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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

GeoDigital International Relocates Canadian Headquarters To Atlanta, Georgia

07/21/2015
GeoDigital International Inc., a leader in big spatial data and analytics, will move its North American headquarters from Canada to a 11,200-square-foot, state-of-the-art office space at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia. The company plans to create approximately 50 new high-tech jobs in Fulton County over the next year.

Company officials said they are at the forefront of the fast-growing autonomous, or self-driving, vehicle industry. Using precision technology called LiDAR, a kind of ‘laser range finder’, combined with high-definition imagery, GeoDigital is creating the industry’s most detailed 3D maps of the entire North American highway system. These ‘digital roads’ include data on topography, road surfaces, lanes, and other information critical to the safe and smooth driving experience of autonomous cars. GeoDigital is providing these services to a major automaker, as well as several Tier 1 suppliers.

“GeoDigital is excited to join and add to the vibrant mix of Atlanta-based technology employers,” said Chris Warrington, President/CEO of GeoDigital. “Given our growth and the tremendous market potential for GeoDigital’s big spatial data and analytics software, we simply got to the point where we needed greater access to high-tech talent and international travel routes. Atlanta meets both of those needs. Equally important, the region will be a great place to live and work for our team.”

The firm is also using this technology to help efficiently inspect thousands of miles of power lines for asset and vegetation issues, serving the vast majority of the country’s largest utility companies, including PPL, Xcel Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, and many of the Southern Company entities. By digitizing vegetation management, utility companies can better predict and respond to areas that are at risk of causing outages and better inform their crews while keeping them safer. GeoDigital solutions also assist compliancy with recent federal regulation to protect the nation’s power grid against vegetation outages.

“Georgia is a hub for headquarter relocations – especially for technology companies,” said Chris Carr, Commissioner of Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Since the beginning of our fiscal year, which concluded not even three weeks ago, we have announced ten corporate headquarter relocations and more than 4,200 technology jobs in Georgia. It’s clear that fast-growing global companies such as GeoDigital are finding our state the ideal location to better reach customers nationwide.”

The newly created jobs will encompass a number of functions, including executive management, information technology, research and development, sales, marketing, project management, finance and accounting, and human resources. To help fill future employment opportunities, GeoDigital plans to work with Kennesaw State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to create apprenticeship programs.

Shirlynn Brownell, GDEcD Project Manager, assisted GeoDigital on behalf of Georgia and partnered with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Georgia Power.

“GeoDigital’s headquarters relocation speaks to the talent, innovation and growth coming out of the technology ecosystem in metro Atlanta,” said Brian P. McGowan, Executive Vice President and COO for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “We are thrilled to welcome GeoDigital to the growing base of international companies that are choosing Atlanta as their operating hub and look forward to working with the team as they grow their presence in the region.”

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