he corporate real estate industry abounds with experts in construction, development, facilities management, transaction management, project management, and lease management, to name just a few areas. And, as companies increasingly focus on their core processes, there is a greater appeal to turn to third-party vendors to perform real estate services, with cost reduction often a main objective.

Lauth Property Group performed design, construction and development work for 65 additional dock doors and 2,000 sq. ft. of offices at this Yellow Roadway Corp. complex in Wheeling, Ill., one of several projects Lauth has completed for the firm.

      In the fall of 2002, Ernst & Young released "Corporate Real Estate Outsourcing: 10 Years Later Survey," which stated that, in addition to cost cutting, companies are pursuing a "broad strategic agenda through outsourcing." The study reported that companies' goals in outsourcing projects include:

• Focus on core competencies
• Align real estate with
  business units
• Reduce cycle time
• Tap the provider's brainpower
• Access the provider's technology
• Leverage buying power
• Reduce headcount
• Free up capital
  
• Mitigate risk

      The Ernst & Young report also said that the total outsourcing market, which includes information technology and business process outsourcing, will grow at a 19-percent annual rate until 2005, topping $260 billion. Here's a closer look at some of today's top companies responsible for forming close partnerships with such clients as Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Yellow Transportation, and Humana, Inc.

      John Correia, vice president of New England Operations for UNICCO® Service Company, says that he and his team often work with companies to transform them from a cost center to a profit center. "We provide technology and tools to help a company perform its job and make its work force more efficient," he notes. "We become an extension of our clients during our long-term partnerships, so it is important that we understand their business cultures from the start. Once we know our client's business, we provide integrated facility services from full operations and maintenance of buildings to performing minor construction or managing the construction process, to overseeing energy services and janitorial services, to providing engineering."
      Correia says that the first step in the outsourcing process is to evaluate the program that a client currently has in-house, evaluating costs, issues, and challenges. Next, Correia and his team help the client benchmark the current programs, then they proceed through site and service evaluations and come up with a service solution recommendation. There are a number of proprietary programs UNICCO uses to track its programs including its myUNICCO.com customer portal, UNI-Q® palmtop inspection system, best-of-breed computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), eProcurement, and 24x7x365 national call center.
      UNICCO Service Company is one of North America's largest Integrated Facilities Services companies. The privately-held company has over 55 years of facilities outsourcing experience and has increased sales every year since its inception with $700 million in annualized revenues. With 19,000 employees and an industry-leading 95-percent customer retention rate, UNICCO offers maintenance, operations, engineering, cleaning, lighting and administrative/office services for multi-tenant and corporate office, education, retail, public venue, industrial, and government facilities.
      In July 2004, Eckerd College selected UNICCO to provide facilities services for its campus buildings and grounds. UNICCO's responsibilities include custodial and maintenance services for the buildings, as well as landscaping and maintenance of sports fields and facilities, including the waterfront. In addition, UNICCO provides energy management and recycling services and oversees some construction and renovation projects.
      UNICCO brings a strong record of achievement in higher education to the college. It provides services to Nova Southeastern University, Tulane University, University of Alabama, University of Miami and dozens of other colleges and universities. It also boasts a strong presence in Florida. In addition to its higher education accounts, contracts with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami International Airport, and several commercial customers in Florida and the Southeast are managed from UNICCO's regional headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
      In other UNICCO news, in May 2004, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), the state organization that owns and operates the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, the Springfield Civic Center, and the soon-to-open Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC), awarded UNICCO a $3 million three-plus-three-year contract to provide janitorial and meeting setup services. The value of the contract could increase as additional tradeshows are booked into the facilities.       "We are pleased to have UNICCO as a major service provider to the many clients, exhibitors, and patrons who will visit the Boston Convention facilities," stated Nicholas Langella, General Manager, Boston Properties, in a company press release. "We are extremely confident that the experience, expertise, and resources that UNICCO provides to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority will play a key role in the successful opening of the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center."