Plans for a two-year, $70 million expansion call for Minneapolis-based Code42 to move its corporate headquarters to the city’s Uptown area while adding 400 jobs in the process.
 
Code42, a data backup and storage provider, confirmed the project Monday and will await Minneapolis City Council approval on Nov. 14. If all goes as planned, the company could move by 2016 into the new, eight-story MoZaic East office-retail complex slated to be built at 1350 Lagoon Avenue. In May, Code42 signed a letter of intent to anchor the complex, which will be erected by developer Stuart Ackerberg.
 
Until then, Code42 said it would make “additional investments” at its existing headquarters at 1 Main St. SE to accommodate anticipated headcount growth during the expansion. The company presently has more than 350 employees working in engineering, sales and marketing and support and operations.
 
“This is precisely the kind of business our city should embrace and support. We are honored they plan to stay in Minneapolis,” Minneapolis City Council Member Jacob Frey said in a statement. Frey represents the district in which Code42’s headquarters is now located.
 
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will provide a $3 million incentives package through the Minnesota Investment and Job Creation Funds. Through the former, Code42 will receive an initial $1 million forgivable loan during the project’s first phase. The loan must be matched by investment from the company receiving it, but is forgivable if 150 jobs are created. Code42 is also eligible for up to $2 million through the Job Creation Fund and would receive the money after completing hiring and investment commitments.
 
Founded in 2001, Code42 also maintains offices in London and Sydney, Australia. Last month, it announced commercial availability of its new “SharePlan,” secure file-sharing service to complement its flagship “CrashPlan” data backup and storage software.
 
Monday’s news follows a year of stories suggesting Code42 is still on the rise. In May, it hired Chief Financial Officer Jason Bristow away from Amazon after 10 years at the online retail giant. The company later made room on its board of directors for Workday Inc. Chief Operating Officer Mike Stankey, who joined the board in September.
 
Also this year, Forbes ranked Code42 44th on its list of the “Most Promising Companies” in the country. The company also landed on Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 5000” list of the country’s fastest growing private companies for the fourth straight year, posting $39 million in revenue last year and sales growth of more than 63 percent since 2010. It's CEO and founder, Matthew Dornquast, was meanwhile named one of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurs of the Year in July.