New York-based tech company tripled its Fort Collins footprint

FORT COLLINS — A New York tech company has expanded its Fort Collins footprint, with a larger office and plans to hire more employees.

Persistent Systems LLC tripled the size of its office at 5042 Technology Parkway in Fort Collins and plans to grow its employee size to at least 65 people, Adrien Robenhymer, vice president of business development, told BizWest.

Persistent Systems makes technology in the mobile ad hoc networking technology space, which is also known as MANET. MANET is technology that brings together radios and networks, instead of having one of each they’re brought together. Essentially, Persistent Systems has been able to develop technology for communications, data sharing, video and other smart-tech capabilities without needing to rely on traditional telecommunications infrastructure. The devices are ideal for uses such as the military, police, with unmanned vehicles or aircraft or in backcountry uses. Other applications include use on machinery for the Internet of Things on the commercial side.

“It can be used by a number of customers — such as in government or first responder environments — to do things like high-bandwidth connectivities,” Robenhymer told BizWest. “A secure private network moves around with them and can provide secure video, voice, GPS, sharing large files and autonomy.”

To keep up with its growing demand for its technology, Persistent Systems is growing its Fort Collins office. The company has offices in New York and Pinehurst, N.C. Robenhymer said that as a wireless technology company, geography is important to it, especially when it comes to testing out its products.

“We operate in different environments,” he said. “We have a complex urban environment in New York City, trees and large forests in North Carolina and here in Colorado we have access to mountains for when customers use our equipment in rugged environments like mountains, mines or caves. It’s a good environment to demonstrate our technology.”

Robenhymer said another reason why the company is located in Colorado is to have access to the highly-educated engineers that can be found in Colorado, from companies like Intel, HP and Broadcom as well as the large government presence along the Front Range. There’s also access to engineering and administrative talent from schools like Colorado State University, University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Denver. He added that it’s also easy to attract people to the area due to its lifestyle.

Specifically, Fort Collins is growing as the company takes on larger contracts and expands its technology. Robenhymer said Persistent is making hires across the board, anyone from engineering to HR. The company is also working with local manufacturers to build different specialty items in Colorado. As the company has tripled its size in Fort Collins, it’s been able to build a training facility as well.

“The hiring aspect is important to us as we look to leverage local talent,” he said. “The engineering, tech and finance space is important to us, we have a growing facility and there’s resources needed for contracts. More than 30 percent of our staff is veterans, and we’re not just hiring veterans but people who come to Persistent having learned about our technology in the field. There’s a large group of folks who have used it and believe it can help, that’s why they come here.”

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