General Motors LLC has selected Austin for the creation of an IT Innovation Center, creating 500 jobs. Austin will be home to the first of several new IT Innovation Centers in the United States intended to drive breakthrough ideas into GM vehicles and business processes globally.
The Chamber helped to facilitate the project, working with the company throughout the site selection process addressing taxes, training, incentives and the cost benefit of doing business in Texas. Austin’s education and university system was a driving factor for the project as IT talent was a key point of consideration.
“The next generation of IT workers, the talented visionaries we want contributing at the Innovation Center, are being trained at top computer science schools in Texas and surrounding states,” GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott said. “The IT Innovation Centers are critical to our overall IT business strategy and transformation.”
The new center will provide expertise developing new information technology to support advanced vehicle development. The project is GM’s first foray into developing IT innovation centers of excellence.
“As our nation’s automotive industry changes and vehicles become smarter, cleaner, safer and more efficient, innovation will continue to drive the future of the industry,” said Gary Farmer, Opportunity Austin Chair. “General Motors allows Austin to be a part of this innovative change in the use of technology.”
General Motors LLC is a Fortune 5 Detroit-based global leader in the automotive industry with history that can be traced back for over 100 years. The company first entered Texas in 1954 with the Arlington, Texas assembly plant, which stands as a testament to their longstanding commitment and investment in the State of Texas. Today, over 1,140 vehicles are produced daily in Texas at the Arlington plant. Over nine million vehicles have been produced since the plant first started production.
