It has been almost 10 years since Facebook was started at Harvard. In that time, the social network has expanded to 1.2 billion users worldwide, gone public with a $104 billion valuation, and already been chronicled in an Academy Award-winning movie.
But today it was confirmed that after all the glitz and glam, Facebook is returning to its roots, opening an office at 1 Broadway in Kendall Square.
In this morning's announcement – on Facebook, no less – Boston site lead and engineering manager Ryan Mack said:
Boston was an easy choice. The tech community here is world-class, from the incredible academic institutions to the vibrant startup ecosystem to the bevy of global companies who have teams here. We are thrilled to have found a new home here and hope we can help the community continue to thrive. Our Boston team will start small, and will focus on challenging new infrastructure projects in areas like networking, storage, security, and language runtimes.
A team from Facebook has been working in Boston remotely for several months, but with today's announcement, they are looking to hire a plethora of people to grow their new branch. Naturally, Facebook is looking for up-and-coming talent from all of our local colleges and universities, continuing a trend that was heavily enforced by Zuck himself.
Opening in Boston also addresses Zuckerberg's oft-touted opinion: "If I were starting (Facebook) now, I would have stayed in Boston."
The new location will certainly make a tremendous splash in not just the local tech and startup scene, but in the Boston economy in general.
“I welcome the decision of Facebook, a global brand name in the realm of social media, to open an office in Massachusetts," said Robert A. DeLeo, speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, in a statement. "This announcement reinforces our state’s standing as a place where innovators and technology companies want to be and positions us for further growth of our innovation economy.”
You can keep up with all of the goings-on at Facebook Boston on their Facebook page and check out the positions they are looking to fill here.
Update 11/7/13 11:00 AM: Cambridge Innovation Center Managing Director Geoff Mamlet had this to say of the CIC's new neighbor at 1 Broadway:
We are really excited. We think that Facebook opening here reflects the increasing recognition that Kendall Square, and Cambridge as a whole, is getting in the wider world.
All photos are courtesy of Facebook Boston.
