Atlanta’s SunTrust to merge with BB&T, shift HQ to Charlotte (Dallas: 2015, houses)

[Mutiny77]

Cities commonly lose HQs due to acquisitions/mergers and spin-offs. That's why Charlotte itself went from having 9 F500 HQs in 2007 to 6 today (7 when the Honeywell move is completed). I don't think Atlanta has seen much, if any, decline over recent years in the total number of F500 HQs but it just so happens that this particular loss is pretty high-profile.

[Soccernerd]

The grapevine at work is telling me that, in addition to the wholesale banking operations of BB&T/SunTrust, there will be a sizable (1,000 employees) or so regional office that will be merged into the Atlantic Station office.

Unfortately it’s looking like a lot of old timers will have first priority with that. I’d say maybe 10% of current employees are staying here, 30% are moving to Charlotte, 20% are moving to other combined regional offices, and 40% are getting their pink slips in a rolling lay-off schedule. Fortunately, I’ll still have a job for the next three months, but most others aren’t so lucky.

[back2atl]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

The grapevine at work is telling me that, in addition to the wholesale banking operations of BB&T/SunTrust, there will be a sizable (1,000 employees) or so regional office that will be merged into the Atlantic Station office.

Unfortately it’s looking like a lot of old timers will have first priority with that. I’d say maybe 10% of current employees are staying here, 30% are moving to Charlotte, 20% are moving to other combined regional offices, and 40% are getting their pink slips in a rolling lay-off schedule. Fortunately, I’ll still have a job for the next three months, but most others aren’t so lucky.

Man, really feel for y’all. And windycity’s story too. I hate the way this sort of stuff impacts families so much.

I have a good friend waiting to hear about his role too. Wondering if he’ll have to uproot his family to find a new job.

Atlanta will be fine, but I think many are underestimating the short term impact this will have downtown.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

SunTrust Downtown was pretty tense today I found out last week that I’m effectively being laid off, and that I’d have to reapply for the same position in the new combined headquarters.

We already have offers in Dallas that should start at the beginning of June.

Didn’t you just move here?

[Soccernerd]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Didn’t you just move here?

I did which is why it’s difficult.

[Charlotte485]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

The grapevine at work is telling me that, in addition to the wholesale banking operations of BB&T/SunTrust, there will be a sizable (1,000 employees) or so regional office that will be merged into the Atlantic Station office.

Unfortately it’s looking like a lot of old timers will have first priority with that. I’d say maybe 10% of current employees are staying here, 30% are moving to Charlotte, 20% are moving to other combined regional offices, and 40% are getting their pink slips in a rolling lay-off schedule. Fortunately, I’ll still have a job for the next three months, but most others aren’t so lucky.

That seems beyond drastic. I would be shocked if only that remained (of course speaking in terms of 5 years. Companies always say "We are committed to XYZ city" because it takes time to merge anyway.

I would say losing Wachovia to Wells Fargo, Charlotte actually gained a significant amount more jobs due to the merger. But they were literally on the other side of the country and had different strong points. BBT and SunTrust seems to be a merger with lots of synergies and overlap. But in any even, that large of a reduction seems harsh. Although, they did mention their commitment to Winston-Salem more-so than Atlanta has been mentioned.

Originally Posted by poplocker

I think this will impact real estate here as well. Many of these folks live north of town and they'll be moving because there isn't another bank to take them in. The boosters on this board will over look a fact - the reality is Charlotte will pull the best from Atlanta in this case. The people who can will move. That may be the trend going forward that the Nashville/Charlotte higher quality of life and specific industry, takes away from the general and often lower tier that Atlanta has.

The only thing really going for Atlanta now is the movie stuff they did and low cost corporate relocation. Nashville has medical and music and Charlotte owns banking. Atlanta needs to really figure out what it has to differentiate itself. Coca cola and pepsi are so bad off they're calling truce as people stop drinking sugar water. But movies alone won't float an 6 million metro.

I hateeeee this bolded argument. It's literally mentioned non-stop in the Charlotte forums. Charlotte and Atlanta both have strong identities. It's not Mardi Gras or Country Music, but they both have distinct identities.

[Atlanta Scientist]

Originally Posted by poplocker

This town has made some real mistakes through the years and Suntrust doesn't bode well. AT&T was also supposed to be located here. Now instead, tens of thousands have been shipped off to Dallas.

No, the doors to Atlanta won't close. But the future isn't great here. The dynamism and energy of 1990's and 2000's isn't here anymore.

Haha. Atlanta will be alright. It is a big city with more than one industry. No soul searching is needed. Northfolk Southern, a F500 is moving its HQ to Atlanta. NCR relocated to the city proper. There are plenty of companies that are looking to base their regional HQ's here.

[JoeP]

Cities commonly lose HQs due to acquisitions/mergers and spin-offs. That's why Charlotte itself went from having 9 F500 HQs in 2007 to 6 today (7 when the Honeywell move is completed). I don't think Atlanta has seen much, if any, decline over recent years in the total number of F500 HQs but it just so happens that this particular loss is pretty high-profile.

Exactly.

[JoeP]

The only thing really going for Atlanta now is the movie stuff they did and low cost corporate relocation. Nashville has medical and music and Charlotte owns banking. Atlanta needs to really figure out what it has to differentiate itself. Coca cola and pepsi are so bad off they're calling truce as people stop drinking sugar water. But movies alone won't float an 6 million metro.

Since you just joined the forum, some might think that your comments are baiting, trolling or trying to start a city vs city thing.

I hope that's not the case. Anyone here who knows me, knows that I'm no blind cheerleader and am critical of many things about Atlanta and other cities, but if Atlanta is one thing, it's diverse in its economy.

Your comments don't reflect that actually grasp the wide range of companies that are either HQed here are have sizable offices here.

It is true that Charlotte is a big player in banking and Nashville for music, but "medical" is not Nashville's thing, music is.

What does Nashville have in the medical field that would put it beyond Atlanta and Houston in the South (or Dallas)? or Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis and others in the Midwest or any city from Pittsburgh to the Northeastern corridor??

[JoeP]

Nashville is moving on several fronts. Healthcare is a leader for them.

That can be true, but it doesn't make it it's thing and not Atlanta's. That's silly.

The interesting thing about Atlanta is how often people think Atlanta is on par with something, when in reality it lags far behind. Charlotte is a financial services leader and has been for sometime.

Those are two different thoughts.

Nobody disputes Charlotte's significance in the financial services area, though some would argue that it's too dependent on that industry.

On the first point, it's too vague of a claim.

I do not know what Atlanta leads in. It used to be large corporate operations, and maybe that's still true. Some one tried to tell me it was startups, but that was wishful thinking as is often the case here.

So being a top 10 city in Fortune 1000 companies is not a leading thing?

What is? What is the cut off...?