Software company breaks ground in S.B.
Town will be home of Infragistics' headquarters
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer
Alocal software company with a global reach is moving to town. Infragistics, a technology company that provides user interface development tools and expertise in the user experience market, broke ground for its new home in South Brunswick last week. Members of the Township Council were among the attendees at the June 16 ceremony, which was held at the company's new location on Commerce Drive.

The site is near New Jersey Turnpike Exit 8A, and Robert Wolf, the company's vice president of global strategies, said the South Brunswick office building offers a convenient location for its employees from throughout the region.

"We wanted to make sure that we were centrally located," he said.

The East Windsor-based company, which is in the Greater Princeton area, plans to more than double its work force with its move to the anticipated headquarters in South Brunswick.

"We employ 135 people here [in East Windsor]," Wolf said. "The reason we're moving to the new premises is so we can grow to 300."

Infragistics' customers include the Mountain View, Calif.-based software company Intuit, which makes personal finance programs like Quicken and TurboTax. Infragistics makes tools for Microsoft and Java platforms in order to help those who write software applications.

"We make tools for software developers," Wolf said.

Infragistics operates out of the U.S., Bulgaria, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Canada. Wolf said that major banks and financial institutions and health care companies use the services provided by Infragistics.

"If you write software, in the Microsoft environment especially, you've probably been exposed to our tools," Wolf said.

The company has been operating for more than two decades, Wolf said, and it has experienced rapid growth over the past 10 years. The Monroe resident described the company as environmentally friendly, since its products are ideas for software tools.

"The only thing we make are ideas," Wolf said.

Infragistics CEO Dean Guida is a resident of the Dayton section of South Brunswick who knows South Brunswick Deputy Mayor Christopher Killmurray as a fellow member of the board of directors for the local Boy Scouts organization, Wolf said.

"South Brunswick, we think, is very business friendly, and the fact that our CEO is known by a number of people in the town for a number of years made it very attractive to come," Wolf said. "We think they're going to be a great partner for us going forward."

Wolf and Guida formerly owned their own companies, Sheridan Software Systems and ProtoView Development Corp., which merged in 2000. Wolf said they have known each other for almost 20 years.

Infragistics competes with Microsoft and Google for the best talent in the industry, Wolf said. The move will allow the company to provide its employees with a high-quality work environment, he said, while benefiting South Brunswick's tax base.

"I think it's the chance to have a green and a growing company come in as an employer," Wolf said. "For us, we're going in there and we're looking to build a great home. … We want to build a really great home for our people."

Wolf said the timeline for the business' relocation to South Brunswick depends on the state of the economy, but it should take place within three to five years. He said if construction begins this summer, Structure Tone Inc. could complete the work by March or April of next year.

A 54,000-square-foot, two-story office and warehouse building currently stands on the property, and Infragistics plans to convert the warehouse space to offices, which will result in the property having over 70,000 square feet of office space, Wolf said. Wolf said that Randy Miller, the director of operations, has been working with the architects on this project.

Wolf noted that a hearth area is being built, along with a gym, a deck, an area for bamboo, and outdoor spaces for conferences that are hotspots, or locations with Internet access over a wireless local area network.

"It's less common here than in the West Coast," Wolf said, noting that he and Guida first saw it used in Japan a few years ago. The architectural firm for the project, HLW International LLP, is responsible for the New York Stock Exchange and the Google office building in New York City.

South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese said the company's move to town is a significant event for a municipality that is looking for technology businesses that would be appropriate for the area's economic initiative dubbed Einstein's Alley.

"I'm really pleased anytime you get the reuse of an existing building and a company moving to that building," Gambatese said.

Contact Michael Acker at

macker@gmnews.com