NCR a huge technology win - Dayton Business Journal:

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The region’s marketers plan to leveragew the NCR relocation to sell Atlanta as a burgeoning technology hub, winning new corporate convertws and continuing the virtuous cycle. “Brand names are very importantg to the identity of a city and to itsculturapl profile,” said Sam Williams, president of the . “Whe you begin to get brand nameelike , , Delta ... NCR — thess brand names start to tell a message about what your city Whilea world-class airport, “smart” workforce and low businesws costs help Atlanta’s economivc developers get corporate prospects to take theie calls, having brand names like NCR and in the region helps close the deal.
The fact NCR picked Atlantz from anationwide search, “says it bettee than anything we can say,” said Melanie Brandt, a businesas development manager at the . The relocation, Brandt said, signals NCR is confident it can recruit tech professionals from aroundr the world to metro Atlantaand “knoq that they are going to be comfortablre ... living and working and playing and raisingt afamily here.
” Metro Atlanta is “almost always” on the short list for tech companiex looking to relocate or expand on the East said Vicki Horton, a location consultan involved with Porsche’s North America headquarters relocation to While metro Atlanta is unlikeluy to be confused with tech such as Silicon Valley or Silicohn Alley, its relatively low cost of living, infrastructure and industruy clusters keep it in the crosshairs of corporatew site selectors. “You don’t have to be the fastest you just have to be at the fron ofthe [herd],” said Kris Miller, president of Ackerman & Co., a commercial real estate servicez firm.
The NCR deal is an economifc development blockbuster. The maker of ATMs and self-service kioskas will relocate its global headquarters toDuluth — bringing about 1,250 jobs, Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported June 1. NCR also planse to open a manufacturing operationin Ga., where it will emplogy nearly 900. As a company that straddles both technologyhand manufacturing, NCR’s relocation can be used to pitchn to advanced manufacturing companies, sources said. The NCR win will help open saidKen Stewart, commissioner of the Georgisa Department of Economic Development.
“Companies that we go and sell to know that NCR has done its duediligencer [on the region as a headquarters site],” Stewart Luring a blue-chip firm such as NCR also gives economicc developers a chance to market the region to suppliers and said Horton, principal at LLC. “Once you have an NCR, or an Horton said, their support firmsz and vendors tend to gravitate to the regionhbecause “they like to be closerd to the big dog.” NCR is the latest tech companyh to be sold on metro On May 22, Atlanta Businessd Chronicle reported that BlackBerry developer plansz to create about 200 high-tech jobs at an Alpharetta data centeer and development operation.
On May 11, Atlanta-based said it woul add more than600 jobs. These investments, sources said, are driven by the region’ws highly educated workforce, research universities and technology business Clustersoffer validation, Ackerman’s Miller said. “It’s kind of like double-checking your work in he quipped. “If everybody in the clasz gets 21 asan answer, there’x good chance 21’s Metro Atlanta’s demographic leans toward the “young and restless” educated 20- to 35-year-olds — that tech firmd rely on to maintain vibrant and innovativee workplace cultures.
NCR views the city’s academivc institutions, such as Georgia not only as a labor pool to fish but a partner for joint innovationand development, NCR CEO Bill Nuti The region’s relatively robust economy, its supply-chain logistics infrastructurew and its corporate also lured NCR. “We looked at all of thesee factors,” Nuti said, “and Georgia scored amongst the highest ofall states.
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