Japanese digital graphics company Wacom Technology Corp. is planning to move its U.S. headquarters from Vancouver to Portland in the spring of 2016.
The move will involve most of Wacom’s 160 Vancouver employees. Approximately 10-20 staff members will continue working in Clark County at the company’s Vancouver Repair Lab.
“We love Vancouver,” said Wacom COO Aaron Atkinson. “We’ve spent many years here, but I think with the technology boom and the visibility of the creative sector in the area we’re moving into – it was just a little bit greater and heightens our visibility as a company. That was really the primary driving factor [in moving].”
Wacom plans to occupy the top three floors of the new Pearl West Building (pictured above) at N.W. 14th and Irving in Portland’s Pearl District once construction on the building is complete next year.
Atkinson said the new space will allow the company to adopt a more collaborative layout for its employees. Wacom also intends to open a ground-floor retail space in the new building – something Atkinson said just wasn’t feasible at the east Vancouver facility, which is located in the Columbia Tech Center.
“[Having a retail space] was a big component,” said Atkinson. “You can’t really have a retail site here [in east Vancouver] because there’s no foot traffic. For a pure office environment this location is good, but for the connection we want to have with consumers, we just didn’t feel this particular location suited our needs now.”
Wacom has had a presence in Vancouver since the late 1980’s. The company, founded in 1983, is best known for its family of digital pen and touch technologies for creative professionals.
In a written statement, Chad Eiken, director of community & economic development for the city of Vancouver, said he was pleased Wacom chose to stay in the Portland-Vancouver metro area because they can continue to contribute to the regional economy.
Atkinson noted that Wacom did consider the Bay Area and the Seattle area as possible destinations before ultimately deciding to stay in the region.
“We’re a very key partner with Microsoft (in Seattle) and a key partner with Apple (in the Bay Area)… To be honest though, we looked at the technology epicenter in Portland and the creative market and thought that was the best direction for us. Plus the cost of living is much cheaper,” he said.
Despite the planned move, Atkinson said Wacom still sees itself as part of the Vancouver community, and he doesn’t consider the decision to relocate a “loss” for Vancouver and a “win” for Portland.
“We didn’t look at this as Portland. We looked at this as the technology epicenter. We truly feel we are part of the Vancouver and Portland area. I don’t see that Portland is winning; I don’t see that Vancouver is losing. I see that we’re going to be able to bring our creativity to both sectors and bring our creativity to the whole Pacific Northwest.”
