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New Office Has 70,000 Square Feet to Accommodate 250 Local Employees with Room for More Hires;
Centro Has Experienced a Decade of Profitable Growth in the Technology and Digital Advertising Industry
Chicago – April 29, 2015 – Centro (centro.net), a provider of enterprise-class software for digital advertising, today announced a multi-year lease with Sullivan Center in Chicago to occupy 70,000 square feet in the landmark building in the Loop. The company will move its headquarters, with more than 250 local employees, to the structure by the end of the year. Centro will have a sizable presence in the heart of the business capital of the Midwest. The development has been endorsed by World Business Chicago (WBC), a not-for-profit economic development organization chaired by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“Centro is an excellent model for the city because of its continued innovation and focus on employee advancement,” said Jeff Malehorn, president & CEO of World Business Chicago. “Chicago is one of the top cities for technology with an unmatched talent pool. We are excited to continue working with Centro, whose growth and culture has solidified its strong reputation for cultivating technology-focused professionals.”
Formerly known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building, Sullivan Center was designed by renowned architect Louis Henri Sullivan and is an important structure of early modern architecture in the U.S. Centro’s employees will benefit from many of the building’s features, including its central location and bay-wide windows that allow for the greatest amount of daylight into each floor space and office unit.
“Building a beautiful physical environment is critical to creating and maintaining a happy, creative, imaginative and hard-working atmosphere,” said Shawn Riegsecker, founder and CEO of Centro. “The Sullivan Center is a 19th-century architectural masterpiece located at the corner of State and Madison Avenues — literally, the center of downtown Chicago. I’m excited for Centro to anchor a technology revitalization in the heart of the city in the Loop.”
A major driver of employment growth for Chicago’s technology and advertising sectors, Centro has created more than 150 new jobs in the city since 2010. Poised for continued expansion because of demand for its digital media automation technology, Centro will add more local employees in areas such as software engineering, design, sales, and account management. The company has been cited by media outlets as one of the best places to work in Chicago. Nationally, it ranks as the eighth best workplace among medium-sized businesses and the number one overall workplace in the advertising industry.
In addition to Centro doubling headquarter space, its other offices have kept up the same aggressive business pace and are poised for expansion this year. Its New York team is set to move to a 26,000 square foot space, and plans are underway to augment Dallas, Los Angeles and Toronto offices. This will give ample room for the fast growing 600-person company to compete and further develop its technology platform.
Centro was founded in Chicago in 2001 with a mission to automate the buying and selling of digital advertising. Bootstrapped for nearly a decade, the company grew revenue profitably and widened its national presence, while firmly deepening its roots in Chicago.
About Centro
Centro (centro.net) is creating a platform to make digital advertising easier. Its enterprise-class software centralizes, organizes and automates all digital media campaigns across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory, to achieve any objective. Our holistic approach gives marketers a single system of record to fulfill their research, planning, buying, optimization, reporting and reconciliation needs. Since 2001, Centro has successfully planned and executed more than 190,000 national and local campaigns across all digital display platforms and ad format types. Headquartered in Chicago with 35 offices in North America, Centro’s success and commitment to culture has led to many accolades, including #1 on Crain’s Best Places to Work in Chicago in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, #1 on Advertising Age’s Best Place to Work in Media & Advertising in 2014, #8 on Fortune’s Best Medium-Size Workplace in 2014, and #6 on Crain’s Best Place to Work in New York.
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