CenturyLink has officially opened its new 300,000-square-foot Technology Center of Excellence, which is an expansion of CenturyLink’s existing 365,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Monroe.
According to Louisiana Economic Development (LED), CenturyLink is fulfilling its 2011 announcement of the expansion, which hoped to create 800 new jobs in the area. By 2016, the company will then have 2,600 employees in the Monroe area.
The new facility includes a technology research and development lab, a network operations center, and collaborative office and meeting space. Employees have already begun moving into the new center.
CenturyLink is the third-largest telecommunications company in the United States. The company represents the No. 1 economic driver company in Northeast Louisiana and one of the Top 10 economic drivers statewide in Louisiana’s private sector.
“Today marks an important milestone for CenturyLink and our North Louisiana community as we open the CenturyLink Technology Center of Excellence, a facility that will be a key in driving our company’s future growth,” said Glen F. Post III, President and CEO of CenturyLink. “As CenturyLink transitions from a traditional network communications provider to a growing, integrated provider of advanced IP-enabled network, cloud, hosting and IT services, it will be increasingly important that we are able to attract the best talent in the world. We believe the Technology Center will help us accomplish this transition successfully.”
LED provided CenturyLink with a custom incentive package, including a performance-based grant of $14.9 million toward the headquarters expansion. CenturyLink also received $1.2 million over four years to expand CenturyLink’s partnership with Louisiana Tech University.
For more information, visit opportunitylouisiana.com.