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Perficient, a St. Louis-based information technology and management consulting firm, will open a center in Lafayette that hopes to create 245 full-time jobs within six years and spawn 248 indirect jobs, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Perficient President and CEO Jeff Davis announced today.
The company will open in November and begin hiring. Operations will begin in late 2014 and the company hopes to reach 50 employees by the end of 2015, Davis said.
The direct jobs will average $60,000 a year in pay, plus benefits. The company is expected to provide jobs for computer science graduates from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and South Louisiana Community College, which initiated a two-year software application program this semester.
Perficient Inc. serves Global 2000® and other large enterprise customers throughout North America across a broad range of industries, including health care, financial services, retail, energy, electronics, automotive and manufacturing, the company said. It employs 2,200 people worldwide and has annualized revenue of about $450 million, the state announced.
This was the third software development and technology sector project to announce this year that it would come to Acadiana. CGI announced it would come in April, Enquero in July.
"Once again, our business climate, our quality colleges and universities and our outstanding environment for technology investments in Acadiana have combined to produce a great win for Lafayette and our state," Jindal said. "Research campuses like the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and our technical college campuses are vital to our economy because they serve as a pipeline of great workers for jobs of the future. Today, more people than ever before have a job in Louisiana, and we are working tirelessly to make sure that future generations in our state will have access to the greatest career opportunities available. With companies like Perficient choosing Louisiana for their important technology investments, we are ensuring that Louisiana will continue to be the best place in the world to live, work and raise a family."
Davis said choosing Lafayette was easy, citing an educated workforce, proximity to higher education and the quality of life.
But in remarks after the news conference, he also cited Louisiana Economic Development for FastStart, the state's workforce development program; .
"We spent several months carefully assessing multiple markets and options across the United States for the build-out of our domestic delivery center," Davis said. "Lafayette emerged as the ideal location for this meaningful expansion. Lafayette's educated workforce and proximity to several universities were factors, as were the innovative programs established by supportive local and state leaders focused on economic growth. We firmly believe our Lafayette-based center will broaden our flexibility and capacity to serve our growing roster of enterprise clients."
LED began discussing potential location options in Louisiana with Perficient in November 2013. To secure the project, LED offered the company a customized incentive package that includes the comprehensive workforce solutions of LED FastStart® – the nation's No. 1 state workforce development program. Perficient is expected to utilize Louisiana's Digital Interactive Media and Software Development Incentive and the state's Quality Jobs Program.
Perficient's goal is to reach employment of 50 by the end of 2015 and reach full employment of 245 within six years, when the company's annual payroll in Lafayette will exceed $16 million.
"These are exciting times for Lafayette and Acadiana," Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel said. "With the announcements of Bell Helicopter, Enquero, CGI and now Perficient, we have proven that Lafayette and Louisiana can compete for world-class companies. These companies are proof that investing in the right infrastructure pays dividends for our citizens."
"Today's announcement by Perficient is another confirmation of Lafayette's reputation as a premier city for doing business — in the technology sector and beyond," said President and CEO Gregg Gothreaux of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. "Business leaders feel confident that they are able to tap into our community's top-notch assets, including superior education programs, digital connectivity and our innovative spirit. With a commitment to bring 245 new jobs to the area over six years, we hope Perficient and its employees will become valuable and active corporate citizens in Acadiana. Together we can accomplish much."
About Perficient
Perficient is a leading information technology and management consulting firm serving Global 2000® and enterprise customers throughout North America. Perficient's professionals serve clients from a network of offices across North America and three offshore locations in Eastern Europe, India and China. Perficient helps clients use Internet-based technologies to improve productivity and competitiveness; strengthen relationships with customers, suppliers and partners; and reduce information technology costs. Perficient, traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, is a member of the Russell 2000® index and the S&P SmallCap 600 index. Perficient is an award-winning "Premier Level" IBM business partner; a Microsoft National Systems Integrator and Gold Certified Partner; an Oracle Platinum Partner; a Gold Salesforce.com Cloud Alliance Partner; a TeamTIBCO partner; and an EMC Select Services Team Partner. For more information, visit
www.perficient.com.
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