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Meet Cool New Member Logan B. Howard of San Jose Executive Center
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The San Jose Executive Center was founded as the Attorney’s Suite in 1978.
The San Jose Executive Center was founded as the Attorney’s Suite in 1978 inspired by Paul Fegan, known as Fegan Suites in the 70’s area. The San Jose Executive Center has been the only successful executive suite in downtown San Jose and enjoys its rich thirty year heritage.
Why did your company decide to join ABCN?
The San Jose Executive Center recognized that even though it has been successful for thirty years no company or individual can continue to grow and continue to be successful without help, the most valuable common denominator of all success over time is effective help.
Can you tell us about your experience at the Strategic Summit in Huntington Beach?
The Summit exceeded our expectations in every way. We were very impressed with the quality of the program and the quality of the participants and the willing Membership that came to contribute. The panel discussions and presentations were very informative, allowing time for questions and Membership input. The summit was all business with great opportunities to network along with fun evening events to further encourage community among the members. It was a well orchestrated program with industry leaders presenting all areas of operational details, current market trends and industry information that was better than any other program we have ever attended over the years. We are most grateful and thankful for the efforts by all the members of the ABCN association and its Membership.
Have you lowered your asking rents or have you been able to raise them?
Our new competition that recently opened their business center down the street from us has provided us with a challenge. We have faced this before when Paul Fegen, HQ and Rockefeller Group came into the market, and they all closed their doors short of two years. And so with this market anomaly, not necessarily because of it, we have lowered our rates because there is an abundance of sublease space we are competing with.
What motivates you?
Being positive and having the greatest amount of respect for those around me and developing lasting relationships.
What is your proudest accomplishment with San Jose Executive Center?
Sustaining our business for thirty years and the many wonderful relationships and lasting friendships we are honored with. We still have some clients in our office that came to us when we opened thirty years ago. We have had attorney clients that were kids of attorneys we have rented office space to many years ago. I was just honored to give the eulogy of one of my very best friends who was the husband of our CPA who started her office in ours thirty years ago. My proudest accomplishment is the quality of the relationships I have with my clients who I have never viewed as anything other than friends or at the very least people who we can help support their businesses and in turn help them support their families.
Can you tell us something unique about San Jose Executive Center?
Our center manager of 15 years, Mary Jones, was honored by our clients with a surprise trip to Italy for two weeks that they initiated. I cannot think of a higher award than to be honored so generously by those who you serve and be so greatly appreciated. When the market was hit so badly by the dot com fall out most all of Rockefeller’s clients left either closing their doors or going to less expensive office space. We retained most all of our clients even though there was an abundance of high quality space on the market for lesser rates than we were charging including furnishing and equipment left behind for the taking.
What is your business philosophy?
There is a blessing in everything if you look for it. Our greatest trials are often in many instances our greatest blessings. The energy and opportunity to grow comes from all experiences and we again are in a wonderful time of renewal. A blessing I learned from a book given to me by my friend who passed was, “Blessed is he who can laugh at himself for he shall never cease to be amused."
What do you see as the biggest challenge in the industry right now?
Convincing landlords that joint venture lease agreements are the best value for their return on investment, considering business centers rarely move and are truly a sound long term investment. The standard lease agreement paradigm thinking is changing. Landlords are beginning to see our industry and occupancy in their building as more of a partner than a typical tenant. The industry is definitely starting to also morph into more of a virtual business center as more businesses are allowing workers to work from home not needing to heavily invest in branch offices and the strong international growth of overseas commerce expands.
How would you describe the market in San Jose now?
We are seeing a lot of activity due to downsizing businesses and workers be laid off and starting their own businesses.
What should we all know about the market in San Jose and about our clients there?
San Jose has multiple submarkets that each have very distinct and unique attributes. Each area of San Jose will attract a certain kind of business that will not attract another. Each business has to determine who their clients are, where their needs fall. Some clients have very specific needs and take time to understand, others work faster and know what they want right away. The biggest surprise for most clients in San Jose is how fun it is to work downtown and how easy it is to commute in and out.
What can you tell us about your sales and marketing approach?
We ask ourselves three questions: How can we help those who we come in contact with looking for office space and services? What do the potential clients really need and what are they really looking for? Are we really the best choice for them and how can we serve them? If we are a match, we will do whatever it takes to help that client. If we are not a match, we will do whatever we can to help counsel them and provide them with effective resources to help them attain what they need, whether it is leasing with us or not.
Which service do you think has the most potential for you?
The service we haven’t thought of yet that everyone needs.
What type of clients do you attract?
Those that we can serve best looking for quality office space, competent staff and are budget minded. We do not offer low prices disguised as real numbers to operate an office. We mostly look for long term relationships but are certainly willing to provide services on a shot term basis at reasonable rates.
On the personal side, please tell us about your outside interests.
Sharing as much time as possible with my wife - the love of my life (blessed with 32 years of marriage), as well as spending time with my three children, including Melissa, who works with me in our main office. I also enjoy traveling everywhere, deep sea fishing, and lake fishing.
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