Firm's Move To Norfolk Will Create 235 New Jobs

Firm's Move To Norfolk Will Create 235 New Jobs

Shipping Company To Relocate Headquarters To Hampton Roads From New York City

by Christopher Dinsmore
The Virginian-Pilot [Norfolk, Virginia newspaper]
April 3, 2001

Norfolk scored a major economic development victory Monday, taking a corporate headquarters from New York City.

With great glee, Gov. Jim Gilmore confirmed Monday that the North American headquarters of Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd., the world's ninth-largest shipping company, will be moving to Norfolk from New York.

Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc. will be relocating from the 16th floor of the World Trade Center I in Manhattan to a new $6.2 million building in the Lake Wright Executive Center.

The company expects to open its new building by Sept. 4 and will eventually employ 235 people with an average annual salary of at least $35,000 in Norfolk.

"While many other shipping companies have moved across the river to New Jersey, Zim looked nationally for the location best meeting our long-term business needs," said Shaul Cohen-Mintz, Zim-American's president, in a statement. "Norfolk emerged as an extremely attractive location."

Gilmore and other state officials visited Norfolk on Monday afternoon to make the announcement in the Town Point Club at Norfolk's World Trade Center. Gilmore delivered a $100,000 check from his opportunity fund to the city to be spent on site preparation for the company's new building.

The Gee's Group is building a 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot building at the Lake Wright park for Zim-American.

"Adding this corporate headquarters is just one more jewel in the crown of this great city," said Barry Duval, Virginia's secretary of commerce and trade.

Citing reports of a possible new Maersk-Sealand terminal in Portsmouth, the planned $61million expansion of Metro Machine Corp., growing cruise ship calls at Nauticus and "now this," Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim said, "I think it says what a great place this is to do business."

Zim-American plans to transfer 30 to 35 executives and department heads to Norfolk and hire locally to fill other positions at the headquarters, said Nadav Kaplan, Zim-American's project manager for the relocation.

Kaplan said Zim-American began looking to move its headquarters in December 1999, starting with 129 cities. Norfolk was a finalist along with Houston and Richmond. Norfolk emerged as the victor after a February tour of the finalists by executives of the Israeli shipping company, he said.

Kaplan cited Hampton Roads' "talented work force" and cost of living as key factors in the company's decision.

"The availability of trained people here is unique," said Kap-lan, citing the large numbers of exiting military personnel. "We were sure the best people could be recruited, hired and retained here."

Norfolk also offered a vital "cultural fit" for Zim, Kaplan said.

"The whole community pulled together for this," said Keith A. Norden, vice president of marketing for the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance.

Norden particularly credited the region's Jewish community leaders and arts and cultural leaders for assistance.

Zim-American is transferring all of its key functions to Norfolk, including marketing, accounting and information systems.

"We stayed more than 25 years at the same building in New York," Kaplan said. "Our plans regarding Norfolk are much longer."

Founded in 1945, the shipping line got its start carrying about 1million Jewish refugees from Europe to Israel. It has since grown into the world's ninth-largest shipper, with 84 ships.

The line has been calling in Hampton Roads since 1985. It operates a South American service that calls in Norfolk and cooperates with China Ocean Shipping Co. on a service to Asia via the Mediterranean Sea.

Zim, which is 48.6 percent owned by the Israeli government, had $1.8 billion in shipping related revenue last year.

The company's relocation to Norfolk will have ripple effects throughout Hampton Roads. Not only will it boost Norfolk's tax base, but it will add to the number of highly compensated workers in the region, which helps home and retail sales and charitable organizations.

Laura Ross, a relocation specialist with William E. Wood & Associates Realtors, is working with the company to help it bring its key employees from New York City to Hampton Roads.

"Our job is to partner with the company to get their key people here," Ross said. "If we sell a few homes in the process, that's good too."

Development officials in Norfolk have been targeting maritime-related businesses for some time, playing off the region's position as the East Coast's second-largest port.

"Norfolk is the ideal location for just this type of operation," said Roderick S. Woolard, Norfolk's development director. "This deal marries a strategic asset, Norfolk International Terminals, to a North American headquarters operation."

"It announces that Norfolk is a place for corporate headquarters within the maritime trade," Woolard said. "Now that we've got No. 9, we can go after the others. These companies do tend to cluster. We're actively recruiting several more."

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