for my business to function and expand, at will, is in place at one-third the cost. To me, this is value added. My time is very valuable to me and my business has already prospered in this efficient working environment."

"At STRATIS Business Centers, we pay for the operational facility overhead, and price our office plans at what amounts to a huge savings for our clients," Arenas said. "We take the day-to-day headaches, such as telephone and computer systems and facility maintenance, out of running a business, which allows the client to focus on managing his business. Our centers offer full and part time office plans, professional administrative assistance, state-of-the-art equipment and first-rate accommodations."

"When my company decided to open a branch office we searched for the best office value available in the area. STRATIS Business Centers provided the affordable administrative assistance, personal service and professional environment that my company needed in order to grow. Thanks in part to STRATIS Business Centers, Chaney Thomas has been able to make its mark in this marketplace," said Erin Humphries, Branch Manager for Chaney, Thomas, Stephenson & Hill.

Although the office business center, formerly known as the executive office suite, industry has operated for more than 30 years with business centers across the globe, STRATIS Business Centers has taken the business center formula to the next level. STRATIS Business Centers offers flexible client plans and arranges for a business to begin operating at a new office within minutes. Each STRATIS Business Center is equipped with the latest technology and office equipment. Advanced technological services include a high-tech telephone system; videoconferencing capabilities; high-speed internet access in every office; and high-speed duplicating, printing, color printing, color copying, scanning, and document processing in each center. STRATIS Business Centers provides experienced administrative staff to assist with PowerPoint presentations; Web page design; telemarketing; desk top publishing; spread sheet and database management; mass mailings; customer service representation; on-line research; transcription; dictation; and document processing.

"World One Technologies could not be more pleased with the service we receive from STRATIS Business Centers. They have provided our company with a wonderful office environment that is ideally situated in one of the main business districts," said Jennifer Ferenz, District Sales Manager for World One Technologies, Incorporated. "Having a receptionist answer our calls and forward them to us when traveling helps our company run more efficiently. Operating an office at STRATIS Business Centers helped to ease the transition of not only opening a new office, but in a new city as well."

Since 1997, STRATIS Business Centers has 76 franchises committed throughout the United States. Select cities will offer multiple centers. For more information on STRATIS Business Centers, center locations and its services to meet specific business needs, log on to www.stratisnet.com or call (843) 357-8500 or 1-888-7-STRATIS.