Information tech company plans expansion in Hartford, aiming to hire 180
GalaxE.Solutions, the New Jersey-based information technology company that raised its corporate flag in downtown Hartford in 2019, said Thursday it is expanding in the city again, with plans to hire another 180 technology workers.
Since establishing a hub in Hartford, GalaxE, a company that works primarily in the insurance and health care industries, has hired about 220 employees so far, said Tim Bryan, GalaxE’s chief executive.
With the pandemic still a concern, those employees are working remotely, the majority of them in the Greater Hartford area, Bryan said. But the company has leased an entire floor that GalaxE plans to “fill up” once it is safe.
“We are filling technology jobs in Hartford and in doing that, we’re helping to reinforce the image of Hartford as a technology hub where businesses can come and expect to have a robust technology workforce,” Bryan said, in an interview.
Hartford’s efforts to raise its profile as a center of innovation and technology got a major boost when India-based Infosys said in late 2018 it would locate a $21 million hub downtown, hiring as many as 1,000 workers.
Last year, HCL Technologies, an Indian technology company that provides digital services to businesses, leased space at State House Square and announced plans to hire 200 for a new global delivery center downtown.
GalaxE’s Bryan said 100 of the new jobs planned for Hartford were formerly tech workers at an offshore company in the Phillipines. The workers will staff a service desk for a major GalaxE customer.
“So we’re not talking you or me calling a credit card answering center,” Bryan said. “We’re talking about a desk where computer problems inside a company are identified and the first steps to diagnosing remediation are taken.”
Another 80 employees will be part of a workforce development program focused on information technology. The program is designed to recruit and train a “culturally, racially and ethically diverse and inclusive workforce,” with an emphasis on hiring city residents, GalaxE said, in a release.
Increasingly, companies of all sizes are turning to information technology companies such as GalaxE and HCL because of the rapid pace of change in computer technology.
Bloomfield-based Cigna, the health insurance giant, was instrumental in bringing GalaxE to Hartford. GalaxE was a longtime vendor to Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefits manager that Cigna acquired in 2018.
Prior to the pandemic, GalaxE had talked about wanting the buy a building in downtown Hartford for its offices. Bryan said a decision on a purchase is on hold until GalaxE determines its office space needs for Hartford as the pandemic winds down.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin Thursday praised the expansion announcement.
“Our city is a hub for information technology, and we’re proud to have companies like GalaxE.Solutions that build partnerships and invest in the people of Hartford,” Bronin said.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
