TechSmith Announces New Headquarters in East Lansing
POSTED: Tuesday, June 29, 2021
AUTHOR: Emily Andersen
CATEGORY: Foundation News
EAST LANSING, Mich. –– TechSmith today announced the company is moving its headquarters from its Okemos location to Michigan State University’s campus. MSU and the Michigan State University Foundation are partnering to develop a 62,500 square-foot, two-story office building in the south portion of Spartan Village for this new tenant. The office building will be located on approximately five acres of land at the corner of South Crescent and Harrison Road, 14 Crescent Rd., East Lansing Michigan 48823.
“In a growing tech company, it’s all about attracting and enabling the right talent,” said Wendy Hamilton, TechSmith CEO. “We look forward to providing a world-class tech facility to our amazing team that reinforces our culture, creativity, and collaboration. We are also committed to supporting Michigan State University and the Lansing region as community stakeholders.”
TechSmith is returning to East Lansing, where they started more than 30 years ago. The new headquarters will enhance employee wellbeing, connectedness to one another, talent opportunities, community partnerships and involvement, local brand awareness, and internship programs. Construction for the new facility began June 1, 2021, and is anticipated to conclude June 2022.
“TechSmith has been a longstanding business within the East Lansing community, and this latest investment reaffirms that Michigan is the best place to nurture and grow talent within our communities,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “With companies like TechSmith continuing to invest in our state, we know that we will build back our state’s economy stronger than ever before."
MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. said, “We’re pleased to welcome TechSmith to a location closer to our campus. They have been a great collaborator with the university for over a decade and this move will facilitate opportunities to further build upon our relationship.”
TechSmith has been a long-time sponsor of MSU, bringing interesting projects to MSU computer science students in the College of Engineering, such as Teacher’s Virtual Toolbelt, Cloud-Based Video Tracking, and Video Sentiment Analysis.
“One of the College of Engineering’s missions is economic development for the region and state of Michigan,” said Dr. Leo Kempel, Dean of the MSU College of Engineering and Dennis P. Nyquist Endowed Professor. “As more technology-based companies, such as TechSmith, locate near MSU academic locations, there will be increasing opportunities for our students, faculty and departments to interact with those companies and get MSU innovations into the marketplace, creating more high-tech jobs in mid-Michigan and statewide."
In addition to their Design Day sponsorship, TechSmith recruits between 20-30 undergraduate students for summer internships each year. Many of those internships are extended beyond the summer, providing students the ability to work between 10-25 hours per week during their semester.
“The College of Engineering’s capstone programs and Design Day would not be possible without the continued support and sponsorship of our strategic partners like TechSmith,” said Dr. Wayne Dyksen, MSU Professor of Computer Science and Executive Director of Design Day. “TechSmith’s generosity, time and coaching of our capstone teams gives our students real-world challenges required in the next generation of engineering graduates.”
Currently, TechSmith employs approximately 300 employees and intends to hire around 30 additional full-time positions across several areas of the business.
“Our proximity to campus is a competitive advantage,” said Hamilton. “TechSmith will continue to recruit and retain talented individuals from MSU while becoming a foundational partner in the MSU Innovation Network.”
Wendy Hamilton speaks at groundbreaking ceremony.
The MSU Innovation Network creates dynamic partnership opportunities for industry, government, and independent entities in ways that help translate the vitality of the MSU discovery and innovation engine into economic and community value. MSU Innovation Network and its partners are committed to discovery and innovation that advance our communities, state, and region.
The project is made possible by several organizations besides TechSmith and MSU. Through the leadership of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), both the City of East Lansing and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation provided incentive packages directly to TechSmith as part of the program. The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $15 million with the support of a $250,000 Jobs Ready Michigan performance-based grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund, awarded in December.
“This project will create and retain good, high paying jobs in a booming industry and at an internationally known local company—precisely the high-value targeted jobs people want, and the type of jobs we need in the region,” said Bob Trezise, president, and CEO of LEAP.
The MSU Foundation will serve as the developer for this new headquarter building and The Christman Company will serve as construction manager.
About TechSmith
TechSmith specializes in software that helps anyone create and share images and videos for better training, tutorials, lessons, and everyday communication. Our flagship products Snagit and Camtasia are sold in 190 countries supporting more than 73 million users worldwide.
About Michigan State University
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.