GoDaddy moving into new headquarters in this tech-rich portion of metro Phoenix
GoDaddy Inc. is in the final stages of moving into a new headquarters in Tempe, joining a growing mix of companies in the technology-rich southeast Valley.
The move from Scottsdale to Arizona State University Research Park near Loop 101 and Warner Road was eight years in the making since the domain registrar and web-hosting company first broke ground in Tempe. In April, GoDaddy began to consolidate its local employees into the new Tempe campus and an office in Gilbert, with plans to complete the process by the end of July.
GoDaddy employs 3,100 people in Arizona out of a global workforce of 9,600. The company’s new headquarters are at 2155 E. GoDaddy Way in Tempe.
Emergence of southeast Valley
Arizona currently has 40 larger public corporations with a stock market worth of at least $1 billion. The vast majority are now clustered in eastern metro Phoenix.
With the GoDaddy move, Tempe is now home to nine of those corporations, tied with Scottsdale. Phoenix has the most corporate headquarters with 18. Chandler has two, and Mesa and Tucson have one each. The southeast Valley also counts other large employers, from a regional office of State Farm in Tempe to an expanding Intel semiconductor campus in Chandler.
Cities compete vigorously for headquarters for reasons ranging from enhancing their tax bases to attracting more suppliers and vendors. Tempe in particular can point to several beneficial factors for luring large employers, including the main campus of Arizona State University, Tempe Town Lake and proximity to Sky Harbor International Airport and major freeways.
GoDaddy fits the technology billing. The company now describes itself as an entity that “empowers everyday entrepreneurs around the world by providing all of the help and tools to succeed online.” In particular, it’s “the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers, sell their products and services, and manage their work.”
Changing nature of work
The company isn’t reducing its Arizona workforce as a result of the headquarters shift but instead is actively hiring.
The move to Tempe was partly borne out of a desire to allow employees more work flexibility and remote options, especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As part of our new, hybrid work model, we understand our offices will be used less but with more intentionality — to meet, collaborate and connect with one another,” said Calvin Crowder, GoDaddy’s vice president of global real estate. “The office will continue to be an essential place for our people to come together.”
GoDaddy said it will utilize a “Hub-Club-Home” model, where some employees work full-time in an office (the hub), some work part of the week in an office (the club) and others work exclusively from home. GoDaddy also cited a wide employee base in Tempe and the surrounding area for the move.