Accenture Opens Innovation Hub in Seattle, Adding 300 Jobs to City's Tech Community

New hub designed to help clients reimagine their businesses for the digital economy

Accenture ACN today opened a new innovation hub in the heart of Seattle's business, financial and tech district. It is an immersive environment in which clients co-innovate with their Accenture teams to design solutions for the digital economy.

As part of its investment in Seattle, Accenture is adding 300 highly skilled technology jobs by the end of 2020 and expanding its U.S. apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship program provides under-represented groups greater access to innovation-economy jobs. Accenture's national program will grow to more than 150 apprentices by the end of this year, building upon the success of the company's apprenticeship programs in other cities, including Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit and San Antonio.

"Many world-class organizations have been born, bred and built in Seattle, and we continue to push the envelope for global innovation," said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. "Our tech footprint keeps growing, and today's news is a clear indicator that Seattle is not slowing down. I'm pleased to see Accenture's commitment to driving growth for local organizations, creating new job opportunities and investing in the local community."

Julie Sweet, Accenture's chief executive officer — North America, added, "Our investment in Seattle ensures that we have the critical talent and capabilities to help our clients create, implement and scale solutions for the digital economy. We are an innovation-led company, committed to helping this important market continue to grow and flourish as a tech destination."

The new innovation hub is designed as an environment where clients can work side-by-side with their Accenture teams to ideate, rapidly prototype and then scale innovative products and services. It includes a Fjord design studio to facilitate a design-thinking approach to problem solving and a Liquid Studio that quickly turns concepts into prototypes through rapid software application development.

In the new space, Accenture is co-located with Avanade, the leading digital innovator in the Microsoft ecosystem. Created as a joint venture with Microsoft, Avanade works with Accenture to help clients engage customers, empower employees, optimize operations and transform products through the power of Microsoft.

"As we continue to drive economic growth throughout the region, it is critical for local companies to promote programs that are finding new ways — and creating new opportunities — to train and hire talent from across the community," said Dow Constantine, King County Executive. "I appreciate Accenture's investment here, and its commitment to creating job opportunities for all of our residents through its community partnerships."

Accenture's innovation hub in Seattle is part of a network of U.S. hubs including in Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; metro Detroit; Houston; New York; metro San Francisco and metro Washington, D.C. These hubs are connected to more than 100 locations around the globe to seamlessly bring the best of Accenture's global investments and insights to its clients on the ground in the United States.

"Our Seattle innovation hub is a gamechanger for our people and our clients," said Gil Wootton, Seattle Office Lead, Accenture. "The work that we do with our clients is advancing their innovation agenda and sustaining their leadership in their industries."

Accenture in the United States

Accenture is a leading professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Serving 95 of the Fortune 100 and more than 70 percent of the Fortune 500, Accenture employs an innovation-led approach to help clients imagine and invent their future. The company has more than 50,000 people and operations in 42 cities in the United States. Accenture was named one of the leading companies to Change the World by Fortune magazine and is consistently recognized as a FORTUNE Blue Ribbon Company. With an unwavering commitment to inclusion and diversity, the company appears regularly on FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For and DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity lists. Visit us at accenture.com/US.

About Avanade

Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences delivered through the power of people and the Microsoft ecosystem. Our professionals bring bold, fresh thinking combined with technology, business and industry expertise to help fuel transformation and growth for our clients and their customers. Avanade has 34,000 digitally connected people across 24 countries, bringing clients the best thinking through a collaborative culture that honors diversity and reflects the communities in which we operate. Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation. Learn more at www.avanade.com.

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