CHICAGO-Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co., based in Princeton, NJ, has hired a former Grubb & Ellis staffer to open its first Midwest office here. The company specializes in helping corporations make location decisions, and assisting local and state jurisdictions with attracting these firms.

Jay Biggins, executive managing director, said in a statement that the firm is growing its Midwestern client base. The company hired Tracey Hyatt Bosman, former director of strategic consulting with Grubb here, to lead the local office.

Bosman has an economic development background with Lake County Partners in the Chicago area and with the South Carolina Department of Commerce. She also served as co-leader of Grubb’s national Clean Energy Practice Group and was a member of the national Data Center Practice Group.

Biggins’ most recent work includes assisting Prescription Solutions with a new fulfillment center in Overland Park, KS; Avon to open a warehouse in Zanesville, OH, Citicorp to open a data center in Ohio and Mead Johnson to move from Evansville, IN to Glenview, IL for a new headquarters. Bosman tells GlobeSt.com that the Midwest, though seen as a secondary market, is attractive to a lot of companies. “There are many clients that the Midwest is perfect for,” she says. “The manufacturing sector, though it has seen some transition, is still a strong sector for the Midwest. Also, companies like the region because it is central to the country, to be able to move product better, and there’s a competitive cost structure.”

She says data centers are also locating in the Midwest because of the lack of possible natural disasters that hit the coasts, such as hurricanes and earthquakes. “Data centers are popular today because even as the economy struggles, people want to eat and use their electronics,” Bosman says. Biggins has another satellite office in New York City.

Instant Insights /

Biggins Lacy Opens Chicago Office

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