Broadridge, a fintech company its president calls “the most important company you’ve never heard of,” cut the ribbon on its new headquarters in Newark on Monday afternoon at 2 Gateway Center.
But, based on the list of dignitaries from around the city at the event, you can be sure the Newark community is well aware of the company.
More importantly, it is well aware of the more than 1,000 jobs Broadridge brought to the city from its previous location in Jersey City.
The move came with $23 million in Grow New Jersey tax credits over 10 years approved by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in 2016. But it was about more than money, the president of Broadridge’s Global Technology and Operations division said.
For Charlie Marchesani, it was about culture and community.
“If I (can) just share the word on the street or the word in the halls,” he said. “I continue to get tremendous feedback from our associates about the new location, the community, the building, the design.
“I love coming here. I walk in and I feel a tremendous energy from our associates with what we’ve been able to accomplish here, and that is translating into levels of communication and collaboration that we didn’t have before.”
Newark is glad to have the company.
Ben Korman, the co-founder and CEO of C&K Properties, owner of 2 Gateway Center, called the company one of the most important tech companies in the country.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said he was thrilled to have the company in his town, and gave credit to the numerous institutions that helped recruit it here.
“We are churning it out because we all benefit,” he said. “Broadridge benefits, the city benefits, the residents benefit, other institutions benefit, so we are happy about this day.”
Broadridge will take up three-plus floors in the building, more than enough room to do what it does so well.
Even if many can’t understand it.
In simple terms, Broadridge is a global fintech leader that helps clients transform their business with advanced communications, technology, operations, data and analytics solutions.
It has more than an $8 billion market capitalization.
President Tim Gokey described it this way.
“Financial services is a big industry,” he said. “We have a very specific part of that.
“We support operations and technology for capital markets firms, growth management firms and asset management firms. And we do that in a very specific way. We support the back office of these firms.”