Business is humming at the Celerity Innovation Center downtown. Since the company expanded to two floors of the Investment Building on Fourth Avenue, it has hired 80 people and is looking for another 50 software developers in the coming year.
Based in McLean, Va., Celerity opened branches in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Oxford Centre two years ago. The firm develops user-centered software solutions for a variety of industries, watching over the shoulders of workers to custom design applications that best meet each company’s needs. Celerity’s sweet spot is financial services and the healthcare industry and has several ongoing projects with Highmark.
The new digs will give Celerity plenty of room for growth. “We’re only halfway to where we want to be,” says Antonio Perdigoto, vice president of Solutions Delivery. “In the coming year we hope to double to about 250 to 300.”
Celerity is hiring software developers, specifically Java, FLEX, Flash and user experienced people. They are also on the lookout for a talented marketing person. The positions will be a mix of entry-level and more experience-required jobs.
“There’s world class talent here, and we need a lot more of it,” says Perdigoto. “It has been a challenge to grow as rapidly as we’d like.”
The company offers many amenities, including flexible hours, a relaxed working environment–they were named one of Pennsylvania’s Best Places to Work in 2010–and excellent coffee, he says.
Perdigoto moved to Pittsburgh three years ago, having held various entrepreneurial roles at Dell Computer Corporation, including managing Dell’s Latin America Online division.
Source: Antonio Perdigoto, Celerity Innovation Center
Writer: Deb Smit
For more of Pittsburgh’s latest and greatest, sign up here to receive Pop City in your inbox for free every week.