Thomson Reuters, a news and information company, will open a new internal cybersecurity operations center in downtown Richmond. The company announced Wednesday that it would occupy about 10,000 square feet at Riverfront Plaza and plans to employ up to 60 people by the end of 2018.
Tim McKnight, chief information security officer for Thomson Reuters, said the new “cyber fusion” center would be an important element of the company’s enhanced information security program. “Establishing a presence in Richmond provides us excellent access to talent and cyber-related resources from the nearby academic, research and military communities. We look forward to being a good corporate citizen in the Richmond community,” McKnight said in a statement.
Besides its labor force, Richmond’s low operational cost factored into Reuter’s decision, according to the Greater Richmond Partnership. The agency said Florida, South Carolina and Maryland also were under consideration for the project. “We had the exact real estate that Thomson Reuters was looking for with an ideal talent pipeline so the project moved very quickly. We hope to be able to attract more of the company’s operations in the future,” said Barry Matherly, president and CEO of the partnership.
