While Baton Rouge-based Amedisys is planning to relocate the majority of its 15-member executive team to a new satellite office that will be located either in Nashville or New Orleans, Albemarle—another major corporation based in Baton Rouge—is also contemplating a relocation of its corporate offices.
Albemarle spokesperson Ashley Mendoza says the company is “evaluating the best strategic fit for our businesses and locations, including our corporate headquarters.”
Mendoza says the evaluation process is no secret and that it began last year, when Albemarle announced it had reached a deal to acquire global lithium producer Rockwood Holdings for $6.2 billion.
“No matter what that decision ultimately is, we will have a presence in Baton Rouge, as our process development center will remain in Baton Rouge,” Mendoza says.
In the case of Amedisys, a publicly traded home health care company with 13,000 employees nationwide, moving the executive team to the new satellite office will not be a relocation of the company’s corporate offices, according to company spokesperson Kendra Kimmons. The local 500-employee office will remain the hub of corporate operations.
So why is the company’s top brass—including president and CEO Paul Kusserow—relocating to a bigger city? In part because of the presence of other major health care companies, particularly in Nashville, which is home to the corporate headquarters of several national health care companies. Also a factor: the relative ease of travel in both Nashville in New Orleans, which have airports that serve as hubs for major airlines.
“We need a presence in a hub city so our executives can come and go,” Kimmons says. “That is a reality of the way we work today.”
Kimmons says the company is evaluating offers from the two cities and will decide between them in the new few weeks.
While Albemarle CEO Luke Kissam has previously said running a national corporation out of city with limited air service is a challenge, the major factor in that company’s current decision-making process seems more based on what makes the most strategic sense for the company, given the changes since the Rockwood acquisition.
Mayor Kip Holden could not be reached for comment today, but previously told Daily Report he is aware that Albemarle’s corporate offices may leave. Should such a move happen, however, he does not think it suggests problems with Baton Rouge’s ability to attract corporate headquarters.
“If they leave we might have a vacancy for a while,” Holden told Daily Report in late May. “But here’s the thing: Baton Rouge is so hot right now in terms of people wanting to come, someone else is going to move here before too long.”
Attracting and retaining corporate offices has been a challenge for Baton Rouge. When CB&I acquired The Shaw Group it relocated the company’s top local executives to corporate offices in The Woodlands, Texas. Even homegrown Raising Cane’s, which technically keeps its corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge, conducts the bulk of operations from its Dallas-based offices.
Baton Rouge Area Chamber President and CEO Adam Knapp says Baton Rouge is doing well attracting and retaining companies, adding the company moves cited above each had specific reasons for the decisions they made.
“It is company-specific as to what they need to grow, and every company has a different profile in what drives a decision as where they are going to have their core team,” Knapp says. “What we know the core issues are that Baton Rouge has as challenges in terms of attracting corporate offices are K-12 and the ability for talent to access different markets or use airport services.”
—Stephanie Riegel
