Photo by Brittany Dierken
Blake Irving, GoDaddy CEO. Photo by Brittany Dierken

A GoDaddy-themed pedal kart tore through a large banner to initiate the opening of the GoDaddy Global Technology Center in Tempe this morning.

The GoDaddy Global Technology Center has opened its doors to bridge the gap between work and home by constructing a professional environment that allows employees to work hard and play hard.

“This thing [GoDaddy Global Technology Center] is something Arizona has never seen and I am not sure the tech industry has ever seen anything like it either,” said Blake Irving, GoDaddy CEO.

The new “killer tech facility” has many employee-friendly amenities, such as a slide from the top level to the bottom level, a gym, a basketball court, full-service kitchen and game center. Most of the employees’ reactions “have been between disbelief and awe,” Irving said.

“[The GoDaddy Global Technology Center] is just a great place to get work done. It really aligns with the values the company has about joining forces, being exceptional and extraordinary, and working together,” Irving said. “[Employees] said ‘My morale is incredibly high. I feel like I can get a lot more work done here.’”

The 150,000 square-foot tech facility was completed in a record time of 17 months and will house 1,100 employees with shifts going around the clock.

“This is brand new and the first of GoDaddy’s kind. It will have some existing employees, but what they are really trying to do is be the think tank or the pod of developing new products, new sites, and more effective solutions for their customers,” said Molly Ryan Carson, Ryan Companies US, Inc. vice president of development.

Location was key when drawing up the designs for this massive facility. GoDaddy partnered with the ASU Research Park that encompasses 320 acres, 125 developed acres, owned and leased by the university through the research park board and foundation. The location offers connection with Arizona State University for hiring, use of research areas, and idea collaborations, according to Carson.

“Being close to ASU and on the ASU Research Park campus is important. Folks know where it is and it is a central location. We’re super convenient to attract that pool of students, 17,000 engineering students and 6,000 matriculating every year in Arizona,” Irving said.

Mark Mitchell, mayor of Tempe, expressed how excited he was to have GoDaddy, a billion-dollar global leader in technology, in Tempe and said, “The caliber of the talent that GoDaddy attracts is going to enhance Tempe as a whole.”

GoDaddy is setting a new standard in the workplace and is accelerating at high-speed in innovation. The amenities provide employees with ways to stimulate their imagination and collaborate with each other over a game of ping-pong or coffee in one of the 55 different kinds of chairs. GoDaddy has tried to make the workplace “as comfortable, flexible, and functional as possible for their employees,” Carson said.

“I couldn’t be more proud to have built this facility and to continue having GoDaddy be a fixture in Arizona. It is exactly the type of company we need to retain and attract. It just says so much for our growing economy and who we are,” Carson said.