Texas, the Lone Star state which used to be a home for just oil and gas, is now primed to be the next Silicon Valley. Known for its very rich economic system, the second largest economy in the United States and the ninth largest in the world, is attracting top brands and technology companies who are now expanding their operations to the state.
iCentra, a business and technology solutions company, in line with its growth and expansion plan, has also chosen Texas as its base to provide the US and the North American markets with its service offerings in the areas of Technology Solutions Business Consulting, Project Management, as well as Learning and Development.
“Over the last decade, we have been committed to delivering transformation to organizations and executives across the globe with an outstanding team of experts committed to help organizations achieve their business goals. We felt the need to reach a much larger audience, hence the organization’s decision to explore new horizons,” Taopheek Babayeju, iCentra Chief Executive Officer, said.
Texas is a destination of choice to many businesses for several factors including strong economy, robust workforce, state-of-the-art infrastructure and business climate, among others. It has surpassed California in high-tech exports. In 2019, when 1,800 companies left California, most went to Texas, and about 42,500 people reportedly left California for Texas in the same year.
iCentra began operations in West Africa in 2009 and has served clients across the globe through its offices in Abuja, Nigeria and London, United Kingdom, and most recently Texas, United States. The company was incorporated in Texas in September 2019 but was unable to commence physical operations until 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
In 2020, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO announced that he had moved from California to Texas. And by early 2022, the automaker confirmed that it has started to produce vehicles at its $1.1 billion Travis County manufacturing facility.
Similarly, two years ago, Amazon chose Houston for one of its prized Tech Hubs. The company occupies 25,000-square-feet of space in Citycenter with a team of more than 150 Amazon Web Services employees.
Oracle and Hewlett Packard are among the tech giants that announced plans to move their headquarters to Texas. Google has also built a presence in Texas, capitalizing on a wealth of innovation and talent in the area.
In recent years, Dallas-Fort Worth has benefitted from the fundamentals of affordable home prices, lower costs of living, and low taxes as national brands like Charles Schwab, Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, Liberty Mutual, McKesson, State Farm, and Toyota have either relocated or significantly expanded their operations.
Drew Houston, Dropbox CEO and Douglas Merritt, the CEO of technology firm Splunk, are also new residents of Texas.
