Charlotte Tech News

[U_R_]

11 hours ago, atlrvr said:

I don't think this news affects Charlotte in anyway, but I do expect rival London Stock Exchange Group to expand significantly in Charlotte (current local offices are in Fort Mill)

I would definitely agree. With LSE in line to buy Refinitiv, I think y’all will definitely see a big announcement.

[KJHburg]

Hmm all very interesting.  As the London Stock Exchange is based in an office park in Fort Mill one wonders if they get bigger and need to attract more workers if an uptown Charlotte would be better for them.  As Fort Mill has attracted some of our financial firms like LPL maybe we should return the favor and attract one back to NC and to Charlotte.   This company has it roots in Moody's which long ago had an office in Charlotte at 77 and Tyvola.    (and I do consider this a Fintech story) 

From a 2016 article in the Business Journal

Mergent Inc.’s sale to the London Stock Exchange will bring some job growth for the company’s Fort Mill headquarters. That’s according to Jonathan Worrall, CEO of Mergent. The question becomes, how many new jobs will be coming to the Kingsley Park office building that serves as Mergent’s headquarters? Worrall and London Stock Exchange Group were silent on that question.  LSEG announced Monday that it is buying Mergent, which has 120 employees in Fort Mill, for an undisclosed price. The deal’s expected to close on Jan. 31 if it clears all U.S. and European regulatory hurdles.  Mergent will be integrated with LSEG’s Information Services Division, which includes FTSE Russell, a global stock indexes company.  Mergent, which provides business and financial information on both public and private companies, moved to Fort Mill in 2006 from Charlotte.  The company was formed in 1998 when Moody's Financial Information Services division was spun off.""

[joenc]

There are a lot of tech job ads for Moody's in Charlotte right now and it looks like their Tech leadership has a Charlotte connection

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, joenc said:

There are a lot of tech job ads for Moody's in Charlotte right now and it looks like their Tech leadership has a Charlotte connection

wow you are right more than any city they operate in worldwide but London and NYC.  Something is afoot here and maybe this is one of the mystery econ development projects out there.  

https://careers.moodys.com/jobs/?city=Charlotte

[KJHburg]

Corvid Technologies moved in their new HQ building up in Mooresville on Lake Davidson.  They are a fast growing defense technology and cybersecurity  firm.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/08/30/photoscorvid-almost-ready-to-move-to-its-29m-hq.html

Edited August 30, 2019 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Charlotte based Skookum is acquired by San Jose based GlobalLogic.  No word on the Charlotte office but given the much higher cost of Silicon Valley  and hyper competitive nature of tech workers there I am sure they will keep this Charlotte office and probably expand it.

https://www.globallogic.com/news/globallogic-acquires-skookum-an-innovative-digital-design-development-company/

[Owenorange]

On 9/12/2019 at 8:56 AM, KJHburg said:

Charlotte based Skookum is acquired by San Jose based GlobalLogic.  No word on the Charlotte office but given the much higher cost of Silicon Valley  and hyper competitive nature of tech workers there I am sure they will keep this Charlotte office and probably expand it.

https://www.globallogic.com/news/globallogic-acquires-skookum-an-innovative-digital-design-development-company/

I talked to someone who works there and the acquiring firm intends to grow workforce here and their Denver office. Should be good news, and hopefully they keep their cool tech talks series. 

[KJHburg]

Charlotte has its own Salesforce Tower in the Xchange office park off 77 and Tyvola.  They wasted no time after purchasing MapAnything to get their name up there.  

Dear Salesforce:  I have an idea.  Post many of your jobs here in Charlotte and watch this office grow.  Tech people here are very unlikely to ever move to San Francisco just too expensive.  I bet you would get lots of interest.  Then grow the office and then anchor a few floors in a  tower uptown and Charlotte can join the many cities nationwide and worldwide with a Salesforce Tower worthy of your company.  

KJ 

Photo today and just noticed this. 

Edited September 16, 2019 by KJHburg

[JFerreira91]

That logo would be better in the reception, not there. Looks silly.

[J-Rob]

This story is posted in economic expansion too, but I want to call it out here too specifically related to the CEO's comments about Charlotte.  Barring a major recession, it seems the FinTech boom is just beginning in Charlotte.  If they plan to work out of WeWork for now, but also plan to hire 1,000 employees, I have to wonder if they may want their own building at some point down the road.  Ally owns a significant chunk of Better.com, so maybe if Ally ever moves HQ officially to CLT they can build a new tower to house better.com and Ally executives.  It makes you wonder if some of the parcels directly across  277 from current Ally  Charlotte Center might come into play. 

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article235129747.html

Edited September 16, 2019 by J-Rob

[KJHburg]

from a subscriber article about tech job growth in Charlotte

""What used to be perceived challenges in attracting tech talent to Charlotte — in perhaps the most high-profile example, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) snubbed the Queen City on its 20-city shortlist last year for its second headquarters, despite choosing peer cities like Raleigh and Nashville, Tennessee — has begun to change, with established Charlotte-area employers like Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) adding up to 2,000 jobs for a new tech center in South End and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) relocating its headquarters here from New Jersey. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: MUFG) opened a new office in Charlotte in uptown this summer, with a stated goal of hiring for 300 jobs, including technology positions. The upcoming merger of BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI), being rebranded as Truist, will be based in Charlotte, a move that's also expected to include an innovation center with technology jobs.  And there have been rumblings in the market about Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO) moving tech jobs to Charlotte. There are about 40 current job postings for Moody's in Charlotte, including dozens of software engineer roles. The company's chief technology officer, Tim Bhatt, is also based here. Multiple attempts by the Charlotte Business Journal to reach Moody's about its local presence have been unsuccessful.""

Bold my emphasis.   Moodys is mentioned here and has been mentioned before as well here on UP.  Lots of tech growth along a multitude of companies.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/16/why-a-flurry-of-tech-job-growth-in-charlotte-could.html

Edited September 16, 2019 by KJHburg

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

3 hours ago, KJHburg said:

from a subscriber article about tech job growth in Charlotte

""What used to be perceived challenges in attracting tech talent to Charlotte — in perhaps the most high-profile example, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) snubbed the Queen City on its 20-city shortlist last year for its second headquarters, despite choosing peer cities like Raleigh and Nashville, Tennessee — has begun to change, with established Charlotte-area employers like Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) adding up to 2,000 jobs for a new tech center in South End and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) relocating its headquarters here from New Jersey. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: MUFG) opened a new office in Charlotte in uptown this summer, with a stated goal of hiring for 300 jobs, including technology positions. The upcoming merger of BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI), being rebranded as Truist, will be based in Charlotte, a move that's also expected to include an innovation center with technology jobs.  And there have been rumblings in the market about Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO) moving tech jobs to Charlotte. There are about 40 current job postings for Moody's in Charlotte, including dozens of software engineer roles. The company's chief technology officer, Tim Bhatt, is also based here. Multiple attempts by the Charlotte Business Journal to reach Moody's about its local presence have been unsuccessful.""

Bold my emphasis.   Moodys is mentioned here and has been mentioned before as well here on UP.  Lots of tech growth along a multitude of companies.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/16/why-a-flurry-of-tech-job-growth-in-charlotte-could.html

Moody's is 582 in the Fortune 1000.  Would be a similar "species" lol. 

[VTinCV]

My husband works at WeWork SouthEnd and noticed a lot of Amazon space... no one has moved in yet. Anyone know more details there?

[KJHburg]

10 minutes ago, VTinCV said:

My husband works at WeWork SouthEnd and noticed a lot of Amazon space... no one has moved in yet. Anyone know more details there?

Yes my sources say they are opening I think an Amazon Web Services office but I will try to get the low down soon 

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Moody's is 582 in the Fortune 1000.  Would be a similar "species" lol. 

not thinking big enough.

[J-Rob]

I always thought a WF Relo was a stretch, but you all have me second guessing...  Will this big fish need a tower, or do they currently have space in Uptown?

Alright folks, lets have some fun with this.  Below are the 15 largest banks in the US based on bankrate.com (Truist will be jumping way up this list by the way).  Will CLT land its 3rd Top 10 bank???

Here are my guesses...

1. Combined PNC Bank / Regions opening HQ in CLT

2. Morgan Stanley moves for lower tax and lower operating expenses

3. WF moves for lower tax, to get out of California's crosshairs, and to show a reformed image

[atlrvr]

There is near 0% chance anyone would have insight on a bank HQ relo.  Any merger rumors driving a HQ decision would be massive news in the stock market before real estate plans considered, and not seeing any rumors there involving any larger bank.

I can't imagine Wells thinking about a HQ move when they don't even have a permanent CEO.

Morgan Stanley was rumored to be looking for cheaper office space for some corporate functions, so could see them opening a large office, but no chance of a HQ relo.

My guess is any major financial services expansion is non-bank.

[J-Rob]

I still think AIG may announce a major expansion at some point.

[Hornets]

My guess is it has something to do with US Bank.  That Bridge donation made me go hmmmm.

[J-Rob]

Beating a dead horse to no end here.  I get that, but for the first time ever I just saw a TD Ameritrade job posted in Charlotte, and it occurred to me they have a major operation down the road in South Carolina.  I mean, I know nothing, but I thought it was interesting.  If they have an office in Charlotte I didn't know about it.  Also, maybe wrong thread, but the discussion started because of FinTech centers, etc.

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by J-Rob

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

AIG and The Hartford have a lot of recent job postings.

[JRNYP2C]

I seriously doubt we will see a move for WF to Charlotte.  They are trying to exit Uptown, not add to it.  They do own DEC, through legacy Wachovia, and I would venture a guess that all consolidation for any remaining WF employees would happen there, once Duke moves out to their new building.

PNC has it too good in Pittsburgh - especially with their fairly new corporate HQ building in downtown.  Cost of living there is, from what I have read, better than here.  And I still have no desire to move back either - regardless.  I like it here too much.

Just my two cents on two mentioned items from above.

[Guest]

I seriously doubt we will see a move for WF to Charlotte.  They are trying to exit Uptown, not add to it.  They do own DEC, through legacy Wachovia, and I would venture a guess that all consolidation for any remaining WF employees would happen there, once Duke moves out to their new building.
PNC has it too good in Pittsburgh - especially with their fairly new corporate HQ building in downtown.  Cost of living there is, from what I have read, better than here.  And I still have no desire to move back either - regardless.  I like it here too much.
Just my two cents on two mentioned items from above.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article228826664.html
Exiting uptown.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HopHead]

^I was thinking the same thing. WF is bursting at the seems all over Charlotte. My better half has been there for 18 years and says all the new jobs they keep adding are only not uptown if they can’t find the space. Hence offices in Ballantyne. 

[KJHburg]

24 minutes ago, HopHead said:

^I was thinking the same thing. WF is bursting at the seems all over Charlotte. My better half has been there for 18 years and says all the new jobs they keep adding are only not uptown if they can’t find the space. Hence offices in Ballantyne. 

Dittos my cousin works at the CIC on Harris Blvd and he goes in really early but by the time he leaves mid afternoon there is no parking and people are parking along the internal street network. Very crowded he says.