Temprano Techvestors reignites tech, brings new jobs to Newton with $520,000 investment

CITY OF NEWTON PRESS RELEASE

NEWTON, N.C. (Sept. 1, 2016)—The city of Newton is poised for tech advancement, and has announced that Temprano Techvestors will lead the charge.

Temprano was recently awarded a North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) grant totaling $253,750 toward a total investment of up to $520,000. Temprano will locate its headquarters in Newton and will renovate an outdated office building into a state-of-the-art facility to support tech sales, marketing, support, and engineering jobs.

Temprano helps emerging market software companies bring their products to market in North America. To support that effort, Temprano plans to add new, high-tech jobs as part of its expansion.   

“I am thrilled to welcome Temprano Techvestors to Newton,” Mayor Anne P. Stedman said. “This grant will augment the significant investment they are making in our city. The benefits of the new, high-tech jobs they’re creating will ripple through our community. We look forward to continuing to partner with Temprano as they grow their business in Newton.”

The business was founded by Luke Walling, a longtime Catawba County resident, creator of several successful local startups such as Walling Data Systems, and angel investor. 

“We seek out the most promising software companies in emerging markets and help them thrive here in the US,” Walling said. “We need the talent and dedication of Newton’s best to continue the successes we’ve built with other startups in the area.”

The company is committed to hiring employees this year and expects to create up to 75 new positions during the next three years. The average wage of the jobs at Temprano will pay 110 percent above the average income per capita in the county. The new positions include technology sales and marketing, software engineering, as well as technology support and implementation roles.

These are not the only jobs Temprano will bring to the area. The RIA’s Building Reuse Program provides grants to local governments to renovate vacant buildings, or renovate and/or expand buildings occupied by existing North Carolina companies, leading to the creation of new jobs. The grant to Temprano was critical in the choice to build its new business in Newton. The grant will cover half of the $507,500 projected renovation budget. The city of Newton is matching $12,688 of the grant from the State of North Carolina.

The building that will house Temprano is located at 2105 Northwest Blvd. Blackwelder's Furniture originally constructed the building in the 1940s. Walling Development purchased it in 2007. Much of the original structure was demolished and rebuilt to honor its original look, including retaining the original bow trusses and general building profile. Walling Data moved into the space in late 2008 and was acquired by AVG Technologies in 2009. AVG occupied the 8,000-square-foot space until April 2016, when Temprano chose the space for its new endeavor.

Temprano is renovating the building to help its teams collaborate more effectively and work more productively. The renovation will create open workspaces, increasing the flow of natural light throughout, and allow for group collaboration and creative spaces. Construction will include removing walls; replacing sheetrock walls with glass; opening spaces in masonry exterior walls for new windows; improving flooring, doors, and ceilings; improving the existing HVAC; electrical and fixture upgrades; painting; and new hardware. The improvements will bring the building back to a level that will support occupancy by the employees the company wants to attract.

According to Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation, Temprano Techvestors’ investment in Newton will positively impact workforce initiatives in Catawba County and beyond.

“Every community is seeking to grow technology opportunities,” Millar said. “Temprano promises to grow our early-stage technology company presence and our technology workforce. This will have ripple effects on Catawba Valley Community College’s developing Coding Academy and other workforce initiatives we are working on in the region.”

SEE ADDITIONAL COVERAGE:
Technology company brings new jobs to Newton (Hickory Daily Record) 
Tech company plans Newton HQ (Observer News Enterprise) 
Temprano Techvestors Launches Unique "Bring Your Tech Business to America" Firm (GlobeNewswire)