iCIMS signs lease for new home at Bell Works

Bell Works hosted a public lease signing with its newest tenant, software solutions company iCIMS, on Wednesday.The event was held in the atrium of the 2 million-square-foot former Bell Labs facility in Holmdel.

In his address, iCIMS CEO Colin Day called his company’s relocation a personal “homecoming.”

“I feel as if I’ve come full circle. Early in my career as a recruiter, I placed exceptional candidates into Bell Labs,” Day said. “The impressive technology created by talented people in this building will once again echo as iCIMS will usher in a new era of technology and innovation in the Garden State and continue our strong growth and profitability as we make our transition into Bell Works. (This) opens a new chapter for iCIMS.”

Tim Lizura, president and chief operating officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, said iCIMS’ investment in the Bell Works project, which is headed by Somerset Development, was a step toward growing the burgeoning technology hub here in the Garden State.

“What creating and retaining jobs does is to build communities,” Lizura said. “That’s what job creation and economic development is all about.”

He also said that iCIMS’ decision to stay in the state, when opportunities to relocate had arisen, was validation of that fact.

“It’s going to be home to discoveries, and businesses making those discoveries,” he said. “We are a technology state, we’ve always been a technology state and iCIMS’ decision to stay in the state of New Jersey, versus leave, ratifies New Jersey’s leadership in the technology community.”

The company, which has been based in Matawan, was approved in June for a 10-year, $38 million tax credit by the EDA. It employs about 552 people between two sites in New Jersey, and anticipates hiring another 390 in the near term, the EDA said at the time of the credit award.

Day echoed the sentiments in his statements, saying that this was about more than just his company.

“We hope to just be a part of a vision, and I can’t say how excited we are to join other amazing technology companies,” he said. “We don’t want this to be just our success; we want this to be the success of the entire community.”