IBM to open center in Dubuque, create 1,300 jobs

DES MOINES -- Iowa Gov. Chet Culver touted the announcement as a sign of Iowa's positive business climate.

The IBM service center will be located in the Dubuque Building, a downtown fixture built during the Great Depression that formerly housed Roshek's Department Store.

IBM officials said they plan to upgrade the building with energy-efficient technology. The center will provide operational support, including maintenance and monitoring of computer hardware and software systems, to IBM clients in the U.S. and around the world.

IBM spokesman Jim Larkin said the company plans to employ several hundred people by the end of the year. It hopes to have up to 1,300 employees by the end of 2010.

Tuesday, IBM said it plans to open a global delivery center on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., bringing 100 jobs to the state by June. That center will develop applications and provide support to help modernize older IT systems for governments, universities and other clients. IBM is based in Armonk, N.Y.