The company had planned to relocate its corporate headquarters to its new St. Paul location at 401 Robert St. North and begin occupying its new space at the end of 2001. The consulting firm said the terms of the deal were contingent upon maintaining certain employment numbers, which it did not.
"The impact of the economic downturn affected more clients than anticipated," says Lowell Hellervik, chairman and chief executive officer of PDI. "PDI will continue to grow, but in the current economy, our headcount will remain well below the level we projected when we began searching for a new location."
As a result, the company expects its current space will accommodate its needs for the next several years. The firm's largest groups of employees are split between two buildings in Minneapolis, and instead of adding a third location, the company had been enticed to consolidate in St. Paul. Now, rather than buy out those leases, which run out in 2003, PDI now will stay in that space over the near term.
The news surprised city officials in St. Paul, who had promised a $1.5 million loan to PDI that would have been forgiven if the firm met job targets.
Hellervik said the decision had nothing to do with lease negotiations with Minnesota Life who, he said, "made a good faith effort to accommodate our needs, adjusting to our changing requirements."
Privately held PDI has 29 worldwide offices -- including about 35 people in a division housed in St. Paul's World Trade Center -- and had estimated 2000 revenues of $99 million.
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