A $2.9-million customer service centre for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud service is expected to move next year into temporary quarters at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre's Accelerator Hub in the city’s downtown.
City councillors will learn details tonight of The Createch Group's plan to move Dynamics 365 support to the Sault from its current home in Montreal.
Thirty local jobs will be created by next April, half of them entry-level and half highly experienced IT professionals.
The number of Sault jobs could grow to as many as 250 within five years, depending on the success of the revamped customer relationship management software, the company says.
Createch's most pessimistic job-creation projections show 80 new jobs being created by 2021.
During the summer of 2018, the operation is expected to move to Level 3 in the E Wing of Sault College's new Institute of Environment Education and Entrepreneurship building.
City council will be asked to provide $100,000 a year over two years to Createch from the city's economic development fund, conditional on additional funding from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) and FedNor.
NOHFC is being asked for $500,000 a year for the two years, while FedNor will be asked for $200,000.
Createch-Bell will supply $325,000 a year in cash and a total of $497,205 over two years in in-kind contributions, while $75,000 a year will come from Microsoft.
The new IT business services and consulting centre will provide remote customer training, advisory and consulting services on the new Microsoft enterprise management software and cloud technology.
Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. says the project should grow to 50 employees over two years.
Montreal-based Createch maintains offices in Ottawa, Hamilton, Mississauga, Calgary and Quebec City. It boasts more than 200 expert consultants with 1,200 business clients.
The Createch Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Canada.
The Sault startup will be headed by Mario Chabot, who ran the geomatics program at Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre from 1999 to 2003.
After a prolonged absence from Northern Ontario, Chabot is now Createch's Microsoft general manager and project lead.
It was because of his experience here that Chabot recommended the city as a potential location for the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 operation.
The company cites cost efficiencies, quality of life, a lack of competition, and the city’s educational institutions among the reasons for choosing the Sault.
Algoma University and Sault College are expected to collaborate in the new Createch project. The company will hire local postsecondary graduates from IT, accounting and marketing programs, although it's expected to also recruit outside the Sault for higher-level positions.
"Services 365 would represent the largest project undertaken with the potential for significant job creation in the community," says Createch in its application to the city.
"It would leverage smaller, past success and launch a revolutionary platform for growth in the community....and serve as a catalyst for the transformation to the knowledge economy that the community is proactively seeking."
One big advantage offered by the project, Createch says, is the chance to establish a strong local talent pool for Microsoft cloud services.
"Through a true community-wide collaboration, it is envisioned that Sault Ste. Marie stakeholders will utilize this project and the recognition of Bell and Microsoft brands to establish a platform to train youth, repatriate young professionals that have left the community and attract young professionals to the community."
The Services 365 initiative will support software apps for five business operations: marketing, selling, onboarding, supporting and extending Dynamics 365 Business Edition.
Services will be offered in English and French.
At first, the Sault service will focus on the Canadian market, although its services will soon be offered to U.S.-based Microsoft partners as well.
Because it will be cloud-based, the Sault office will have no computer servers or traditional telephones.
Skype will be used to communicate with clients.
