ALTIA BUSINESS PARK

The road to Altia Business Park in San Pedro Sula, Honduras is quite memorable. On one side of the road are gated communities with small, but neatly maintained stucco houses. On the other side of the road is a small river with clear running water. One bank of the river is covered with tightly-cramped shanties.

Further down the road towers a thirteen story monolith in black glass. This is the home of Altia Business Park, a technological park developed by Grupo Karims, a multinational corporation with core businesses in textiles and real estate and operations in Asia, North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The building is anti-seismic and Leed Certified, which means that it follows green building practices.

It is energy self-sufficient and connected to North and South America through three fiber optic submarine cables. The building is the first of two that will comprise the Business Park. On a recent visit, the Corporate Marketing Director, Barbara Rivera, guided an American student group through the marbled halls of the building. She introduced Marcus, who was a manager in the call center in the building.

Marcus explained that call center business, especially to North America, was picking up. He was born and raised in the U.S. and graduated from the University of Maryland. Since he couldn't find work in the U.S. upon graduation, he moved to Honduras where he has family. Barbara also introduced Lena, a 20-something professional, who spoke to the visiting group in perfect English, complete with current idioms. Lena had recently graduated from a university in Honduras with a Masters degree in graphical design. She said this degree was very helpful in managing the room full of graphic designers working for the company that maintains the Web site for Sandal's Resorts.

Barbara told the visitors that the average salary of the workers in the companies in the Business Park was $4,800 a year33 and people were eager to get the jobs because of the excellent pay in a country where 65% of the population lives below the poverty line. The country has a literacy rate of 84.3% and 47% of the employable workforce between the ages of 20 and 34, so the competition for good jobs can be fierce. Honduras actually has more English speakers as a proportion of population than the average Central American economy.

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss offshoring from the perspective of potential workers in your country. Discuss offshoring from the perspective of potential workers in Honduras.

2. Barbara Rivera is marketing Altia Business Park as a nearshoring site to companies in North America. What characteristics make it a desirable nearshoring site to companies in North America?

3. Is this a good idea to market Altia Business Park as a nearshoring site to people in North America? Why or why not?