Expert Tips for a Simple & Seamless Alaska Office Relocation

Office relocations can be complex. Alaska’s challenging weather conditions and rugged landscape can layer on extra complexity, giving you even more reasons to trust your office move to experienced professionals.

In this guide, we’ll offer the insights you need for a simple and seamless Alaska office relocation. We’ll show you what to look for when choosing an Alaska office relocation provider, as well as expert tips to pave the way for a smooth move.

Alaska Office Relocation Challenges

Office moves aren’t as simple as packing a few boxes, strapping them to a dolly, and securing them in a truck. Managing an office relocation requires you to consider things like:

• What kind of specialized and/or sensitive equipment needs to be transported, including computers, servers, printers, photocopying machines, and any industry-specific equipment or machinery?
• What furniture and furnishings need to be disassembled and reassembled?
• Does your office contain sensitive and/or confidential documents and records that need special handling?
• How will you deal with debris and office furniture you intend to discard?

Additionally, the entire move requires careful coordination to minimize disruption to your business’s normal operations.

Circumstances in Alaska can make these moves even more challenging.

Alaska winter weather and spring breakup can present challenges for even expert moving teams. As a result, many business owners prefer to move during Alaska’s summer months, which means busy calendars and advance planning to secure your ideal dates.

Additionally, many Alaska locations can present access challenges, which mean the moving team has to plan carefully to ensure safe transport for all of your office furniture, furnishings, and equipment.

For all these reasons, it’s critical that you choose your Alaska office moving company carefully. In the next section, we’ll talk about what to look for.

5 Key Factors to Consider When Choosing an Alaska Office Relocation Provider

Office Relocation Tip: Ask the office moving provider you’re interviewing whether they have experience with common office furniture brands such as Hahn, Herman Miller, Steelcase, Hayworth, and Knoll. This will give them the range to assist on a variety of furnishings without having to spend time learning on the job.

Heavy Items and Specialty Equipment

If your office has specialty equipment, sensitive equipment, or just particularly heavy items, an office mover with experience in these areas means greater peace of mind. It can also mean a simpler, all-in-one solution, instead of hiring a specialty mover for your equipment.

Debris Removal

Office relocations generate a significant amount of trash and debris, including packing material and unwanted furnishings needing disposal. An office relocation provider willing to assist with debris removal and furniture disposal will save you from having to hire a second provider to manage this aspect of your move.

Storage Solutions

If the timeline for getting into your new location changes—or there’s a gap between your leases—secure storage facilities can be a lifesaver.

Access to storage can also be crucial in case of the unexpected, such as if your new furniture and furnishings arrive early—or there’s a water leak in your new office space. Even the most carefully orchestrated move can go sideways for reasons out of your control. A provider with warehouse space can save the day.

Insurance is a must to protect your assets during your office relocation. You’ll also want to inquire whether your provider is willing to provide a certificate of insurance prior to the relocation. A COI confirms the insurance coverage in place and facilitate the claims process, should any damage occur during the move. Insist on working with a provider who’s properly insured—with the paperwork to prove it. 

Downtime is a challenge for every business. That’s why it’s important to find an office relocation provider willing to work off-hours. As you interview office moving companies, ask about their availability to work nights, weekends, and/or holidays.  

If clients regularly visit your location, you may want uniformed staff to execute your move. A polished, professional moving team will, in turn, keep your business looking polished and professional to clients and any other businesses around you.

5 Tips to Ensure a Smooth Office Relocation

Finally, we’ve got five tips from the pros to help make sure your office move is as simple and efficient as possible.

Office moves are a team sport. Bring all of your office staff together at the very start of the project to let them know what’s happening—and get their buy-in. Explain why you’re moving, what benefits the new location will offer, and outline your expectations for how they’ll assist. For example, will they be expected to pack their own workstations? Will they need to pitch in on common spaces?

Don’t forget to lay out the timeline and keep your team updated throughout the project. With everyone working together, you’ll enjoy a much smoother move.

In Alaska, timing is everything. Although professional movers can handle a number of scenarios, it’s not pleasant to move during the Alaska winter. At certain locations, spring breakup can also present some challenges. Of course, everyone wants to move during Alaska’s best seasons, so schedule your move early to get first pick of dates. 

Internet and phone lines are crucial for keeping your business running. You don’t want to arrive at your new office space to find your business cut off from the outside world. Instead, make sure you put together a plan that covers:

• Shutting off service at your current location.
• Establishing accounts and start dates at your new location.
• Purchasing any new equipment needed for your new space.
• A timeline for any upgrades or infrastructure so everything is in place before you move into your new space.

And don’t forget the rest of your utilities! Make sure you’ve communicated your move to your utility providers to ensure uninterrupted service.

Finally, don’t forget about all the people and businesses that need to know your new address. Make sure to update your:

• Clients, including any details of your new physical location, such as parking instructions
• The US Postal Service (Start here!)
• Your bank and any other financial institutions you work with
• Insurance providers, who may need to requote some of your policies
• Local, state and federal tax agencies
• Professional associations and other organizations your company belongs to
• Magazines or publications you subscribe to
• Your website, Google business profile, email signatures, business cards, and letterhead (as applicable)

Paving the Way for a Smooth Alaska Office Move

Every office relocation comes with its own set of moving parts, all of which require careful coordination. With the right Alaska office move provider at your side—and these tips—you’ll be well on your way to a simple, efficient relocation.

Looking for an experienced Alaska office relocation partner for your move? Our expert commercial moving team would love to assist with a safe, stress-free move. Just reach out to our team for a complimentary quote to get started.