N.C. Research Campus Selects CORT as Preferred Rental Furniture Partner
Posted: 11-03-2009 : FAIRFAX, VA & KANNAPOLIS, N.C.

FAIRFAX, Va. and KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – As university researchers and businesses from around the world embark on scientific discoveries in health and nutrition at the N.C. Research Campus, CORT is providing the flexibility and cost savings afforded by renting furniture for homes and offices.

The N.C. Research Campus has selected CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway company, as the preferred provider of rental furniture.

The research campus is a public-private collaboration among businesses and North Carolina’s public and private universities, including UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and Duke University. The research campus is a hub for worldwide experts leading groundbreaking research in biotechnology, health, nutrition and agriculture.

“Working with CORT provides businesses opening offices on the campus with the flexibility to rent office furniture,” said Clyde Higgs, vice president of business development at the N.C. Research Campus. “Rental furniture for homes can also be an ideal solution for scientists and other workers on temporary assignments. We are proud to recommend CORT for furniture rental as a preferred partner.”

Businesses and facility managers across the nation have partnered with CORT, the nation’s only national furniture rental provider, over the past four decades for flexible management of furniture inventory. Furniture has not traditionally been considered a strategic investment, yet as facility management is increasingly recognized as an integral component of a business’ strategy, many businesses are realizing that renting furniture to meet some or all of their needs can be a wise option from a financial and operational perspective.

“We help businesses establish temporary or permanent offices quickly and adjust their inventory of furniture to fit their needs,” said Ron Steinbrink, district general manager in CORT’s Charlotte office. “We also know that researchers and scientists from around the world travel to the N.C. Research Campus for temporary assignments, and we provide a broad range of solutions, including furniture rental, to ease those transitions for employees and their families.”

CORT has also developed the nation’s first and most comprehensive suite of assignment and rental relocation services. CORT is leveraging its core strengths in the rapid deployment and management of rental furniture, rental housing locating and destination-area services to empower the world’s mobile workforce, especially those on an assignment. CORT’s local expertise and deep community relationships enables the company to offer business managers and their employees solutions that reduce costs and ease the transition to a new location.

One of the biggest expenditures for employees on an assignment is furnished housing, and CORT provides companies and their employees with an abundance of flexible furnished housing alternatives. Making the right choice between extended stay hotels, corporate housing or rental apartments can potentially save thousands of dollars. For example, short-term apartments or rental homes should be considered for assignments lasting more than 3 months

CORT operates an online apartment search service, ApartmentSearch.com, and is the nation’s leading provider of local market orientation tours. CORT’s certified touring specialists help introduce employees to a new community and can help them find a place to live that best meet their needs, including a neighborhood that suits their lifestyle and their family if necessary.

In addition, CORT’s suite of destination services can simplify the transition, including help with utility connection services, renter’s insurance, and furniture and car rentals. Destination services for employees from other countries help address many of the steps necessary for a successful assignment, ranging from assistance obtaining a driver’s license or opening a bank account to training on how to use United States appliances.

About CORT
For more than 35 years, CORT has been a leading provider in rental furniture and has provided services to more than 80 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. CORT’s national and international reach enables companies to address every furniture need seamlessly at any location with one phone call and ensure that furniture can be delivered and set up within 48 hours. CORT has offices in every major U.S. market and a global furniture rental network of affiliates in more than 50 countries. For more information about CORT, visit www.cort.com.

About NC Research Campus
The North Carolina Research Campus is a developing public-private, 350 acre life sciences hub in Kannapolis, N.C. involving David H. Murdock, Duke University, the University of North Carolina, the N.C. Community College System and other institutions of higher education and corporations.

Media Contact Amanda Denton Manna (for CORT)
(919) 459-6456
amanda@largemouthpr.com

Phyllis Beaver, NCRC Director of Marketing
(704) 250-5436
pbeaver@castlecooke.com