MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WITN) - 21st Century Software Technologies (21CS) is leaving Boston Harbor for Morehead City’s beachy views and celebrated its grand opening on Tuesday at their new new headquarters.
“It’s a beautiful place to be and I can understand why everyone is relocating,” says 21CS marketing specialist.
The software company is known for developing mainframes for airplane businesses, banks, large retailers, along other government agencies.
21CS Eddy Ciliendo says that after deciding to move its headquarters, some have wondered how they ended up choosing Morehead City.
Ciliendo believes that North Carolina has significant potential, particularly due to the Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Charlotte, which are both prime locations for company headquarters along with their business partner location within the state but it was Carteret County that caught his attention.
He says he was drawn to Morehead City and Carteret County for its offerings, such as weather, his love of fishing, and the impressive pool of talent available among applicants for 21CS.
“I mean, fisherman paradise, as Morehead City is called, probably had a big play there,” says Ciliendo. “But then again, for our family, great schools. Everything is so convenient, we have everything here. There’s a lot that my family loves down here.”
Ciliendo says the majority of the 25 people they’ve hired are from the area and have needed mainframe skills.
“That knowledge is fairly rare, and we couldn’t believe that when we put those job postings out that we would actually find people here in Carteret County with those rare skills,” says Ciliendo.
21CS says it invested $455,000 to relocate from Boston to Morehead City.
With the new jobs, the company says the annual payroll impact is also expected to be $2.2 million within the area.
For Carteret County Chamber of Commerce chairman Tom Hemby, he says a software company calling Morehead City home could lead to drawing in other companies to the area.
“So far me it was very refreshing, very exciting for this company for itself to come down. But I’m more excited about what it will bring to the area,” says Hemby.
The annual wages for the 25 new positions average around $88,000.00 compared to the county’s average salary range of $41,000.00.
A performance-based grant of $25,000 from the “One North Carolina Fund” was awarded to 21CS to help the company relocate.
The funds provided financial assistance to governments to help attract economic investment and create jobs.
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