Business Surveys

Unisys Corp. said Thursday that it is examining three downtown St. Louis locations for an information technology center that will open this fall and employ as many as 300 people in two years.

Steve Mortiz, general manager of technology services, said two of the potential locations are 555 Washington Avenue and a building on North Tucker Boulevard.

"We like the city concept," Moritz said. "We think it’s an attractive location, particularly for the younger IT workers."

The announcement was welcome news for city officials eager to retain downtown employers and attract new ones.
Officials have granted or offered various public incentives to retain major employers, including the Lewis, Rice & Fingersh law firm and Peabody Energy Corp.

To help lure Unisys, the state awarded the company $4.5 million in Missouri Quality Jobs Program tax credits, which help businesses create a specific number of jobs. Additional state incentives were $900,000 in New Jobs Training funding and $212,500 in recruitment assistance.

Unisys officials said the company will open in about two weeks a temporary office in space provided by the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, or SLATE.

For its permanent office Unisys initially will need about 10,000 square feet of downtown space for about 75 workers. Requirements include the ability to grow to about 45,000 square feet to accommodate 300 employees.

Unisys — 452nd last year on Fortune Magazine’s list of the 500 biggest U.S. companies, with revenue of $4.6 billion — looked at sites in Montgomery, Ala.; Eagan, Minn.; and Salt Lake City before choosing St. Louis, said Ted Davies, president of the company’s federal systems division. Company officials said the average salary at the St. Louis center will be about $60,000.

Unisys’ chief executive, Ed Coleman, said the presence of an information technology work force, major universities and government customers — particularly the U.S. Department of Agriculture — favored St. Louis. Work done here will include development of Apple’s Macintosh, iPhone and iPad to meet government requirements.

"We’re excited to be bringing Unisys to St. Louis," Coleman said.

Richard Fleming, president of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, said the area’s 46,270 IT employees comprise 3.5 percent of the work force, compared with 2.9 percent nationwide.

Gov. Jay Nixon and Mayor Francis Slay praised Unisys, based in suburban Philadelphia, for deciding to locate an office downtown.

"Unisys will provide good jobs to city residents, and our city will provide the talent this company needs to succeed," Slay said.

Said the governor, "This is one more unmistakable sign that Missouri’s economy is moving in the right direction."

Davies said the new facility will not affect the company’s 100-employee center at the Agriculture Department’s Rural Development agency at the Goodfellow Boulevard Federal Center.

Nor will it immediately affect Unisys’ Fairview Heights facility, which employs about 50 people and performs computer work for Scott Air Force Base.

But Davies said some or all of the Fairview Heights operation might someday be consolidated downtown.

Source

Filed under: legal by TheDoor