Move to Reno leads to lifestyle change for 4506-Transcripts CEO

Sandra James, chief executive officer of 4506-Transcripts, says moving her company from Walnut Creek, Calif. to west Reno in July already has made a big difference in her personal life.

4506-Transcripts, which provides income verification services through the IRS for mortgage and SBA lenders, banks and employers, leased space at McCarran Boulevard and Mae Anne Avenue and opened July 8. The firm employs two people locally and another eight in Walnut Creek, but James says employment in northern Nevada could reach 40 or more as business ramps up and the firm expand its client base and service offerings.

James says her daughters already have noticed a marked difference in her mom’s approach to the pace of business in the Truckee Meadows versus the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

“It is a little bit different pace for me to be at, which in turn funnels down to them,” James says. “My 15-year-old says I seemed to be not as stressed here.”

James, who purchased a home in Somersett, scouted locations in Las Vegas and Florida, but ultimately chose Reno for a variety of reasons. She will commute between Reno and Walnut Creek to run her other business, Private Eyes, which provides pre-employment screening, background checks, educational verification and drug screening services.

It’s a fairly easily trip between locations, she says, and Reno also has significantly lower operational costs and a large pool of university students that are a good fit for the firm’s back-office operations.

Another primary reason: Reno offers a better work-life balance.

Reed Simmons of Avison Young’s office team assisted 4506-Transcripts with lease negotiations at its new headquarters at 5365 Mae Anne Avenue.

The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada also assisted 4506-Transcripts with its move.

“It is exciting to help companies like 4506-Transcripts understand the many advantages of doing business in the Reno-Sparks community,” says Mike Kazmierski, chief executive officer of EDAWN. “These smaller companies are a great fit for our region, and 4506-Transcripts is also committed to engaging with the talent at UNR as they expand their operations here in Reno.”