Internet firm to move headquarters, 75 jobs to Stockbridge
An Atlanta Internet firm is relocating its headquarters to Stockbridge, bringing 75 jobs and a project that will boost the city’s stature as a major data center hub.
Over the next two years, the deal between World Internet Group and Stockbridge will create jobs in cloud computing, mobile technology and Internet security — areas in which the privately held company has built its name.
The announcement follows a $15 million fiber-optic deal the city signed in May with Savannah-based Community Broadband LLC, which also is moving its headquarters to Stockbridge. Under that deal, some 5,300 commercial businesses and schools will have access to better broadband capacity that’s 100 times faster than most home broadband connections.
With two big deals in play, city officials expect a ripple effect in job creation on the Southside. They reason that as businesses become better connected, they’ll become more competitive and able to add more workers.
Such thinking along with its pro-business and pro-technology stances helped Stockbridge beat out 10 other cities, World Internet Group officials said.
“We could not be more pleased with our decision to headquarter and grow in Stockbridge,” World Internet Group founder and Chief Executive Scott Barres said. “City leadership is very progressive, and that’s key for growing companies.” Barres also cited Stockbridge’s $15 million fiber-optic deal as another reason for moving to the city.
Under the Community Broadband deal, all of Henry County ultimately will get state-of-the-art high-speed Internet capacity. City officials called the deal an economic game-changer for the Southside. Community Broadband will develop, build and run a fiber-optic network supported by a 206-mile fiber-optic backbone that will have more Internet capacity than any other network in the Southeast. That project is slated to be in operation next summer.
