IT firm Atomic Data has vacated its 12-year home in crowded North Loop for a larger headquarters that can accommodate 155 of its 165 employees in Marquette Plaza, the refurbished former Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank.
Growing Atomic Data consolidates Downtown and adds partnership with Summit Academy
The 17-year-old IT-services-and-security is adding employees.
August 9, 2018 at 1:47AM
![Jim Wolford, CEO and co-founder of Atomic Data, has just added a data-storage center downtown as part of its long-term growth plan.] tsong-taataarii@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/YADLWVI2U5BRNUOSOKUE53ZIHM.jpg?&w=712)
The newly renovated space, most of the 11th floor, houses 80-plus Atomic Data engineers, technician, and administrative staff in the same location as its flagship Minneapolis Central Data Center as well as its service desk, network operations center and more.
Marquette Plaza also provides Atomic Data with a larger space to accommodate a still-growing workforce.
CEO Jim Wolford, also a founder of the company, said he expects revenue to hit $30 million this year, and to be at 200-plus employees by the end of first quarter 2019.
"Business is good," Wolford said "And we promote from within, so that creates opportunities."
Atomic Data's previous headquarters at 615 N. 3rd St. since 2009, will serve as the new home of FoundationTechnologies, an Atomic Data's sister company.
The company, which has been working to diversify its workforce through the IT-training program, IT Ready, also recently struck an agreement with Summit Academy of North Minneapolis to train up to 30 people of color who also get an Atomic Data internship.
"Our goal is to hire all of them when they graduate in December," Wolford said. "We'll probably hire 20 to 25, as some take other jobs. We're growing and we need [entry-level] employees and we'll also hire from the next class after this one.
"CEO Louis King from Summit Academy and I have been working on this for sometime. I'm excited about this first group of 30. They just haven't had great opportunities.
"They will get two months of soft-skill training and two months of industry training and then we provide our customized training and internships. And some of them will be hired by clients, such as Great Clips or International Dairy Queen."
The program is funded by Atomic Data and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
State surveyors struggled to get Minnesotans to talk about their post-COVID health, but found a high rate of symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog.
