ANN ARBOR ? Grady Burnett, who heads online sales and operations for Google in Ann Arbor, has just booked a four-year lease at the McKinley Towne Center near the company’s current cramped upstairs offices overlooking Main Street, and hopes to soon recruit several hundred professionals to fill up the new space.
Starting in March, the 80,000 square foot space on Division Street will become the new home of Google?s AdWords Division, which could expand to some 1,000 employees by 2011. Burnett said even this space won?t accommodate that many people, so he continues to search Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities for a larger building.
Burnett, 33, said he?d like to keep Google?s headquarters in downtown because it creates even more of a draw for the type of employees Google wants to hire ? twenty and thirty something IT professionals and business folks who want to live in the heart of this vibrant college town.
?There are a lot of options downtown and outside of town that would accommodate our needs and growth,? he said.
The University of Michigan graduate said he?s been amazed at the diverse educated talent pool he?s found in Ann Arbor, many of whom had to leave Michigan previously to get work at a major tech company.
?I had a lot of friends that wanted to stay in this area, but didn?t have the opportunity to do it,? he said. ?I also know a lot of people that don?t want to remain in Mountain View? (California, Google?s headquarters).
Right now Burnett has 40 staffers. He arrived earlier this year with a handful of employees from California, but now they are greatly outnumbered by new hires from Michigan, he said.
But he?s been finding employees from all over the place, he said. He?s also seen a lot of resumes from talented people with Midwestern roots who want to return home.
?We?ve also hired people right out of college that want to build a career with our company,? Burnett said. ?If we can find qualified people, we will hire them as quickly as possible.?
