A British IT and management consulting firm has chosen metropolitan Columbus for its first Midwest office, citing Central Ohio's tech talent pool.
BJSS Inc. plans to start hiring in the coming months toward a projected 50 full- and part-time jobs. Workers will start remotely while the company hunts for Columbus-area office space, according to a news release, then transition to a hybrid home-and-office workplace.
Based in Leeds, England, the nearly 30-year-old firm has U.S. offices in New York City and Houston, as well as offices in Australia and the European Union.
"The Columbus region rose to the top of the list as a strategic tech hub to evaluate,” BJSS Chairman Glynn Robinson said in the release “We found the market to be welcoming and the right environment for us to grow our business.”
BJSS does strategic consulting and develops code and systems in areas such as digital transformation, data analytics, cybersecurity and product innovation, according to its website. Client industries include energy, financial services, healthcare, retail and government.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday approved an eight-year, 2% Jobs Creation Tax Credit that would save the company an estimated $945,000 over the life of the deal, if it creates all the pledged jobs and meets other terms, such as maintaining operations for at least 11 years in the state.
New York, Texas and Illinois also were competing for the office, according to the state Department of Development.
Over the past decade, U.K.-based companies have created more than 2,900 Central Ohio jobs and invested some $17 million in facilities and equipment, according to the economic development organization One Columbus.
Tech companies from larger global hubs also established Columbus offices, such as the second headquarters for Upstart, a publicly traded fintech founded in Silicon Valley. Other include Boston cybersecurity startup Immuta Inc., with a Short North office, and a Dublin hub for publicly traded Veeva Systems Inc.
Digital travel insurer Battleface Inc. moved to Columbus from the U.K. in early 2021.
Data backup and recovery firm Veeam Software Holdings Inc., previously based in Switzerland, has its largest U.S. office in the Polaris region, but hasn't yet fixed on a new HQ city.
