MONTREAL - U.S.-based Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) is substantially bulking up its presence in Montreal: The information technology (IT) power has announced that it is establishing two IT centers in the Quebec city. Together, the two operations will create some 485 new jobs over the next five years, according to officials with El Segundo, Calif.-headquartered CSC.
        The announcements made good on CSC's pledge to regional clients and employees in February of 2001 that the company would establish a center of excellence in software development in Montreal. And CSC is not only setting up a software development center in Montreal; the company is also opening a remote operations support center in the city, which will act as the hub of technical infrastructure support for the entire North American region.
        The two centers will occupy 50,000 sq. ft. (4,500 sq. m.) in Phase II of E-Commerce Place, a 1.5 million-sq.-ft. (135,000-sq.-m.) development in the heart of Montreal's business district specifically designed for high-tech firms. CSC's commitment signaled that Phase II of the E-Commerce Place development will proceed in March, said Pauline Marois, Quebec's deputy premier and minister of state for the economy and finance.
        "E-Commerce Place is at the very heart of the economic turnaround that Montreal has seen in recent years," said Marois. "I am confident that there will be more new projects at E-Commerce Place in the very near future."
        Mouvement des Caisses Desjardins has been tapped as the real estate developer for Phase II of the E-Commerce Place project.

CSC is receiving handsome provincial incentives in locating its two centers in E-Commerce Place. Businesses locating in E-Commerce Place receive a tax credit equivalent to 35 percent of the salaries of eligible employees, up to a maximum of US$12,500 per person. Those tax incentives are available to eligible firms over a period spanning 10 years.
        Those incentives, however, drew fire from some local real estate developers when the E-Commerce Place development plan was first unveiled in May of 2000. E-Commerce Place's subsidies, developers charged, unfairly tilted the playing field in Montreal's downtown real estate market.
        Responding to the criticism, Marois in November of last year announced that the provincial government was substantially expanding the area in which businesses would be eligible for the E-Commerce Place incentives. The tax credits now extend to businesses creating new jobs in Montreal's entire downtown area, Marois explained. The enlargement was an effort to provide "broader support for e-commerce businesses established in Montreal," she explained.
        "The numerous new jobs created will strengthen Montreal's position in the knowledge economy," Marois said as CSC's two new centers were announced. "Montreal offers numerous advantages to investors. The arrival of a company like CSC confirms that, more than ever, Quebec is firmly focused on the future and that the government's efforts to carve the province a place in the new economy are paying off."

CSC is locating its two IT centers in temporary space in downtown Montreal until construction on Phase II of E-Commerce Place is completed in 2003.
        The company's Montreal Software Development Center will hire some 150 IT professionals over the course of the next 18 months, company officials explained. By the end of 2004, CSC plants to have 280 full-time employees at the software center, they added.
        Employment at the Montreal remote operations support center will grow to total 250 to 300 customer support analysts. The new remote operations support center, CSC executives explained, will provide help desk and problem resolution services, including remote session takeover products, knowledge retention products, computer telephony integration, process standardization and automation. The Montreal center will work in tandem with CSC's other North American multi-customer support center in Los Colinas, Texas, particularly in disaster recovery situations, company officials explained.
        CSC, whose IT services include outsourcing, management consulting, network design, and systems integration, first established a presence in Canada in 1996. The company has operations in 18 different Canadian locations in Brampton, Calgary, London, Longueuil, Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
        "The fact that CSC is coming to Montreal shows that we have a much to offer high-profile international companies," said Louis L. Roquet, president and chief executive officer of Investissement Quebec, which worked with CSC in the company's expansion planning.

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Portlock Software's headquarters relocation to Butte (pictured above) marks a homecoming for native son John Hanley, the company's president.

HONOLULU, Hawaii - Portlock Software has announced that it is relocating its headquarters to the mainland town in which its president grew up. The Honolulu-based company has picked Butte, Mont., for its new operations base, President John Hanley said.
        The move was spurred by the popularity of Portlock Software's Storage Manager product, which created the need for a larger headquarters, Hanley explained. Novell has licensed Storage Manager for its NetWare 6 beta demonstration CD.
        Labor concerns were another major factor, the Portlock Software president said.
        "The phenomenal growth of Storage Manager required Portlock Software to seek a community with a qualified work force," said Hanley, a 41-year-old native of Butte. "Butte, Mont., offers an ideal business environment for future opportunities and an excellent quality of life for our employees."

Hanley is a veteran player in the software industry, having been a partner in Binary Research, the company that created the successful Ghost disk-cloning technology. Symantec bought Binary Research, along with the Ghost technology, in 1998 for $27.5 million.
        The relocation, which will initially create some 40 jobs, was optimistically welcomed by Gov. Judy Martz, also a Butte native.
        "We are excited that John Hanley and Portlock Software recognize the potential economic benefits of locating in Butte," Martz said. "Mr. Hanley brings to Butte and the state a wealth of knowledge about the computer industry. He also brings his energy, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial experience, which will help Montana become a player in this growing industry."
        Local development officials were enthused about the headquarters' fit with the Cyber Village concept that the area is promoting.
        "Portlock Software is a major addition to our Cyber Village," said Jim Smitham, marketing director of Butte Local Development Corp. "John Hanley's expertise, energy and enthusiasm not only benefit Portlock Software, but will benefit our economic development objectives here in Butte."
        Many employees hired to work on Portlock projects are stationed around the world, working virtually through the Internet. Hanley, however, said that the company will likely expand its work force in Butte.
        "Programs at Montana Tech, the University of Montana and Montana State University provide a wealth of talented, well-educated people to choose from," he said. "We see Montana as a diamond in the rough."

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Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (right in photo above) announced Nautica's 150-employee expansion in Henry County, where he presented a Governor's Opportunity Fund check for $500,000 to Henry County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Seidle (left in photo). Nautica's expansion is also eligible for enterprise zone incentives, development officials said.

• Henry County, Va. -- A county in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains is fighting back. Facing the impending shutdown of the 2,300-employee Vanity Fair Imagewear plant that has been operating in the area for 28 years, Henry County has rebounded, in the space of a month landing three corporate expansions that will add some 265 jobs.
        The largest of the projects is that of Nautica Enterprises. The men's apparel designer and marketer is adding 150 jobs at its existing distribution center. Carolina Quality Components, on the other hand, is a newcomer to Henry County. The company will open a 65-employee facility that will manufacture cut-to-size composite wood panel components for the furniture and fixture industry. Another furniture maker, A.C. Furniture, is also setting up an operation on the county, a 50-worker plant that will manufacture institutional furniture for restaurants, motels and hotels. Highly regarded Wayne Sterling, who formerly headed economic development efforts in South Carolina and Virginia, took over as chief executive officer for the Henry County Office of Commerce in December.

• CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- Commerce Bancorp has unveiled an ambitious expansion program that will begin this year. Though individual project specifics haven't yet been announced, the Cherry Hill, N.J.-based firm has announced that it expects to hire 8,000 new employees by 2006.
        Some 1,600 of those new jobs will be created this year. Many of those new positions will staff the 40 to 45 new branches that the bank said that it plans to build during 2002. The new branches will be located in the New York metro and the Philadelphia metro.
        Commerce Bancorp currently employs more than 6,000 people in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The bank now has 185 branches in those four states. Commercial real estate loans make up about 40 percent of the company's loan portfolio.