This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A California company that recently raised $50 million in venture capital is expanding its operations to Utah.

FireEye, a Milpitas-based software development firm whose products are used to help fortify computer and network firewalls and fend off cyber attacks, is planning to build a $2 million customer-support center. The effort could bring as many as 250 new jobs to northern Utah County or the Salt Lake area within the next 10 years, according to the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

Those jobs are anticipated to pay upward of $54,325 a year, or more than 125 percent of Salt Lake County's average annual wage of $43,460.

FireEye CEO Dave DeWalt, was formerly the CEO of McAfee and helped that company become a leader its virus-protection segment before it was sold to Intel in 2010 for $7.6 billion.

"Utah's economy and its IT and software industry is continually being recognized internationally as one of the most vibrant communities in the U.S.," Spencer Eccles, GOED's executive director, said in a statement. "FireEye will now be a part of Utah's dynamic growth, which has seen such companies as Adobe, eBay, IM Flash and most recently Vivint in the headlines reporting their spectacular growth."

FireEye's expansion is expected to generate more than $14 million in state tax revenue and approximately $152 million in state wages over the next decade, according to GOED.

At a special meeting Monday evening, GOED's board of directors approved a refundable tax credit of $3.6 million for FireEye that will accrue to the company as it meets its hiring milestones over the next 10 years. The tax credit represents approximately 25 percent of the revenue FireEye is expected to generate for the state in the coming decade.

"We are very happy to be locating our Americas customer-support group in Utah," said Tony Kolish, FireEye's senior vice president of customer service. "With a talented technical workforce and favorable business environment, Utah offers an excellent location for FireEye."

The company has not finalized a specific location for its new facility. "We have a short list of locations and we should be making a decision within the next few weeks," he said.

steve@sltrib.com

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