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NCR to move headquarters to Georgia

Learn more about Duluth, where NCR is moving its headquarters to in Georgia.

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The NCR building on Patterson Boulevard in Dayton. The company, founded in Dayton in the 19th century, is moving its headquarters and 1,250 jobs to Georgia.

Ty Greenlees The NCR building on Patterson Boulevard in Dayton. The company, founded in Dayton in the 19th century, is moving its headquarters and 1,250 jobs to Georgia.

CEO says Dayton owed ‘a great deal of gratitude’ for past 125 years

By Tom Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 7:57 AM Wednesday, June 3, 2009

DAYTON — NCR will move its corporate headquarters from Dayton to Duluth, Ga., taking with it more than one thousand jobs from here.

An NCR statement said the move would bring 1,250 jobs to Duluth, with another 870 headed to Columbus, Ga., where NCR will manufacture ATMs.

In an internal memo sent to employees, NCR Corp. CEO Bill Nuti said “a great deal of gratitude” is owed the city of Dayton for “the past 125 years.”

But Nuti also wrote: “As we look forward, NCR needs to align itself for future growth and drive the lowest cost structure in our industry.”

The memo seeks to explain the decision to pull NCR from Dayton to create nearly 2,000 jobs in Georgia, a move that Nuti predicted will “drive tens of millions of dollars in cost savings for NCR over the next ten years.”

The move means of the loss of Dayton’s sole Fortune 500 corporate headquarters.

Georgia put up more than $60 million in tax breaks and other incentives to lure NCR.

A last-ditch $31.1 million offer by Ohio’s governor to keep the company in Dayton fell short of Georgia’s bid, an NCR official said.

“We did not receive [the Ohio] offer until this evening. ... It pales in comparison to what Georgia is giving,” he said.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher said at a press conference in Dayton today, “I have called Mr. Nuti many times without a single response. The first time the state government spoke with Mr. Nuti was in the last 24 hours.”

In the memo sent to employees, Nuti wrote, “The decision to consolidate functions in Georgia and build a corporate headquarters campus focused on innovation is in line with our business strategy to drive growth, improve our innovation output, increase productivity and continually upgrade our focus on the customer. In addition, we will decrease time-to-market for innovative solutions, improve our internal collaboration, deliver next generation employee education programs and lower our current operating costs.”

The move to Georgia will be complete by the end of 2010, Nuti wrote.

Nuti also wrote that “this news is a significant event for NCR, Georgia and our company stakeholders — it may create questions and an eagerness for answers for many employees. During the month of July, HR will work with affected employees and managers as we transition to our new innovation center.”

NCR, which produces cash registers, bank ATMs and airline check-in kiosks, already has deep ties to Georgia.

More of the company’s employees, 2,800, currently work in the metro area than in Dayton, with 1,300. That number was already slated to grow by 900 jobs through previously announced additions to its retail and service centers in Duluth and Peachtree City.

The move is a big blow to Dayton. The company was founded as the National Cash Register Co. in 1884. Company founder John Patterson also started the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.

At one time, NCR employed nearly 60,000 people in Ohio.

At the end of 2008, it had 22,400 employees worldwide.

NCR’s corporate headquarters could boost Atlanta’s technology industry. NCR holds 2,000 active patents with another 1,000 pending, a company brochure says. Globally, NCR operates 30,000 ATMs and 200,000 retail devices.

One reason NCR might be attracted to moving more operations to Georgia: international flights.

From Atlanta, Delta flies direct to Shanghai, China, where NCR has been aggressively pursuing business. Worldwide, NCR serves 19 of the top 20 banks, 17 of the top 20 retailers, 7 of the top 10 telecoms and five of the top six airlines.

Some of metro Atlanta’s biggest companies have huge contracts with NCR.

Home Depot, the Atlanta-based home improvement giant, exclusively uses NCR for its self-service registers, and NCR is one of its vendors of standard cash registers, a spokesman said.

NCR built more than 2,000 check-in kiosks for Delta Air Lines, the world’s largest airline confirmed, and SunTrust Banks says the company supplies the vast majority of its ATMs.

NCR has been hard hit by the crisis in the banking industry and the retail slowdown, as fewer retailers or banks are buying new equipment.

First-quarter revenue declined 15 percent and the company’s stock has tumbled from a 52-week high of $28.09. It closed at $11.39 on Monday.

NCR already handles $400 billion in annual commerce and 23 billion transactions.

NCR would be Georgia’s 13th largest publicly traded company, with $5.32 billion in revenue in 2008.

Cox News Service contributed to this article.

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