BusinessCoordinating the big Blue move
This is the week health insurer moves into new headquarter
By Matt Glynn NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 08/05/07 5:08 AM
Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News
BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and parent HealthNow New York will occupy their new 469,000-square-foot headquarters building this week.
Move 1,300 employees and consultants, equipment and files downtown into a new office complex in the span of a week. In the meantime, keep everything at the company running smoothly so that customers don’t notice a difference.
That is a simple explanation of the complicated process BlueCross Blue- Shield of Western New York is going through this week.
Derek Gee/Buffalo News
Sylvia Tokasz is the BlueCross BlueShield executive coordinating the company’s relocation to its new $110 million downtown headquarters. “It really took a team to pull this off,” she said.
The health insurer’s employees have begun moving into the $110 million corporate headquarters along the Niagara Thruway from offices at 1901 Main St. adjacent to Canisius College, as well as some nearby leased space. The downtown project has attracted attention for its size — 469,000 square feet — its cleanup of a former brownfield site, and the fact that it is keeping a major employer in the city.
But the BlueCross BlueShield people most actively involved in coordinating the big move aren’t celebrating just yet. This is the week when all of their careful planning goes into action.
“It really took a team to pull this off,” said Sylvia Tokasz, whom the company made its “move czar.” “Communication was extremely important.”
Some other notable local companies have moved their corporate headquarters recently, giving Blue- Cross BlueShield sources of advice.
New Era Cap Co., which moved to a new headquarters in downtown Buffalo from Derby, found value in choosing a “move czar” from within the company to steer the process. Tokasz shifted into temporary role from her full-time duties last March for BlueCross BlueShield.
National Fuel Gas Co., which went from downtown to Amherst, shared an idea that turned into “refresher days” at BlueCross BlueShield. Employees were encouraged to sort through their files and — following record retention policies — determine what to keep, what to send to long-term storage, and what to dispose of, perhaps in a secure way.
National Fuel also suggested involving employees as much as possible and creating a handbook about the new building for them. BlueCross BlueShield’s version contains floor plans, where to find amenities inside and around the site, and emergency procedures.
Leaders of the move for BlueCross BlueShield say their goal is to keep everyday operations running as smoothly as possible. They will have both buildings operational for a week to provide backup. Cook Moving Systems is responsible for transporting all of the materials from the old site to the new one.
The move is happening in waves, with different departments going on assigned days. According to the plan, employees will box up their items at the end of their designated day, report to the new offices the following work day, and find their new workstations ready.
BlueCross BlueShield announced in late 2004 the preferred site for its new office complex, off West Genesee Street, allowing time for planning. The company involved employee rep-
resentatives in the new-building process, and it extended that approach most recently to naming “move coordinators” from each department.
The coordinators worked with supervisors on areas like assigning work spaces and employees’ needs for space and equipment, said Karen Merkel- Liberatore, a spokeswoman.
Moving so many people and items is a logistical challenge, but BlueCross BlueShield also saw an opportunity to make a fresh start after 20 years at the same address, Tokasz said. A theme she encouraged: “It’s not necessarily what we’ve done in the past, but what we want to do in the future.”
Work spaces in the new complex are laid out differently, with more openness, greater access to natural light, and fewer walled offices. The goal is to encourage more teamwork and communication. Some conference rooms, known as “teaming rooms,” have more of a living room feel, she said.
About 90 percent of the furniture in the new office complex will be new, said Ed White, director of corporate properties and facilities. Among the existing items the company is moving down are furniture from private offices and filing cabinets. Old furniture not making the move from 1901 Main St. will be sold, he said. The old building itself is being acquired by Canisius College to be renovated into a new science center.
Employees had a say in new office chairs. They were given the chance to review several of them and vote on a winner.
The company also switched to some new technology for its data center, which began conducting tests at the new building several weeks ago, said Paul Stoddard, vice president of business information technology systems.
By getting an early start, specialists could trouble-shoot the systems and ensure continuity as other departments made the move, Stoddard said. “We took the approach that the data was the most critical thing.”
BlueCross BlueShield, owned by HealthNow New York, is drawing upon some people experienced in these types of moves. White, the facilities director, was involved in corporate moves in the past at Kodak and HSBC, as well as at a BlueShield of Northeastern New York division near Albany. He has played a role in the new building from the start, and said he entered the process understanding that flexibility would be important.
“I knew space plans would change after we ordered furniture,” he said.
And its mover, Cook Moving Systems, has moved corporate offices for local customers including New Era Cap Co., AAA, and First Niagara Financial Corp. Those were significant projects, but none involved as many employees as BlueCross BlueShield, said Tom Schratz, vice president of corporate sales. And while smaller relocation jobs typically take two or three days, this one would go for more than a week, he said.
Despite the large scope of the move, he credited BlueCross BlueShield with ensuring that its own employees were organized as well as having its office complex set for the move-in. “They’ve done an excellent job making sure the building is prepared,” he said.
Duke Realty of Indianapolis developed the office complex. Drew Sanders, vice president of national development, said the company was pleased with the local cooperation it received from labor unions that kept the project on track so that Blue- Cross BlueShield could move in on time.
“They not only held up their end of the bargain, but they exceeded those expectations,” Sanders said.
Schratz said some 40 people from Cook are working on the move, including relocation specialists, an overall project manager and four site managers. Anywhere from five to 10 Cook trucks will move items each day, depending on how many departments are on the move.
Before long, all of the coordination and moving will be over, and Tokasz and the rest of the people leading the effort will be able to enjoy the new complex’s waterfront perspective.
“The view out of those offices,” Tokasz said, “is just phenomenal.”
mglynn@buffnews.com
© 2007 The Buffalo News.
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