Global employee engagement technology firm Vantage Circle is looking to be part of Calgary’s tech industry story, in a big way.
The company provides businesses with software tools to help engage with their employees through perks and rewards programs.
Vantage Circle, which has been in operation for 11 years and currently has offices in five countries, has worked with some of the biggest names in the banking, IT, telecommunications, logistics, manufacturing, and retail industries.
Nikhil Norula, head of Americas and global partnerships at Vantage Circle, said that the post-pandemic tech ecosystem in Alberta, and specifically in Calgary, makes the city right for a new Americas headquarters.
“Now when things are getting back to normal, we would love to really get back into an office and have that kind of ecosystem,” said Norula.
“I can’t think of a better city, and I actually encourage a lot of other companies who are thinking about what to do now that they’re getting back into offices, I tell them, ‘get your butts up here to Calgary,'” he said.
Right mix of factors in Calgary for tech businesses
Norula pointed to the economic and labour factors that are favourable for growing tech business, and for engaging with clients throughout Canada, that have been developing in Calgary over a number of years.
“The economics, the people, the culture—it’s amazing,” he said.
“There’s a lot of good work that the city has done, the administration has done, in attracting companies to come here with all the economic benefits, but I think a lot has also do do with the fact that some of those big companies took that leap of faith, and that’s attracting a lot of talent.”
Among those the big names in the tech sector that have begun to make significant investments are Amazon Web Services, Google, and IBM.
The lower cost of living than in other Canadian tech hubs like Vancouver or Toronto, along with an easily accessible international airport to connect with clients in the United States, were cited as strong reasons by Norula to choose Calgary.
“Looking through the lens of where do you want to build your Americas headquarters—not just North America, but a full Americans headquarters—how do you balance all of these things and how do you weigh that decision?” said Derek Wenisch, senior business development manager with Vantage Circle.
“What the provincial government, the city, even the extent the federal government are doing to really promote innovation in Calgary—and what Platform Calgary and Startup TNT are doing—all of these, people are just really going above and beyond to rise all tides, to rise everybody in the ecosystem.”
He said that alignment across orders of government, and in business, goes a long way to helping the entire tech ecosystem achieve its overall goals and objectives.
New staff being added, some relocating from outside of the city
Vantage Circle is looking to add at least a dozen new staff to their Calgary roster by the end of this year. Norula said that even with the skill and labour pool growing in the city, they’re still having to recruit from other parts of Canada.
“But hey, guess what, they’re willing to relocate—we have a couple of people who just accepted an offer and they’re relocating from Vancouver and from Toronto,” he said.
Echoing the City’s slogan, “be part of the energy,” Norula said that this is the place where the energy is.
“This is where the energy is, in the true sense,” he said.
“That’s also synonymous with our business: we’re in the business of creating energy within the teams and employees of our clients, so we’re part of energy too, and this city is all about energy, what else you want.”
