TECH IN OMAHA
WORDPRESS wizards BEN JACKSON, OMAHA SITE LEADER, VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES, WP ENGINE
Staggering Growth
WORDPRESS GIANT WP ENGINE BUILDS OMAHA HUB WP Engine has been in a position to hire more than 30 new team members at its Omaha “hub” (office) in 2021, and local site leader and Vice President of Sales, Ben Jackson, noted the global WordPress hosting leader is poised to double the size of the staff working out of its new 66,000-square-foot space. That space, within the historic Ashton Building, serves as an anchor for the Millwork Commons development and is already serving as a model for WP Engine’s other hubs throughout the world — from its Austin, Texas corporate headquarters, to its new hub in Limerick, Ireland. “Of course, every company has been affected by the ‘Great Resignation,’” Jackson said. “But our hiring is based on company growth, not backfilling.” In fact, he added that WP Engine is hiring locally in product and engineering to build new offerings, in sales to sell those products, and in support to take care of its diverse customer base. For Omaha’s future hiring, a continuation of a trajectory going back two years (WP Engine acquired Omaha-born Flywheel in 2019), Jackson said new hires will likely fill roles in every team and department at “nearly every level.” This includes sales, support and product engineering, as well as finance, marketing, and technical support. “We have enough room in our current space to double in size over the next two to five years,” he said. Additionally, Jackson emphasized Omaha’s access to a deep talent pool of “great customer-facing roles.”
“Specifically, due to the local diversity and ‘accent-neutral’ range of talent,” he added.
New digs At the time of this writing, of WP Engine’s 1,200 employees worldwide, about 200 people work in the Omaha area. Its space, which spans the third and fourth floors of the Ashton building at 1229 Millwork Ave., can accommodate 400 employees. “Our office in Omaha was ready for occupancy around Memorial Day of 2020; however, due to COVID pushing us all to remote working, we weren’t able to occupy it for more than a year,” Jackson recalled. “We opened it in a limited capacity in early July, and have scaled it up and back, depending on our local COVID restrictions.” Within an 1800s-era furniture warehouse, the hub’s physical quarters also get “rave feedback” on historical features, restored and accented, such as wooden beams, elevator and sliding metal doors, a custom staircase and skylight. “This office is truly a reflection of the people who work here,” Jackson said, when asked about how feedback from employees was integrated into the design of the space. “‘Design matters’ is one of our core values. So, every piece of art you see on the walls around the office was made by someone on our team.” A “social bunch,” Jackson said everything was built around a vibrant core complete with kitchen, bar, lounge and patio.
Page 14 • December 3, 2021
