120 IT jobs to return to Memphis

For a company that squelches bugs, dries flooded rooms, cleans carpets and handles a number of other chores, ServiceMaster Global Holdings hardly sounds like it stands on technology’s leading edge. But here’s a little surprise. “We’re looking for the kind of talent you can only find in Silicon Valley,” ServiceMaster chief information officer Jamie Smith said Tuesday.

ServiceMaster already has brought back 120 information technology jobs outsourced across the country several years ago, bringing the IT staff overseen by Smith in Memphis to about 340.

That staff next could figure in the rise of Downtown as Memphis’ tech hub.

Smith touched on the city’s tech potential as a panelist Tuesday at New Memphis Institute’s innovation seminar.

Smith, a senior vice president recruited in 2014 from automaker Nissan, was part of the ServiceMaster executive team that visited Atlanta, Austin, Dallas and other potential headquarters cities. The company announced last June the 1,200-employee head office would be moved from East Memphis to Downtown.

Atlanta’s tech energy centered around Georgia Tech impressed him.

“We have the makings of that in Memphis,” he said. “If we do things right we could have that core of innovation in Downtown.”

Although new firms need more capital, he said, organizations such as StartCo and Emerge Memphis are already in place Downtown or nearby. There are also a few tech companies including Lokion and Meridian Economics. Add to that the headquarters of AutoZone and now the incoming SouthernSun Asset Management and ServiceMaster’s under-construction offices including the Innovation Center.

“We’re looking at bringing in new talent, a new ecosystem. This will be