Arizona nabs European software company

February 19, 2013

A European-based software development company has selected Arizona for its U.S. headquarters. The governor’s office announced the arrival of Stealth Software will bring 200 tech jobs to the state.

PETER O’DOWD: The company’s European headquarters are split between Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Stealth Software manages and protects its customers’ data at physical locations and in the digital cloud. CEO Gerard Warrens says his company used a third party to compare potential locations in the U.S. and provide Stealth Software with an idea of what it costs to operate in different states.

GERARD WARRENS: We wanted to know, how is the skill set? What is the talent pool in Arizona? How does that compare to other states? The other thing is the fact that there are more and more software companies coming to Arizona, and also more and more data centers which to us are potential customers

O’DOWD: Warrens says Arizona’s friendly business environment and lack of natural disasters also played a big role. The company is currently talking with five different Arizona cities but no decision has been made yet about the company’s physical location.

KJZZ's Emily Johnson contributed to this report.