GoDaddy Sets New Workplace Standard with State-of-the-Art Facility

GoDaddy, the world’s largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses, officially opened the GoDaddy Global Technology Center yesterday morning in Tempe. The new facility supports more than 1,100 colleagues, including engineers, developers and corporate staff, along with small business consultants. Two hundred people have been hired to work in Tempe since last year’s groundbreaking, and in the months ahead, GoDaddy expects to hire another 250 people.

“This is a killer facility. It embodies our GoDaddy spirit, which is energetic, innovative and passionate. It also supports our company culture and values to be extraordinary, own outcomes and join forces,” said GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving. “We are here to help our customers succeed, and it all starts at our core, with our own employees. This environment is collaborative, fun, open and stimulating – exactly what fuels creativity for our customers, helps us attract top-tier talent and gives us a competitive advantage.”

The stunning 150,000-square-foot facility is a specially-designed two-story facility located in the sprawling ASU Research Park in Tempe. The employee-friendly amenities include a fitness area, locker rooms, yoga room, game center, indoor-climbing wall, a go-kart track, relaxation stations, a putting green, plus GoDaddy bicycles, outdoor basketball and sand volleyball courts, as well as a soccer field, eco-friendly features and a giant slide from the second-floor office area into a full-service kitchen with on-site chefs.

“The caliber of tech talent GoDaddy attracts is an absolute asset for our whole community,” said Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell. “GoDaddy is a great example of a company that started with a simple idea and quickly grew into a billion-dollar global company right here in Arizona. We love the go-getter attitude of the company and the employees.”

GoDaddy’s mission is to radically shift the global economy toward small business by empowering people to easily start, confidently grow and successfully run their own ventures. GoDaddy employs more than 4,000 people. Its headquarters is in Scottsdale, but the company has opened other collaborative offices over the past 18 months near Seattle, as well as in Sunnyvale, Calif., and in Cambridge, Mass., near the MIT campus. GoDaddy now serves more than 12 million customers around the world and offers products and support in 42 markets, 44 currencies and 17 languages.

“GoDaddy’s Global Technology Center is synergistic with ASU’s focus on innovation, creativity and collaboration,” said Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, ASU senior vice president for Knowledge Enterprise Development. “ASU is excited to partner with GoDaddy to accomplish our mutual goals of training a highly talented work force, advancing collaborative research and contributing to economic development.”

Leaders from the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Arizona Commerce Authority, Ryan Companies US, Inc., and SmithGroupJJR were at the opening ceremony, along with GoDaddy employees. Guests were toured about the facility, which included trips down the giant GoDaddy slide.

As for how the building was officially opened, CEO Blake Irving and engineer Jolie Gayles pedaled go-karts breaking through the paper seal of a giant GoDaddy logo in what was a most unorthodox “ribbon cutting.”

“This GoDaddy facility is unmatched in the state of Arizona. Ryan Companies is so proud to have helped produce this incredible facility, our ninth building constructed in ASU Research Park. The GoDaddy Global Technology Center is a signature building created uniquely for GoDaddy’s dynamic work force. It really does set a new standard when it comes to Arizona workplace environments,” said Ryan Companies US, Inc. chairman Tim Gray.

“We designed to create a space that was reflective of GoDaddy’s mission, an environment that promotes a sense of movement, collaboration and energy. The GoDaddy team articulated their notion to ‘think big’ on this project, and we believe we delivered,” said SmithGroupJJR interior designer Michelle Goodlive.

“GoDaddy’s expansion is a testament to the strong business climate and level of talent in the Greater Phoenix region,” said Greater Phoenix Economic Council President and CEO Barry Broome. “The strategic location of the new GoDaddy Global Technology Center at the ASU Research Park provides continued talent production from the community colleges and universities.”

The office opening launched a week of technology events that reflect GoDaddy’s values and investment in people and technology. Wednesday is the opening of The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, the largest gathering of women technologists in the world, which is sponsored by GoDaddy and being held in downtown Phoenix. CEO Blake Irving and Chief Technology Officer Elissa Murphy are both speaking at the event, as well as sponsoring students to attend. The sponsored students are set to visit the GoDaddy Global Technology Center later this week.