Progress Software Expands Its Operations in Newfoundland and Labrador
In November 2008, Progress Software Corporation announced plans to expand its product-development centre in Newfoundland and Labrador, and create additional software- engineering jobs as well as new technology-oriented educational opportunities. The company intends to expand its workforce in the province by 50 percent over the next five years by adding 10 new software-engineering positions.
A provider of leading application-infrastructure software for the development, deployment, integration and management of business applications, Progress Software Corporation (PRGS) is headquartered in Massachusetts, U.S., and employs more than 1,600 employees in 90 countries around the world.
"As a global company, we're always searching for top-quality people to help us create best-in-class technologies and grow our business to meet the increasing demand for our technology," says Ellen Daniels, Vice President, Product Operations and Planning, Progress Software. "We chose to expand our workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador because we know that this is where some of the best talent is."
Co-founded in 1981 by several MIT graduates, the company was renamed Progress Software in 1987. Today, more than 60,000 organizations in 140 countries, including 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies, make use of Progress products and technology. Progress technology provides the infrastructure for applications as diverse as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial trading, across industries such as retail, manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services and government.
"Our company's goal is to maximize the benefits of information technology while minimizing its complexity and total cost of ownership," says Daniels. "Our products enable multiple computer operating systems to communicate with one another in a networked environment, minimizing the need for customers to invest in significant technology replacement or upgrade of IT systems."
Delivering what the IT industry is looking for
Progress Software is being helped with the expansion of its St. John's operation by Newfoundland and Labrador's Business Attraction Fund. The purpose of the fund is to attract business to the province by providing large-scale, strategic investments in business ventures and infrastructure. Through the fund, the Department of Business provides loans and equity investments to companies that are interested in establishing or expanding their operations and conducting business in the province.
By supporting the company's growth, the provincial government is demonstrating its commitment to partnering with companies to increase inward investment and broaden the province's business base in key sectors. The company's expansion is also a clear indication that Canada can offer what the IT industry is looking for: a highly educated workforce.
"We believe that partnering with Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Business gives us an excellent opportunity to grow our global employee base," adds Daniels, "and to make a positive impact not only on the local economy, but also on local communities by improving educational opportunities."
The provincial government, through the Department of Business, is facilitating Progress Software's expansion plans by providing a contribution of $225,000. This contribution is tied to the company achieving hiring targets. Progress has also committed to explore opportunities to offer computer science scholarships to post- secondary students.
Progress Software's approach to this type of corporate social responsibility comes from its roots in local communities, its global citizenship and the values of individual employees. As a result, over the years, corporate donations have funded a variety of educational, student-achievement and school-improvement programs, as well as programs for the homeless, children and the elderly.
A primary component of Progress Software's corporate contributions program is the time and energy invested by employees as they seek to better their own communities. By donating money that matches the volunteerism of employees, the company promotes a spirit of partnership and also ensures that corporate donations are made in ways that reflect their employees' values.
Progress powers innovation
Progress Software supports leading-edge service-oriented architecture (SOA) deployments with products that easily create, connect, mediate and control interactions among business services. In addition, the company delivers innovative technologies that provide solutions in new and emerging areas such as real-time event processing, SOA governance and federated data-service management. All Progress products are standards-based, and interface with a wide variety of business applications. The company's extensive community of more than 2,500 global partners is crucial to building and supporting its customers, and more than $5 billion of Progress technology, partner applications and services are sold each year to thousands of companies.
"Progress Software Corporation is leading the way when it comes to delivering advanced IT integration technologies and solutions to organizations around the world," concludes Daniels. "The fact that we selected Newfoundland and Labrador as our location of choice to build upon our software-development operations is evidence of the opportunity that certainly exists here for growing technology businesses."
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Prepared by the Invest in Canada Bureau, Spring 2009
