A cloud computing company with close ties to some of the area’s largest technology employers is planning an expansion that will double its operations in Research Triangle Park over the next year, bringing about 50 new engineering jobs to the area.

VCE Company, which began as a joint venture of Cisco, EMC and VMWare to incorporate the three companies’ technology into one system, has leased 31,000 square feet of office space in the Research Triangle in a move that establishes RTP as one of the company’s three engineering hubs, alongside Boston and the Silicon Valley.

The company’s local workforce of 50 people, mostly engineers, will double to about a hundred employees over the next year, said Rick Lacroix, communications director. VCE’s Triangle engineers focus on developing new software and assisting customers. The company has over 1,000 employees worldwide.

A new report by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. says that the country's largest metropolitan areas need to refocus their energies on boosting exports.

Exports, the report says, result in higher paying jobs and provide people without college degrees more employment options.

Metro areas with a large manufacturing bases are in the best position to boost exports, the report says.

The Raleigh-Cary metro area was the 54th largest producer of exports in 2008 with total exports of $5 billion, according to the report.

That amounted to 9.8 percent of the region's economy.

An estimated 33,652 jobs are related to exports.

The Triangle exports the most products to Canada, followed by Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan and China.

The Triangle's major export industries are chemical manufacturing, computer and software manufacturing and royalties from intellectual property.

Among the local companies mentioned in the report are Aviat Networks, Environ Products, Sharp Business Systems, Quanovia, data storage company EMC and General Electric's aviation manufacturing facility in Durham.
 

EMC, a Massachusetts technology company that is expanding its operations in the Triangle, reported stronger financial results today.

The company also raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, as corporate customers revive spending on data-storage computers. The news is the latest sign that tech spending is picking up after the recession, following bullish projections from Intel, IBM, Apple and others.

EMC already employs about 750 people in the Triangle and announced plans in September to add nearly 400 more in Durham, Research Triangle Park and Apex. The company also is building a $280 million data center in Durham County.

EMC's net income for the first quarter nearly doubled to $372.7 million, or 17 cents a share. Revenue rose 23 percent to $3.89 billion.

The company also is getting a boost by customers who are buying more expensive storage products as they shift to so-called cloud computing, analysts said.

EMC shares rose 30 cents to $19.71 this morning. The stock is up 58 percent in the past year.

Data storage company EMC Corp., which last month announced plans to expand its Triangle operations, has purchased a 450,000 square foot distribution center near Research Triangle Park in Durham.

The company bought the property, called Essex Center, for $22.6 million from Crown Realty and Development of Irvine, Calif. The distribution center is in the Imperial Center business park.

Crown Realty paid $113 million for 1.58 million square feet of office, flex and industrial space in Imperial Center in December 2007. Essex Center had a tax value of $19.45 million as of Jan 1.

The company said last month that it plans to add 397 jobs in the Triangle and build a $280 million data center in Durham County.

EMC, which has existing facilities in RTP and Apex, was offered more than $8 million in state and local incentives to expand its Triangle presence. Of the 397 new jobs created, about 280 are expected to be located in RTP and at Essex Center.

Sanmina-SCI, an electronics manufacturer, currently leases 315,000 square feet in Essex Center. The remaining 135,000 square feet is vacant.

As any chamber of commerce employee will tell you, the Triangle doesn't need more cowbell, it needs more data centers. And it's been a good week for data center lovers.

Last week, EMC Corp. announced it plans to build a new data center in Durham County.

This week, Freudenberg IT is opening its third data center in the Triangle. The company, which hosts and manages other companies SAP management software systems, currently has 50 employees in the Triangle and is looking to hire more.

The company's existing data centers are in Research Triangle Park. The third one will open Thursday in Morrisville.

The top executive at EMC Corp. expects there's a "sea change" coming that will wipe out some big technology companies but create opportunities for the survivors.

The current recession is far worse than the dot-com bust that hurt sales at EMC and other companies, CEO Joe Tucci told Bloomberg News.

"When you have a sea change, it never goes back to the way it was,” Tucci told Bloomberg. “I would predict that if you look at the major players now, six years from now there is a change to that list. More than one will surf it well and more than one will not surf it well. My job is just very, very simple: Surf it well.”

On Thursday, the Massachusetts company announced plans to expand its Triangle operations and add 397 high-paying jobs in Durham, Research Triangle Park and Apex. EMC was lured partly by the promise of state and local incentives worth more than $8 million if it meets its hiring goals. The company already employs more than 900 in North Carolina, mostly in the Triangle.

EMC Corp., the maker of data-storage computers, plans to expand its Triangle operations and add nearly 400 high-paying jobs.

EMC will build a new data center in Durham County, and expand its research facility in Research Triangle Park and a manufacturing plant in Apex, officials with the N.C. Commerce Department announced this afternoon.

The Massachusetts company already employs 914 in North Carolina, mostly in the Triangle.

EMC was considering expansion in New York, Washington, Canada and Virginia, but was lured to North Carolina partly by a state grant worth up to $7.4 million over nine years. The company will have to meet hiring goals and keep its existing jobs to receive the full value of the grant.

The 397 new jobs will pay average annual salaries of $73,325.