Hi,
If you take some time to read on the internet you will see that :
- Makerbot has a horrible reputation of bad products and terrible service
- the cube line has been discontinued with the exception of the PRO.

I would not advise you to go either of those ways.

YES, a heat bed is a must have for ABS. To be honest, I don't know what the Axiom is like. Have you given some thoughts to the following :
- using PET instead of ABS : less warp, less hassle
- looking into Printrbot & Lulzbot ? With your budget you could afford a couple machines with full options : definitely a + for a company as this ensures higher availability and redundancy.