AllRegs double-books
cubicles to cut
office space needs
A new lease for AllRegs in Eagan, publisher of mortgage reference information and forms, includes less space than it would otherwise need because people are double-booked into some of the cubicles.
“Using 36 cubicle spaces I designed space for 50,” says Jeff Hoerster, president and chief operating officer.
One department will come in Mondays and Tuesdays, and its staff meetings will be scheduled then. Another department will come in Thursdays and Fridays, for example. They’ll use home offices the rest of the time.
He’s taking 7,400 square feet total for the new lease, including more conference space than in the old 4,900- square-foot lease. Figuring 170 square feet per person, he thinks he would have had to lease 9,200 square feet without the double-booking concept.
“So I’m saving about 2,000 square feet, at $14 a square feet, that’s $28,000 a year,” he says.
More important than the savings, he says, is the fact that he’s been able to attract many employees who enjoy the flexible arrangement. He has employees as far away as Maple Plain and Andover.
“If they had to make the commute five days a week they wouldn’t work here,” he says. “We’ve been able to attract a far greater level of talent.”
The company has had a remote work force for about two years, but with the new arrangement he’s formalizing certain policies.
For example, employees have the choice of using AllRegs’ equipment or their own, but if they use AllRegs’ they can use it only for work. Employees pay for their high-speed broadband access at home, with the idea being they’ll save money on commuting costs.
Workers' comp applies at home. He insists on a professional working environment there, too. “Not a laptop in the kitchen when the kids come home from school,” he says. And of course only certain positions lend themselves to working from home.
“The employees recognize that it’s a huge benefit,” he says.
Hoerster says AllRegs is growing. “We’ve been the exclusive publisher of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac content for some time,” he says, referring to the mortgage giants. “We’ve extended that to other mortgage lenders.”
Jeff Hoerster, AllRegs: 651.289.4851;jhoerster@allregs.com; www.allregs.com
