There’s another success story in the Wired City: TUI Consulting, a company that specializes in consulting and software development to utilities and the public sector, announced last week it will move its global headquarters from Melbourne, Australia to Tacoma.
Ballu Khan, Chairman and CEO of TUI, said his company began reviewing options for a headquarters move last summer.
“We were looking seriously at Denver and other areas along the West Coast,” he said.
“But as we spent more time in Tacoma, we fell in love with the Pacific Northwest lifestyle – and Tacoma in particular.”
TUI, which employs 100 people, will begin relocating key executives, as well as its finance, marketing and human resources teams next month. TUI’s research and development labs also will move, bringing more technical employees to town.
“Access to a major university was key,” Khan said.
“The technology center at University of Washington Tacoma should provide us with a pool of talented potential employees as we grow our business.”
The Tacoma City Council is expected to vote later this week on a $26 million TUI contract to replace the city’s ailing customer information, human resources, financial and work management computer systems. The 19-month project is expected to wrap up in January 2004.
Until TUI finalizes the corporate headquarters location, Khan will live and work from a renovated apartment in a historic building in downtown Tacoma.
“I am amazed by the city’s Click! Network, which allows us – even from a 100-year-old building – to transmit ‘huge’ files worldwide,” he said.
Khan also cited the reasonable cost of doing business in Tacoma as a key factor in his company’s decision.
“The move of a world-wide business to Tacoma reaffirms what we’ve been telling business organizations, site selectors and real estate professionals all over the country,” said Juli Wilkerson, director of the Tacoma Economic Development Department.
“While Tacoma is an ideal location for small and mid-sized businesses, we are also affordable and a great fit for a major company’s global headquarters. TUI Consulting will be a great asset for Tacoma and we welcome them to our community.”
For more information about TUI Consulting, visit the company’s Web site at: www.tuiconsulting.com