Feb 6 2014
Today, Yahoo! Inc. broke ground on a new state-of-the-art facility that will serve as an important expansion of its Champaign, IL technology hub. Leaders from Yahoo, State of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and City of Champaign announced plans for the new building and expanded workforce.
Champaign is the home of several Yahoo engineering teams working on critical technologies for the company. Yahoo currently occupies 24,000 sq. ft. of office space and is the largest full-time employer in the University of Illinois Research Park. The new 40,000 sq. ft. building will be solely constructed for Yahoo. Plans include recruitment of engineers over the next 12-24 months.
Yahoo’s SVP of Advertising Technology, Scott Burke, attended the groundbreaking and said, “I’m thrilled to announce our expansion in Champaign. Yahoo has benefited from the world-class engineering talent at Research Park that contributes to our advertising and data systems. We look forward to growing our team and continuing to be a valued member of the local community.”
Champaign-Urbana is the home of the University of Illinois and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The top-ranked engineering college is a hallmark of Illinois. Chancellor Phyllis Wise said, “Yahoo is an important presence in our Research Park and in our local community. Our students and our faculty have seen great new opportunities through our relationship with Yahoo, and this expansion will open even more of them for all of us.”
“The presence of Yahoo at the U of I is an incredible resource for the technology industry in Illinois,” Governor Pat Quinn said. “Illinois is a technology leader and we are actively working to grow our economy, create jobs and keep our state a center for innovation worldwide. Places like Research Park at the University of Illinois are essential in making Illinois even more competitive.”
“On behalf of the City of Champaign, we are pleased that performance-based employment incentives were able to contribute the positive decision by Yahoo to expand in our community. Yahoo’s growth is a strong example of the thriving high-technology sector in Champaign,” said Mayor Don Gerard.
Source: http://researchpark.illinois.edu/