Software firm plans fitness-themed office

BOULDER – A software company that was founded in Munich, Germany, is trying a novel way to compete for workers. It wants to open a North American office with an endurance-sports theme – and do it in Boulder, a mecca for fitness and health enthusiasts.

Hybris sells multichannel e-commerce and product-content management software. With offices in North America, Europe and Australia, the privately held company boasts more than 500 companies as customers, including General Electric, Thomson Reuters, 3M, Toys “R” Us, Levi’s and Nikon.

The company has a short list of possible sites in Boulder and hopes to open by summer with about 30 employees, said Nathalie Parent, Hybris’ Montreal-based vice president for human resources. She said the office in Boulder will be under the direction of triathlete Marc Graveline, Hybris’ vice president for engineering research and development, who also is based in Montreal. He will travel between offices in Boulder, Canada, Germany, Poland and London.

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Reached Wednesday in Florida, Graveline said three sites in Boulder are under consideration, including one near 28th Street and Arapahoe Avenue and one near the Twenty Ninth Street shopping district. He said downtown Boulder is not being considered.

“We probably want about 10,000 square feet to start, with options for double or triple that as we grow,” Graveline said. “Optimistically I’d say we’d be open in two months, but if the site we pick will take four months to get ready, we’d be looking for temporary quarters because we want to get started.”

Graveline said he would be in Boulder in about two weeks to make the final site selection.

According to a company press statement, Hybris wants its office in Boulder to include on-site gym amenities such as cycling rooms, treadmills and stationary bicycles, a coach and massage therapists, and athlete-oriented kitchens with juicers and blenders. The theory, according to the statement, is that “endurance sports attract hard-working, passionate and results-oriented people, and the amenities that cater to their lifestyles will be offered in exchange for hard work.

Companies compete fiercely for software engineers. The median salary for a software developer in 2010 was $90,530 in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which predicts 30 percent job growth in the field by 2020. Graveline hopes the on-site perks will give Hybris an edge in recruiting – as well as in productivity once the workers are hired.

“At Hybris, we recognize the value of great people and the characteristics that make great employees,” Graveline said in the press statement. “By nature, endurance sports attract a type of person who strives to work hard, have passion and determination, and a desire to be their best. In Boulder, we hope to bring together two ideals under one roof: high-performance software development and endurance training. Employees will be encouraged to strike a balance between work and life in a way that no other employer has before. It is about wanting to create great software and technology in a great environment.”

Hybris is looking to staff the new office with software engineers, quality-assurance professionals and technical writers. Interested candidates can read more about the initiative and apply for jobs, at endurancecrew.hybris.com.

Hybris was founded in 1997 as a privately held company, and since 2011 has been under the control of majority owner Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a Salt Lake City-based private-equity investment firm founded by Jon Huntsman Sr., Robert C. Gay and Steve Young. Huntsman is the father of former Utah governor and 2012 Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman Jr., Gay was a longtime Bain Capital managing director and Young was a star quarterback for Brigham University and the San Francisco 49ers who was inducted into the college and professional football halls of fame.

Hybris in March raised a $30 million round of investments led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms Meritech Capital Partners and Greylock Israel.