IBM to Create Up to 1,300 Jobs in Dubuque Facility

IBM, the world's largest technology services company, plans to open a new computer support center in Iowa, creating up to 1,300 new jobs and defying a trend of widespread corporate layoffs.

The Dubuque facility in a 10-story office building once occupied by now-defunct retailer Roshek's Department Store, will create jobs for high-tech workers at a time when many technology companies are cutting salery and jobs.

Workers will provide security services and remote support to IBM customers, helping to maintain computers and software systems primarily located in the United States, IBM said late Wednesday.

International Business Machines said it plans to employ several hundred people in the facility by the end of this year, following renovations to the top eight floors of the building that it will occupy to make it more energy efficient.

By the end of next year, as many as 1,300 IBM employees will work in the building built in the 1930s, IBM said.

Tuesday, IBM announced plans to work with Michigan State University to build a software development center in East Lansing, Michigan, that will create up to 1,500 jobs over the next five years