Microsoft may be headquartered in Redmond, but they are a worldwide company that has products all over the place, including Canada. Now, to inspire better development and increase their reach, as well as tap into more local talent, Microsoft is expanding their facilities. Currently, they have development centers located around the world, including several in the U.S., Ireland, Denmark and Israel.
Citing economic benefits as well as benefits to Microsoft, they will be opening a new software development center in Vancouver, B.C., which they hope will act as a "beacon" to software development folk from all around:
"Microsoft is a global company, and our greatest asset is smart, talented, highly skilled people," said S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. "Our goal as a company is to attract the next generation of leading software developers from all parts of the world, and this center will be a beacon for some of that talent."
No word on the size of the center, or how many people they intend to employ at the new facility. It seems odd they would locate a new building so close to their existing Redmond headquarters, but for population density it makes sense if they were aiming primarily for a Canadian opportunity. You can read the full press release at Microsoft's site.