BLS & Co.

What BLS & Co. does

BLS & Co. (legal name Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co.) is a privately held, Princeton, New Jersey-headquartered boutique consulting firm founded in 1998 that advises corporate clients on complex location decisions under its trademarked Location Economics® methodology. The firm serves Fortune 500 and other large enterprises across at least ten verticals, including life sciences, manufacturing, financial services, data centers/mission critical, e-commerce, automotive, food and beverage, consumer products, power and energy, and real estate redevelopment. Core service lines are Site Selection, Incentives Advisory, Energy Services (delivered through wholly-owned subsidiary Sugarloaf Associates), and Redevelopment, supported by Labor Market Analysis, Business Case Analysis, and a publicly searchable State/Provincial Incentives Database covering the U.S. and Canada.

The firm's service offering rests on multi-disciplinary teams comprising attorneys, planners, engineers, tax experts, and finance professionals, with marquee engagements that include Eli Lilly (>$8B in planned investment across U.S. and European facilities), Bristol-Myers Squibb ($750M biologics facility), Citigroup (>$1B capital deployment across multiple states, $121M in incentives), Prudential (>$300M Newark redevelopment), Panasonic (LEED Gold Newark HQ), QVC, Subaru, Colgate-Palmolive, Florida Power & Light, DTCC, BNY Mellon, Royal Bank of Scotland, and MycoWorks. The technology layer is anchored by a registered trademark (Location Economics®) plus the firm's stated use of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and geographically-informed models to support site selection and labor market analysis, although AI depth is not substantiated by disclosed proprietary models or hires.

BLS & Co. generates revenue through fee-based, project-driven professional services engagements (with retainer arrangements for ongoing advisory), sold exclusively via direct enterprise field sales and senior-leadership engagement rather than through digital or partner channels. The firm operates from four U.S. offices (Princeton, New York, Chicago, Bay Area) and extends international reach through strategic partnerships with Location Decisions (Europe) and Tractus Asia (Asia), supported by multilingual content in eight languages. Ownership remains with the named Managing Directors — Jay Biggins (Executive Managing Director), Joe Lacy, Andrew Shapiro, and Tracey Hyatt Bosman — with no disclosed external funding, parent company, or M&A activity.

Name

BLS & Co.

Legal name

Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co.

Website

https://blsstrategies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

BLS & Co. is a private, Princeton-based boutique consulting firm that advises Fortune 500 and large enterprises on site selection, incentives negotiation, energy services, and redevelopment through its trademarked Location Economics® methodology. It operates across ten-plus industry verticals from four U.S. offices with international reach via partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Princeton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Consulting Services: BLS & Co. generates revenue through fee-based consulting engagements for site selection, incentives advisory, energy services, and redevelopment projects. Services are customized to client needs and typically structured as project-based or retainer arrangements for ongoing advisory relationships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

BLS & Co. is a boutique consulting firm that advises corporations on complex business location decisions through its trademarked Location Economics® methodology. The firm sells four core services: Site Selection, Incentives Advisory, Energy Services (delivered through affiliate Sugarloaf Associates), and Redevelopment—helping enterprise clients identify optimal facility locations, negotiate state and local tax incentives, evaluate energy and utility infrastructure, and reposition real estate assets.

Product overview

BLS & Co. (Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co.) is a consulting firm offering site selection and economic development advisory services built around its proprietary Location Economics® methodology. The core service portfolio includes Site Selection (helping companies identify optimal locations for facilities ranging from headquarters to data centers), Incentives Advisory (identifying, structuring, negotiating, and administering economic development incentives), Energy Services (utility assessment, procurement, and renewable energy solutions through its Sugarloaf Associates affiliate), and Redevelopment (land use strategies and community engagement for property repositioning). Supporting these core offerings are specialized capabilities in Labor Market Analysis, Business Case Analysis, and a State/Provincial Incentives Database. The firm serves clients across industries including automotive, aerospace, consumer products, data centers, e-commerce, financial services, food & beverage, IT, life sciences, manufacturing, and power & energy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Site Selection Site selection services helping enterprise companies identify, evaluate, and select optimal locations for operations ranging from headquarters and manufacturing plants to data centers and distribution centers, utilizing sophisticated tools and techniques for location decision-making.
• Incentives Advisory Identification, structuring, negotiation, and administration of economic development incentives including tax credits, grants, and abatement programs at state and local levels to optimize the financial performance of corporate location decisions.
• Energy Services Energy procurement and assessment services including utility infrastructure analysis, reliability assessment, cost analysis, renewable energy installation, and power/natural gas contract negotiation, delivered through affiliate Sugarloaf Associates.
• Redevelopment Land use and community engagement strategies helping companies and institutions navigate complex property redevelopment, rezoning, and repositioning to add value for communities and landowners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Citigroup: >$1 billion capital investment facilitated, 4,900+ jobs, $121 million in state/local incentives secured
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Sugarloaf AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSugarloaf Associates is BLS & Co.'s energy services affiliate providing over 100 years of combined utility industry experience. The partnership offers comprehensive energy procurement and assessment services including utility infrastructure analysis, reliability assessment, energy optimization, and solar/renewables installation. Sugarloaf also operates the Qualified Data Center Site Certification program identifying sites with reliable power, redundant fiber, and competitive costs.
• Tractus AsiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership enabling BLS & Co. to serve clients in Asia with specific working knowledge, government and business contacts, and labor force and business climate insights. The partnership extends BLS & Co.'s global reach for site selection and incentives advisory projects in Asian markets.
• Location DecisionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean strategic partner providing BLS & Co. with resources for specific working knowledge, government and business contacts, and labor force and business climate insights in European markets. Enables comprehensive site selection services across Europe.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle): Global real estate services firm with a corporate location strategy practice. Comparable on enterprise site selection and incentives advisory as part of integrated real estate solutions.
• CBRE Group: Global commercial real estate services firm offering location advisory and incentives services as part of a much broader portfolio. Overlaps with BLS on enterprise site selection but does not specialize in BLS's niche.
• Cushman & Wakefield: Global commercial real estate services firm providing location strategy and incentives advisory to enterprise clients. Broad incumbent offering overlapping capabilities with BLS across its core verticals.
• Deloitte Consulting: Global consulting firm with location strategy and economic development incentives practices serving large enterprises. Significantly larger scale than BLS with broader service portfolio but overlapping enterprise clients.
• EY-Parthenon: Strategy consulting arm of EY with location strategy and real estate advisory capabilities serving large enterprises. Comparable in Fortune 500 client focus but operates as part of a much broader strategy practice.
• Newmark Group: Commercial real estate services firm with corporate location advisory capabilities serving enterprise clients. Comparable in enterprise site selection scope, though broader in service offering.
• KPMG (Economic Development & Location Advisory): Big Four advisory firm with site selection and incentives services within its broader consulting practice. Comparable enterprise focus but vastly larger scale and broader service breadth.

Direct peers

• Ginovus: Site selection and incentives negotiation firm with deep focus on U.S. economic development incentives. Directly comparable to BLS's Incentives Advisory practice and overlapping Fortune 500 client base.
• The Boyd Company: Site selection and corporate location advisory firm serving large corporate clients on headquarters and facility location decisions. Comparable boutique scale and direct overlap with BLS's core Site Selection service.
• McCallum Sweeney Consulting: Specialty site selection and incentives advisory firm serving corporate clients on complex location decisions. Directly comparable to BLS in service scope, customer base (large enterprise), and niche positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/blsandcompany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/biggins-lacy-shapiro-&-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BLS & Co.