Comstock Township to be new location for Topsy Labs network operation center

Kathy Jennings | Thursday, September 12, 2013

A company that makes products to search, analyze and draw information from conversations and trends on sites like Twitter and Google+ has decided to locate a network operation center in Comstock Township.

The San Francisco-based Topsy Labs expects to create 35 new jobs. One job already being advertised says the company is looking for someone to provide support for Topsy's mission critical large scale infrastructure and application stack and be part of a team that monitors and troubleshoots technical issues.

Topsy Labs is expected to generate about $170,000 in new private investment in the area. The State of Michigan Strategic Fund has given a $350,000 incentive to the company for its location in Southwest Michigan. "We are grateful for the company’s decision and certain Topsy will quickly appreciate Michigan’s world class workforce,” says Michigan Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Michael A. Finney.

Comstock Township will be offering tax abatements to the company. Topsy Labs considered locations in Canada before choosing the site in Comstock.

"We look forward to becoming part of a vibrant business center in this historic community," says Topsy Vice President of Operations David Berk.

Topsy gives consumers and businesses the power to explore any question or topic using the world’s largest index of real-time public social data. Many of the largest global brands, advertising agencies, media organizations, and technology companies use Topsy as their day-to-day social dashboard.

One of its services is to provide a strategy center where a company can analyze its presence in key geographic regions and markets. A company can look at the historical baseline for its social presence and compare it against that of its competitors. It can identify trends and issues before they go viral and locate key influencers to whom they want to reach out.

“With Topsy in our midst, our region is now proudly home to the world’s only index of the public social web,” says Southwest Michigan First Chief Executive Officer Ron Kitchens.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Michigan Economic Development Corp.