Tech firm EzRez moving main office
By Greg Wiles
Advertiser Staff Writer
EzRez Software Inc., a company founded here in 2003, said its headquarters will be moved to San Francisco as part of a transition that began more than a year ago when its executives relocated to California. The company said it also plans to continue expanding its Kaimuki offices.
The company that offers online travel packaging and merchandising software for travel businesses and others said the headquarters will move into San Francisco's financial district next month while the Hawai'i location will remain as a field office to support the ongoing growth.
"We're actually lucky to be growing in both places," said John Swanciger, EzRez senior vice president. "We're just expanding."
Swanciger said the company has about 50 employees, about half of them on O'ahu. The work here includes product development, quality assurance and trouble shooting for customers. Clients include Outrigger Hotels and Resorts and Boyd Vacations Hawaii.
The company's work for Gray Line Worldwide, a large sightseeing company, included a consumer Web site with online booking and packaging for vacation offerings, while it developed an online site where vacationers could book hotel rooms, flights, car rentals and other offerings for The Resort Co. in Colorado.
The company opened an office in San Mateo, Calif., a year ago that provided a base for the company's executives, who found themselves traveling more as the company grew. That office will be moved about 20 miles north to San Francisco and become EzRez's new headquarters.
Other Hawai'i technology companies have expanded out of the state as they've grown. Kapolei-based Hoku Scientific Inc. chose Pocatello, Idaho, to build a silicon production plant. Firetide Inc., a wireless computer networking company, in 2004 moved its headquarters to Los Gatos, Calif., while Digital Island, a high-speed computer network company, moved to San Francisco in 1999.
Swanciger said EzRez has no intention of closing its Hawai'i operation and had good luck finding high-caliber employees locally.
He said he didn't know if the company had received state technology tax credits for its work here and that other executives who would know that information were out of the office yesterday.
"The majority of our development has been done in Hawai'i and the majority of technology work is done in Hawai'i," Swanciger said.
Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.