U.Group, a digital transformation partner, announced plans to establish operations in Indiana, creating up to 100 new, highly-skilled jobs in central Indiana by the end of 2020.
“Indiana’s tech community is sinking three-pointers all day long when it comes to showing off our tech ‘chops’ if you will," said Governor Eric J. Holcomb. "We're extremely grateful U.Group chose to grow in Indiana, bringing high-skilled career opportunities to the state, and we're confident that Indiana's talented tech pipeline will help propel U.Group's new operations."
Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. region, U.Group also has operations in Portland, Oregon and will locate its first Midwest operations on the north side of Indianapolis to tap into the area's diverse pipeline of talent and prospective partners. The company is currently evaluating options for office space in the area and plans to add 12 positions immediately to support its new operations. U.Group will hire for positions in software programming, engineering, data science and development. Interested applicants may apply online.
"2019 has been an incredible year for us, and we don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon," said Lena Trudeau, CEO of U.Group. "Expanding our operations to a new city enables us to further accelerate our momentum—it will allow us to deliver broader capabilities, deepen existing customer relationships as well as forge new ones, and amplify the impact we create for our customers. We’re grateful to be partnering with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to not only establish ourselves in area, but help bring new jobs to central Indiana’s already thriving economic ecosystem."
U.Group, which employs nearly 300 associates across its three offices and offsite, launched in 2019 as a new brand by ByteCubed, a technology firm specializing in government IT innovation, and CHIEF, a DC-based full-service digital agency. U.Group merges the two business operations and offers comprehensive customer-centric technical solutions for the public and private sectors.
The company recently announced the release of seven proprietary products centered on helping customers modernize their digital assets, with a focus on user experience, content strategy, accessibility and more. These products are designed to help federal, commercial and nonprofit customers keep up with the demands of a digital-first world.
In 2019, Indiana’s tech ecosystem secured a 260% increase in venture capital and other funding investments from 2018, totaling nearly $360 million according to TechPoint. Additionally, Indianapolis was recently recognized on Zillow’s list of top 10 markets for future tech growth. To build on this momentum, the IEDC partners with industry organizations like TechPoint, Indiana’s non-profit tech growth accelerator, in order to target business recruitment in high-skilled, high-growth sectors. TechPoint works to cultivate business development needs within the tech sectors, helping recruit industry startups, scaleups and established organizations like U.Group to expand or locate in Indiana.
“From what I understand, it wasn’t a hard sell,” said Mike Langellier, president and CEO of TechPoint. “Essentially it’s what we nearly always find with site visits: once outsiders see what Indiana has to offer, they want to be a part of it and bring their new jobs and business expansion to Indiana.”
The IEDC offered ByteCubed LLC (dba U.Group) up to $3.65 million in conditional tax credits based on the company's plans to create 130 jobs by 2022. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired.