Industry Spotlight INNOVATION/Information Technology
“The overall low cost of doing business
in North Texas makes us very capital
efficient, so we can focus on our
customers and our product, rather
than using our resources on overhead
that does not contribute to
the quality of our technology.”
Bettina Bennett, CEO and chief maverick at WhichBox Media
a low cost of living and a low cost of doing
business. Also, you can’t overlook the benefit
of having DFW International Airport, which
makes it easy to get to either coast from here,
as well as to Asia, South America or Europe.”
The world-renowned Telecom Corridor®
also attracted Samsung Telecommunications
America for the same reasons. A subsidiary
of Samsung Electronics, Samsung Mobile
opened its U.S. headquarters in Richardson
in 1996 and has been the No. 1 mobile
phone provider for three years in a row.
“[The region] allows Samsung to have
a centrally located office in the U.S. to easily
meet the needs of our partners, which are
located across the country, from coast to
coast,” said Dale Sohn, president of
Samsung Telecommunications America.
“Some advantages of being based here
include moderate living costs, great
education programs for our employees’
families, a great talent pool for recruitment
purposes, and easy access to DFW
International Airport.”
A Growing Cluster
As the state continues to cultivate its
pro-business climate, the technology growth
in North Texas expands – new companies
are moving in, and current companies are
getting bigger.
“As the non-tech founder of a
technology start-up, being in North Texas
provides access to top technology talent to
build and grow the company,” said Bettina
Bennett, CEO and chief maverick at
WhichBox Media. “The overall low cost of
doing business makes us very capital
efficient, so we can focus on our customers
and our product, rather than using our
resources on overhead that does not
contribute to the quality of our technology.”
TI recently announced the $6.5 billion
acquisition of Santa Clara, Calif.-based
North Texas universities collaborate with the
region’s tech companies to enhance research
and create a well-educated workforce.
28 North Texas Magazine
National Semiconductor, and according
to Mayes, “It is an important element of
our plans to grow our business. Our new
wafer-fabrication facility in Richardson is
also a key asset in helping us serve our
customers, accelerate growth and gain
market share.”
North Texas also recently won the
headquarters of Virtual Computing
Environment Company (VCE) to build its
new corporate headquarters within the
Corridor. The $2.45 million investment from
the Texas Enterprise Fund is expected to
create more than 400 jobs and generate an
estimated $35 million in capital investment.
“We’ve built a cluster of technology
groups in this region,” Sproull said, and in
addition to VCE, he expects to see more
growth in the cloud space, and even more
data centers choosing to relocate to the area.
“I would expect to see a lot more data
centers located in the region, as well as
cloud service providers. They have strong
partners here already, and we have a pretty
robust electric grid, which helps the data
center industry.
“We have a lot of customers here,
and so much of the cloud computing
environment is tied to software, as is
service and IT – and we have a globally
competitive capital for that.” And that, he
said, is exciting news . z
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