Weidenhammer buys building in WMU’s tech park

Weidenhammer, a company that specializes in management software for schools, has outgrown its current location at the Holiday Terrace and has purchased the Granite Park I building in Western Michigan University’s Business Technology and Research Park.

Weidenhammer develops management tools for primary and secondary educators such as gradebooks, accounting and payroll software, “whatever enables administrators to  operate the schools,” says Weidenhammer President John Weidenhammer.

The company initially will occupy 3,500 square feet when it moves into the site in December, but expects to be able to expand beyond that as needed, he says.

Within 18 months, the company’s local staff of 20 will grow by at least 10. The company also expects to use the new site to move employees from its other locations and to build a data center in the building to accommodate the cloud computing needs of its clients.

“We’re seeing a decided movement among our clients in general. They’re rapidly moving from their onsite IT departments to the cloud,” Weidenhammer says.

The company was attracted the WMU’s business park by the proximity of other IT firms in the building, he says. In other similar locations the company has worked with others in an exchange of ideas, Weidenhammer says, and the company looks forward to similar collaborations here. “Western Michigan (University) has a great IT department. We want to collaborate with professors and the research being done there.”

The company already employs interns from WMU and that practice will continue and grow in the new location at 4664 Campus Drive.

Nationwide, Weidenhammer employs about 200 IT professionals and its clients include more than 1,000 school districts in 40 states.

The company has been in Michigan since 2004 and has corporate headquarters in Reading, Pa. It also has Pennsylvania locations in Bethlehem, Lancaster and Philadelphia. Other offices are in Denver, Col., and Mesa, Ariz.

Launched in late 1999, the BTR Park is home nearly 40 companies directly employing about 700 people.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: John Weidenhammer, Weidenhammer