More good news for the Metro economy.

I've always thought Norman has tremendous potential for these types of companies... I hope this is just the beginning.




Software firm plans Norman office


By The Associated Press

NORMAN -- A software testing company plans to open an office here that will eventually employ about 200 people in jobs with salaries averaging $45,000 a year .

San Jose, Calif.-based Software Development Technologies will draw its work force from University of Oklahoma graduates and students, said Edward Kit, the company's president and chief executive officer.

Company offices will be in the former Saxon Publishing Building near Norman Business Park. Kit said he expects the hiring process to take 18 months to two years to complete.

"We evaluated a dozen U.S. urban areas and chose Norman for its high availability of technically trained people, central location and ease of doing business," Kit said.

He said cities like Norman are becoming more popular as businesses rethink relying on offshore locations.

About a dozen SDT employees have been operating in space leased from Moore Norman Technology Center, which has a contract to train the company's future hires.

SDT develops and markets software testing tools. The company has other operations in Manchester, N.H., and Hyderabad, India.

Kit founded SDT in 1992 to help customers implement software test best practices, tools and methods to improve return on investment for software development. He said the company serves many Fortune 500 companies in industries ranging from manufacturing to financial services and telecommunications.

The Norman Economic Development Coalition helped arrange state incentives for SDT, the training arrangements with Moore Norman Technology Center and other location details.

SDT will qualify for the state's Quality Jobs Program, which provides incentives to companies expanding or locating to Oklahoma. The program, administered by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, provides quarterly cash payments of up to 5 percent of new taxable payroll for qualifying companies, for up to 10 years.