NCR move could boost Atlanta's tech base

NCR, the Dayton, Ohio-based technology giant that's moving its headquarters to Georgia, already has deep ties to Atlanta.

Some of metro Atlanta's biggest companies have huge contracts with NCR for cash registers, bank ATMs and airline check-in kiosks.

More NCR employees, 2,800, work in the metro area than work in Dayton, with 1,300. That number is growing as the company adds another 900 jobs at its retail and service centers in Duluth and Peachtree City.

When NCR's move is complete, it will become Georgia's 13th largest publicly traded company, with $5.32 billion in revenue in 2008.

It's not clear if the move will include top executives or just more of the company's operations.

The company's board of directors has allowed the current CEO to live in New York, after initially requiring him to move to Dayton. Later, the company opened executive offices in Lower Manhattan.

An NCR corporate headquarters will boost Atlanta's technology industry. A company brochure says NCR holds 2,000 active patents with another 1,000 pending. Globally, NCR operates 30,000 ATMs and 200,000 retail devices.

Home Depot, the Atlanta-based home improvement giant, exclusively uses NCR for its self-service registers, and NCR is one of its vendors of standard cash registers, a spokesman said.

NCR built more than 2,000 check-in kiosks for Delta Air Lines, the world's largest airline confirmed.

And SunTrust Banks says NCR supplies the vast majority of its ATMs.

NCR also has a deal to transform how the Atlanta Spirit — owners of the Hawks and Thrashers — communicates with fans.

One reason NCR was attracted to moving more operations to Georgia: international flights.

From Atlanta, Delta flies directly to Shanghai, China, where NCR has been aggressively pursuing business. It recently sold 2,500 point-of-sale terminals to Dico's Fried Chicken, one of China's largest fast-food franchisers, and 6,000 ATMs to China's five largest commercial banks.

Worldwide, NCR serves 19 of the top 20 banks, 17 of the top 20 retailers, seven of the top 10 telecoms and five of the top six airlines.

The company has been hard hit by the crisis in the banking industry and the retail slowdown.

Fewer retailers and banks are buying new equipment.

First-quarter revenue declined 15 percent and the company's stock has tumbled from a 52-week high of $28.09 to close at $11.39 on Monday.

Recently, NCR spun off subsidiary Teradata into a publicly traded company, which had $1.75 billion in sales in 2008.

Still, the company sees a growth potential in self-serve technologies. It estimates that by 2012, self-service kiosks will generate transactions valued at $1.7 trillion.

NCR already handles $400 billion in annual commerce and 23 billion transactions.

The company was founded as the National Cash Register Co. in 1884, two years before Coca-Cola was invented.

The company founder, John Patterson, also started the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.