DETROIT (WXYZ) — Eccalon, an AI & high-tech cybersecurity firm that is also a Department of Defense contractor, announced it is moving its headquarters from Maryland to Detroit.
The company is in the process of purchasing the Bedrock-owned Icon building along the Detroit Riverfront, according to a press release by the company and the City of Detroit and Eccalon. That building is the former UAW-GM Center for Human Resources.
Watch below: Take a tour of 'The Icon,' a 420K square foot building on Detroit's riverfront for sale
According to the company, the move to Detroit is expected to create up to 800 new jobs. Eccalon is also investing $71 million to purchase the building, and the jobs will have average wages of $60.80 per hour, plus benefits by 2031.
Along with the move, Eccalon said that it will establish a dedicated training center within The Icon, which will include immersive simulation environments, cyber ranges and hands-on manufacturing labs.
“With the exciting momentum in Detroit, we are proud to establish our headquarters at The Icon building,” Eccalon Chairman and CEO André Gudger said in a statement. “Eccalon will help attract and train skilled talent in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing and nurture a resilient and adaptive workforce.”
According to the company press release, Eccalon has deep expertise in cybersecurity, AI, machine learning, DevSecOps, program management, workforce development and STEM.
"A successful high-tech company like Eccalon could have taken their headquarters to Silicon Valley or Austin or Chicago but saw Detroit as the best place for them to flourish and grow,” Mayor Mike Duggan added in a statement. “The fact that Eccalon chose Detroit over other cities shows that Detroit has established itself as a desirable location for major high-tech companies.”
According to documents filed with the Michigan Strategic Fund, Eccalon will receive a $10 million grant to help upgrade the building complex.
The document from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said the renovations will span the entire facility, "including some reconfiguration of the seven floors for research and development labs, flexible training rooms, startup incubator spaces, collaborative offices, digital fabrication/maker labs, and high-performance computing labs, a digital training academy or public access innovation center, and a broadcasting center of excellence."
In 2021, Bedrock purchased the former UAW-GM Training Center, which was renamed The Icon.
