ANN ARBOR ? Google’s decision to locate its Midwest corporate headquarters in Ann Arbor reaffirms the college town’s claim to be a great place for technology companies to grow and prosper.
That was the consensus of opinion among some Ann Arbor IT Zone members on July 11 who attended the annual summer barbecue at Spark Central. In fact, the Google announcement was THE topic of discussion during the party.
?It?s great news for the Ann Arbor region,? said Michael Finney, CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK ?It adds an exclamation point on this place as a highly desirable location for tech-based employment.?
Finney said the deal was in the works for about six months, but in the end the time frame tightened for getting the deal done. What keyed the deal, he said, was the huge pool of knowledge workers in Ann Arbor, in part created by the University of Michigan.?
Google?s arrival in Ann Arbor may keep many of the talented technologists churned out by the U-M at home, said Ron Suarez, President of Object Insight and MediaRica.
?In the last few years, Michigan has lost 30 percent of its people under 30 to migration,?? Suarez said ?This could keep our young talented people here.?
Michael Cole, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Angels, said Google provides a stamp of approval for Ann Arbor.
?It shines more light on us as a major technology community,?? he said.
