Global consulting giant Accenture will locate a new innovation hub in Technology Square in Midtown Atlanta, a lab where the company will help their clients bring new technologies to market and “a milestone” for the region’s technology scene, state and city leaders said Wednesday.
In confirming the project, Accenture said it plans to create 800 new high-paying jobs in the city by 2020. The innovation hub, part of a planned network of 10 such facilities around the nation, will be designed so that Accenture technologists can aide their Fortune 500 clients and other major companies in designing and testing new technologies, said Jimmy Etheredge, senior managing director in the Southeast for Accenture.
Landing another major tech deal in Accenture is a further sign of vibrancy for the region’s tech scene, and a sign the Atlanta area is an emerging center of innovation, leaders say.
“It’s another major milestone for Atlanta and the state of Georgia’s drive to be first in the nation,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “We are getting stronger and stronger.”
In total, Accenture has more than 2,800 employees in multiple locations in metro Atlanta. The expansion at Tech Square more than doubles the company’s footprint there to 70,000 square feet of office space.
Etheredge said the complex, taking up a floor in the Centergy building at Tech Square, will be a place where Accenture officials will have co-working space to help their clients refine and perfect new technologies. The hub is expected to open by next summer.
“What we are going to be doing in this space is more than co-creation, literally having clients working side by side with us to build out prototypes, build out pilots that we would work with them to rapidly scale and deploy for the businesses,” he said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Accenture is a consultant to Fortune 500 companies and other major firms. The company helps others develop new technology and streamline and manage their businesses. It employs software designers and other tech grads in addition to professionals with business degrees.
The company in February announced plans to launch 10 such hubs across the country, as part of a broader $1.4 billion U.S. technology and training investment that Accenture said would create 15,000 new jobs by 2020. The company opened a similar hub in Houston and has announced another in New York.
Etheredge said jobs are expected to focus on digital development, cloud-based software and Internet security.
“With the investment and commitment around the tech sector – and the connection to Georgia Tech – it made our decision to select Atlanta a no-brainer,” he said. “It’s going to cement our reputation and Atlanta’s as a place where innovation will happen.”
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