Growth prompts tech firm’s move from Upper St. Clair
KIRWAN HEIGHTS – In an era when cutbacks are more common, Accion Labs has grown to a point where change became necessary.
The technology firm cut the ribbon recently for its new headquarters in Collier Township after relocating from cozier space on Boyce Road in Upper St. Clair.
Kinesh Doshi speaks during the open house at Accion Labs’ new office in Collier Township.
“We loved the environment that was there,” chief executive officer Kinesh Doshi said, “but we needed to be in a more formal place.”
He was among the company officials who greeted visitors during an open house in June, showing them around the 9,000-square-foot office of the fourth floor of DDI Plaza I, 1225 Washington Pike.
Accion is in the process of filling some 10 new positions and is poised to add more in the future as demand for its offerings grows. The firm specializes in working with organizations to help them incorporate emerging technologies, such as rich internet applications, service-oriented architecture, software as a service, business intelligence and data warehousing, automation and big data.
Doshi founded Accion in 2011 with Tony Kernan, vice president of business development, and Sandesh Sukumaran, vice president of talent acquisition. Since then, the operation has expanded to 12 locations in the United States, India, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and, as of November, Canada.
The main office, though, remains in the Pittsburgh area, where Doshi made his home in 2000.
“People are really hard-working and are better-educated, with all the universities and technology organizations. There are a lot of tech companies here that really provide a robust, good source of talent, as well as a source of business for us,” he said. “We believe this is where we absolutely want to continue to grow. This is where we want to keep our headquarters.”
Accion operations manager Jennifer Wells speaks with senior account manager Chris Rosleck at the new office.
He also has observed that Western Pennsylvania residents tend to want to stay put.
“We don’t have a fear of losing them to the Bay Area or losing them to Austin or losing them to New York City,” Doshi explained. “So our retention rates are very high.”
Amy Halter, vice president of human resources and operations, led a transition team that sought a location with prime access – Interstate 79’s Collier-Heidelberg exit is nearby – and an office that provides plenty of room for collaborative work areas. Joining her in planning for the move was operations manager Jennifer Wells, an Upper St. Clair resident.
“It was a long process,” Wells said. “A lot of decisions had to be made to accommodate the growth that we plan, to make sure we can expand and not grow out of the building too soon.”
For more information, visit www.accionlabs.com.