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
Homegrown Resonate Pictures cultivates corporate market through creative risks
The same creative energy reverberating through cities like Los Angeles, New York City and Portland can be found in Kansas City, said Marc Havener, the filmmaker behind Lawrence-based Resonate Pictures. His message for fellow creatives: “We can make this back home.” After 10 years on the sets of blockbuster movies like “Pirates of the Caribbean,”…
Happy Food gathers ingredients for nationwide grocery platform, meal-locating app
Happy Food Co. has grown beyond distributing flavorful meal kits through small, standalone coolers at Kansas City-area Price Chopper and Hen House locations, said chef and co-founder Kiersten Firquain. The 2017 Startland Under the Radar startup has now developed a software platform — in partnership with retailers nationwide and 75 local vendors — to enable grocers…
Porch Light Plans hopes to bring durable, affordable home design to the masses
Modern homes should be durable and well-designed enough to last hundreds of years, said Katie Hoke. Lawrence-based Porch Light Plans combines sleek aesthetics with thicker insulation and fewer windows to achieve a contemporary housing option with the potential to slash utility bills in half, said Hoke co-founder of the boutique architectural design firm. “If every…
WYCO sunglasses customizes KC cool for a brightly-colored nationwide vision
Kasey Skala frames WYCO as a Kansas City brand ready to look beyond county or state boundaries, he said. “I think it’s great that we started here in the Midwest. We’re proud of being a Midwest brand, growing it here and taking [advantage of] what Kansas City has to offer,” said Skala, WYCO chief marketing…