Alpha Technologies USA, Inc. has purchased an office building on King Street in downtown Wilmington for use as an IT services center that could bring jobs back to the U.S.
The U.S. based global provider of IT solutions and consulting services to Fortune 1000 corporations, is set to move into the six-story office building at 704 N. King Street.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Alpha has acquired the facility and will occupy nearly 45,000 square feet on three floors. Existing tenants will remain at the building that has been known as One Customs House. The building is near the Doubletree Hotel and city-operated parking ramps.
Rick Kingery, vice president with Colliers International, represented Alpha Technologies in the deal. Alpha has offices in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, Washington, California and Texas, as well as overseas sites in India, Czech Republic, and Poland. The King Street site is the first office for the company in Delaware.
Alpha will be offering “on-shore off-site” managed services to their clients who are looking for “On-Shore” managed services with benefits of “off-shore,” according to a release.
This facility will be Alpha’s first COE (Center of Excellence) captive site, offering “ the on-shore off-site” IT managed services. In Addition, Alpha will create Subject Matter Expert IT training center for fresh graduates. These services will create many local jobs to help social, economic, and cultural growth, the release stated.
Amrit Gurung, vice president at Alpha, said the company sees the Center of Excellence attracting technical support business for electronics and other types of equipment. Centers handling these issues are often located in India, the Philippines and other nations.
Over the years, the cost advantages of operating technical centers overseas have diminished as wages have increased in emerging nations, according to Gurung.
The training center would offer intense “boot camp” programs that would equip individuals for technical support positions, he said.
No jobs estimates were offered for the center, although the available sure footage could accommodate hundreds of workers.
“This is an incredibly exciting event for the City of Wilmington,” said Kingery. “To have a leading, global technology company like Alpha select Delaware as their captive site – over a multitude of other options, is truly an indication that Delaware has the technology, workforce, transportation, and new housing infrastructure in place to attract new businesses and grow this highly sought after field.”
“Information technology is one of the world’s fastest growing industries and we are very pleased to welcome to Wilmington one of the world’s leading providers of IT solutions and consulting services to a diverse and global clientele,” said Jeff Flynn, Wilmington’s Economic Development Director. “Alpha Technologies recognizes that Wilmington is a City where businesses thrive and is a City that is quickly becoming a technology hub for established IT businesses as well as a base for technology entrepreneurs and start-ups. We are witnessing the development of a new business climate in our City and we couldn’t be more pleased.”
Financing for the project was arranged by Joseph McNally, a Relationship Manager with TD Bank.
