IEM moving headquarters from B.R. to North Carolina

IEM, the Baton Rouge-based disaster management consulting firm, is moving its headquarters to North Carolina and taking at least 50 employees. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue made the announcement this morning, saying that IEM plans to hire 430 new jobs in the state over the next six years. In a statement, Madhu Beriwal, CEO of IEM, says the company was attracted to the Research Triangle of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., because of “its highly educated workforce, history of innovation, and culture of public and private collaboration.” IEM has about 200 employees in Baton Rouge, about 50 of those were involved in headquarters support. The remaining workers are handling contracts for the company, they will be given an option to move to North Carolina or stay in Baton Rouge, says Ted Lemcke, vice president for technology. “We are not planning on closing our Baton Rouge office,” he says. Lemcke says IEM had been looking at moving its headquarters in order to grow the business. “We had challenges with the workforce,” says Lemcke, noting that IEM needs a large number of workers with graduate degrees. By being near three large universities, that increases the pool of available workers. Lemcke says the move also put IEM closer to its main customer base, federal government offices on the East Coast. IEM was promised state tax breaks of up to $9 million if it meets job and investment targets. Local governments in North Carolina are also expected to sweeten the deal for IEM. Lemcke says the incentives weren’t the main reason for IEM’s relocation. “This was the best place to meet our growth plan,” he says. In a statement, Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, says city and state officials worked for more than a year to keep IEM’s headquarters in Baton Rouge, crafting an “unprecedented retention package” that included financial incentives and an aggressive plan to address workforce concerns.” While IEM’s decision is disappointing, we have continued to see other headquarters move or commit to remaining in the region, such as Albemarle Corporation, the Shaw Group and Bercen,” says Knapp. “This company’s decision should reinforce our goals that, as a region and state, we must continue to foster a culture built on innovation, whether it be in R&D, entrepreneurial development, education or workforce development.”