Red Hat HQ to Remain in North Carolina

Jan 12, 2011

"Red Hat has enjoyed a great partnership with the State of North Carolina and we are really excited to continue on this path. This is a very exciting time for Red Hat and its employees!" --Leigh Day, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications for Red Hat.

In her economic announcement on Monday, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue announced that Red Hat plans to keep its headquarters in Wake County, North Carolina.

“Nothing makes me happier than to announce that Red Hat is staying in North Carolina – except, perhaps, to say they are also adding 540 new jobs,” said Gov. Perdue in her announcement Monday. “Red Hat is a homegrown, high-tech, global brand and we fought hard to keep them here. That’s because economic development – and growing jobs now – isn’t just about wooing outside companies. It’s about taking care of the ones we already have, and encouraging them to put down their roots even deeper,” she said.

“We have not yet defined the roles we plan to hire. Future hiring plans will be dependent on how the company grows and shifts," said Leigh Day, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications for Red Hat. “The jobs will be local to the NC area and there are no plans to relocate employees to Wake County at this time,” she said.

Wake Technical Community College (WTCC) is one place in which Red Hat has the opportunity to develop that deeper “root system.” WTCC offers a Red Hat Administration Certificate program and is listed as a Red Hat Academy (RHA). Red Hat continues to expand on its “The Open Source Way (TOSW)”, and Linux Pro Magazine (LPM) wondered whether there were plans to expand both the Open Source offerings and include TOSW at the Community College level. “We are working with WTCC to expand their open source curriculum; however,details on execution plans are under development,” Day said.

Although there were no plans to include TOSW in WTCC’s current offerings, Day did agree that bringing TOSW to the college and high schools levels to help gain that “deeper root” system in the Wake county area by introducing open source via Red Hat, was a good suggestion.

At this time, it's unclear when Red Hat will announce the actual location of the project or when it will be completed, but Day did say, “The selection process is underway. We don't have an exact time line, but expect to make a decision soon.”

Comments

  • What secret deal was offered?

    Government should be open and we should know exactly what deal was offered to Red Hat by NC.

    If it was some reduction in the burden of NC tax or bureacracy, then that reduction should be built into the law and applied to ALL enterprises evenly. It isnlt right that the State should be able to choose who it taxes and who it doesn't. I believe this is unconstitutional under Federal Law.

    There are some stupid niggling taxes on enterpries in NC which ought not to exist and cost more in admin than they are worth: Examples:

    -the 0.15% Franchise tax which is applied to the larger of
    (I) the corporation's authorized (not issued) share capital
    (ii) The corporations assets, including inventory

    0.15% may look small, but if you are struggling along making just 1.5% profit, it is 10% of your profit.

    -the "business property tax" which NC counties impose on all tools and equipment as well as real estate
    (This is probably the worst, as why in the world should a compnay with expensive plant choose to expose themselves to this by locating in NC?)

    -Sales tax on materials purchased for R&D. This increases the cost of doing R&D in NC by 6% compared
    to some other states

    -Machinery and fuel tax likewise. You get penalized by a 3% tax for investing in plant in NC

    -State Income Tax on corporate profits AND on dividends paid from those profits Many states don't have even single taxation let alone this double taxation.

    NC is NOT a business-friendly state.

  • Red Hat stays in NC

    This struck me as a non-decision unless it was a threat to get concessions from NC. Why move to silicon valley where all your op costs are substantially higher?

    This is a smart move. Red Hat has been enjoying some great earnings and market growth where they are. "Don't fix what ain't broke."
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