(The Florida Times-Union posted the following article by Christopher Calnan on its website on February 25.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Corp., the parent company of Jacksonville’s CSX Transportation, announced today that it was moving its headquarters from Richmond, Va., to Jacksonville as it focuses more on its railroad.
The news came after months of speculation and less than four weeks after CSXT president Michael Ward replaced John Snow as chairman and chief executive officer of CSX. Snow was appointed Treasury secretary by President Bush in January.
Although CSX, a Fortune 500 company, is based in Richmond, its core business, operating the nation’s third-largest railroad, is done by CSXT. CSX was more of a transportation holding company in past years. But it has since sold off most of its non-railroad divisions.
“As a result, we no longer need a central location for our holding company, and it makes business sense to locate the corporate headquarters in the same city as the major operating unit, CSX Transportation,” Ward said today in a written news release.
CSX set up its office in Richmond about 23 years ago as a compromise between its two predecessor companies, Cleveland’s Chessie System Inc. and Jacksonville’s Seaboard Coast Line Industries Inc. Industry analysts have long speculated that the corporate office would move to Jacksonville after Snow stepped down from the top job.
About 5,100 CSX employees work in the Jacksonville area, 50 work in Richmond.
CSX’s relocation marks the second Fortune 500 company to base itself in Jacksonville. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. is currently the only Fortune 500 company based in Jacksonville. It’s No. 160 on the list; CSX is No. 238.
In practical terms, CSX’s relocation may be largely uneventful, city and industry observers have said, because the company is already well-invested in the Jacksonville community.
But there’s an intangible benefit to the move. Officials have said corporate headquarters are good recruiting tools for attracting other businesses.
Such moves have helped other railroads, such as Union Pacific and Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, said Richmond consultant Ted Prince.
“The railroads became stronger,” he said. “Senior managers are at the scene of the action.”
The relocation announcement came just one week after Jacksonville International Airport officials agreed to a plan for CSX to build a hangar at the airport and move the aircraft it operates out of Richmond to JIA.
At the time, CSX spokesman Adam Hollingsworth said the move had nothing to do with relocating the CSX corporate offices.
Last May, CSXT removed the “transportation” from its sign atop the company’s Water Street building. A company official said the change was made to save money on maintenance.