Virgin Mobile takes to downtown skyline for HQ, plans to hire 100
January 12, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
About six months after announcing its move to Kansas City, Virgin Mobile has selected the site of its new headquarters.
Virgin Mobile announced Wednesday that the firm signed a lease at One Kansas City Place at 1200 Main St. in downtown Kansas City. Virgin selected Kansas City as the location for its new headquarters in July as it relaunched its rebrand under Overland Park-based Sprint. Virgin hired 27 full-time employees in 2016, but hopes to hire up to 100 more this year.
“Kansas City is a national hub of entrepreneurial spirit and sophisticated start-ups, which is the perfect backdrop for our new office as we evolve the Virgin Mobile brand and elevate it to new heights,” Virgin CEO Dow Draper said in a release. “Also, this innovation district is a natural setting for a bold brand like Virgin, which does things differently and changes business for good.”
To focus on pre-paid phone sales, Sprint — then Sprint Nextel — purchased Virgin Mobile for $483 million in 2009. English business mogul Sir Richard Branson founded the Virgin Group, of which Virgin Mobile USA was a part. The conglomerate owns more than 400 companies around the world.
If Virgin creates 84 new jobs over the next five years, Missouri agreed to grant up to $1.87 million in incentives through its Missouri Works program.
“We are proud of our role, as well as our Missouri partners’, in attracting the headquarters of Virgin Mobile to Kansas City,” said president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council Tim Cowden in a release. “Virgin Mobile seriously considered several major metro areas for its headquarters, but we made the case through a strong entrepreneurial and tech community along with vibrant livability, proving that Kansas City was the best choice.”
Architecture and design firm GastingerWalker& was tapped for the project. Draper said the design reflects the culture of Virgin, which he hopes will attract the right employees.
“We’re looking for pattern breakers and smart disruptors with restless start-up energy and ideas that will add real value to people’s lives through mobile products and services,” Draper said.
Virgin Mobile now has positions in customer service, mobile technology, digital marketing, branding, operations, logistics, finance, IT and engineering.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Built to last, bought with intention: How JE Dunn set supplier diversity as a cornerstone
Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity. Approaching supplier diversity for the long haul means defining the work — without limiting it, said Jason Banks, describing how Kansas City-based construction icon JE…
Rally Gin pours into KC as childhood friends mix spirit of resilience with Black-owned, woman-owned brand
After launching in the Los Angeles market, Rally Gin is coming home — distilling a pandemic dream into Kansas City reality. “We have so much pride in being Kansas City natives and are thrilled to share Rally Gin with the town,” said Alysha Daicy, co-founder. A launch event honoring Rally’s expansion into the Midwest is planned…
Hack Midwest set for July return — challenging coders to build game-changing apps in 24 hours
After a four year hiatus, Kansas City’s largest coding competition is back, bringing with it more than 300 of the region’s most talented software engineers — set to battle it out in July for prizes and honors. “Adding to Kansas City’s momentum as a leading tech hub, Hack Midwest gives passionate software engineers the opportunity to…
It’s wheels up for KC flight attendant-turned headwear designer: Heavy Head takes flight
Jaclyn Heupel had a gut feeling early in the pandemic that she would eventually get furloughed from her job as a flight attendant with American Airlines. Brainstorming ideas for a side gig to help her pass the time led Heupel to a sewing machine and fabric. Watching YouTube videos brought experimentation with materials. She settled…