After considering spaces in Pennsylvania, southern California and Ann Arbor for its third location, software company Force by Design
decided to go green and expand to downtown East Lansing.
Force by Design, opening soon in the East Lansing Marriott at 300 M.A.C. Ave., is a 3-year-old company based out of California focused on helping companies use a type of location-independent software called cloud computing, said Micaiah Filkins, one of the founders of Force by Design.
He said the company was looking to expand and chose East Lansing because of the noncompetitive atmosphere.
“There’s nobody else that does what we do (in the surrounding area),” Filkins said. “The competitive landscape is pretty attractive.”
Being a former East Lansing resident, Filkins said another reason the company chose the East Lansing location was because of the close proximity to MSU students and a well-established downtown area.
“We’re right across the street from MSU,” he said. “We liked that it was central, right downtown (as well).”
He said Force by Design has begun the hiring process and already has hired a few MSU graduates as well as other qualified individuals.
Having more technology-focused businesses in the area likely would increase the number of jobs in the area and improve the economy, computer science senior Dennis Cornwell said.
“(Companies like Force by Design) have potential to bring more wealth back to the state of Michigan, especially back to the Lansing area,” Cornwell said. “I think that getting more jobs like this would definitely help the economy.”
Nathan Moore, a media and communication technology senior, said the opportunities for MSU students looking to go into a computer-related field would increase if more companies similar to Force by Design came into the area.
“It’s really nice to have many options, because options are good when you’re looking for jobs,” Moore said.
Moore said it might encourage MSU graduates to stay in the East Lansing area as well because it offers more lucrative jobs that would appeal to graduates coming out of college.
The addition of a strong office-type downtown business would help stabilize the seasonality of downtown East Lansing and is a valuable asset for the city, said Jeff Smith, project manager of new economy initiatives in East Lansing.
“They had a potential of growing significantly — they’re the type of business they want in the downtown,” Smith said.
Filkins said he anticipates the East Lansing location will be up and running some-time within the next few weeks.
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