Gov. John Bel Edwards and Twistlock CEO Ben Bernstein announced the company will establish a Global Solutions Engineering Center in Baton Rouge. A cybersecurity firm, Twistlock will create 20 new direct jobs with an average salary of $90,000, plus benefits. Additionally, Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 23 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 40 new jobs in Louisiana’s Capital Region.
Twistlock develops security platforms for cloud-native environments and software containers, which allow developers to reliably run software systems when moving them from one computing environment to another. The Twistlock platform is designed to prevent attacks against software container applications and other digital resources. Additionally, the platform provides functionality to scan for vulnerabilities in software containers and other cloud-native systems.
“As Louisiana’s digital media and software development industry expands, it not only grows by the number of new jobs and new companies, but also in the sophistication of services offered,” Gov. Edwards said. “Twistlock’s entry into Louisiana’s Capital Region confirms this growth and diversification. It demonstrates how our state is prepared to support the organizations that are addressing tomorrow’s needs today. Cybersecurity and the protection of cloud-based resources are a growing necessity for a wide variety of industries, and we are proud that Twistlock will create new jobs and address this issue from right here in Baton Rouge.”
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Twistlock will develop its Baton Rouge office at the LSU Innovation Park. Twistlock has additional operations in New York, London and Herzliya, Israel. From financial services to healthcare, Twistlock serves a wide range of industry segments, and the company is instrumental in providing security resources for leading brands, including Aetna, Workiva, GridSpace and Pager Duty.
“We selected Baton Rouge and Louisiana for our engineering center because of the state’s growing cybersecurity industry base, the business-friendly climate, and the opportunity to develop a talent pipeline with a major research university in LSU,” Bernstein said. “We help protect some of the most sophisticated cloud environments at many of the world’s largest companies and governments, and we’re proud to call Louisiana one of our global homes.”
Twistlock was founded in 2015 and has had team members in Louisiana from the beginning. The new engineering center, led by Chief Technology Officer John Morello, is the fifth global office for the company. The office will provide Twistlock with additional development of the automation and machine-learning tools that drive its application security platform. That focus will enhance its leadership of the container and cloud-native cybersecurity field.
“We are pleased that yet again, a fast-growing tech company with international operations has chosen to base their operations in Baton Rouge,” said East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome. “The fact that they’ve attracted Polaris Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital Ventures as leading investors in their company is a testament to the innovation of their product and their aggressive growth model. We look forward to their continued success in Baton Rouge and to the high-quality employment opportunities they will provide to our region’s tech graduates."
LED began discussions with Twistlock in February 2018. To secure the company’s office in Baton Rouge, the State of Louisiana offered a competitive incentive package that includes the services of LED FastStart® – the nation’s No. 1-ranked state workforce development program. The company also is expected to utilize Louisiana’s Digital Interactive Media and Software Development Incentive and the Quality Jobs Program.
“We are excited that this international company has chosen Baton Rouge for the home of its Global Solutions Engineering Center,” said President and CEO Adam Knapp of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “Not only does this announcement represent an expansion of our growing tech sector, but it also brings further collaboration between LSU and the business community, ensuring that our pipeline of talent is robust and well-trained for meaningful careers in computer science. The BRAC team has been pleased to assist Twistlock through this process, and welcomes them to our community.”
“The LSU Innovation Park is excited about having Twistlock as a new tenant in our university research park,” said Executive Director Charlie D’Agostino of LSU Innovation Park. “We are offering Twistlock full access to all the resources of the park and LSU, including student interns, access to faculty and graduates, and collaboration with the cybersecurity and computing science experts at LSU. This will give us an opportunity to show Twistlock the strong research and academic base at LSU that can be a significant factor in their growth.”
About Twistlock
Twistlock is the leading provider of container and cloud-native cybersecurity solutions for the modern enterprise. From precise, actionable vulnerability management to automatically deployed runtime protection and firewalls, Twistlock protects applications across the development lifecycle and into production. Purpose-built for containers, serverless and other cutting-edge technologies, Twistlock gives developers the speed they want, and CISOs the control they need. Twistlock was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with offices in New York, Baton Rouge, London and Herzliya, Israel. For more information, visit: Twistlock.com.