How ECU, IBM and good seafood helped Morehead City land software company

What would lead the CEO of 21st Century Software Technologies (21CS) to relocate the software development company from Boston to Morehead City? Eddy Ciliendo did mention the fresh seafood available on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast, but the attraction to eastern North Carolina was about more than a good meal, he says.

“Our initial plan was to relocate to Raleigh, Charlotte or Wilmington but we realized that the Crystal Coast was a much better fit for us due to affordability, talent pool and quality of life – besides we felt that we would have a greater impact on the local economy compared to one of the metro areas,” says Ciliendo.

State officials announced the relocation of 21CS to eastern North Carolina on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so it may have been overshadowed by holiday preparations. The initial 21CS investment of $455,000 will create about 25 jobs with an average pay of $87,920, more than doubling the current Carteret County wage of $41,149. North Carolina’s average wage is $65,409.

The company develops software for mainframe computers, with about 60% of its customers along the East Coast, and its biggest partner being IBM, says Ciliendo. IBM’s large presence in the Research Triangle Park led 21CS to look toward North Carolina for a new location, he said.

“We also work closely with East Carolina University as they have a computer sciences curriculum that produces ideal candidates for our line of work,” says Ciliendo. The company currently employs about 200 workers, with about 60 of them in the U.S. Its largest office is in Perth, Australia. Ciliendo declined to discuss specifics about the private company’s revenues, but did say it was a “multi-million dollar company planning to at least double our revenue in the next couple of years.”

The move to eastern North Carolina is “motivated by our growth ambitions as we will have to hire aggressively to sustain the growth target.” He suspects the initial 25-job target for Morehead City “will probably end up closer to 50-60 people over a five-year horizon.”

Ciliendo joined 21CS in July 2023 and became CEO in September. A graduate of the University of Zurich, Cilendo began his career with IBM in Switzerland. He worked for IBM in Singapore from 2015 to 2017, and then in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area from 2017 to 2022. He worked for IBM for more than 19 years.

Ciliendo already lives in Morehead City, but says the availability of suitable office space in the city of less than 10,000 residents made it more favorable for the company than it being his home address.

“However, having experienced the many qualities of eastern North Carolina firsthand played a big role as I don’t think many non-residents know about the quality of life, great schools and friendly community,” he says.

“I have worked and lived all over the world, and I hold many places in fond memory, but I cannot think of a better place for our kids to grow up than the coast of eastern North Carolina,” he adds. “True to the State’s motto “Esse Quam Videri (to be, rather than to seem)” we have great schools, seafood that is fresher than any high-end restaurant in New York or Tokyo and beaches that rival many top tourist destinations, all with a very down to earth attitude.”