RealWear, a rapidly growing Silicon Valley company, has signed a letter of intent with the Fort Vancouver National Trust to occupy 12,000 square feet in the newly renovated Artillery Barracks at the Fort Vancouver National Site. The announcement was made Thursday during Mayor Tim Leavitt’s State of the City address, held in the space that RealWear will occupy.
President and CEO of the Fort Vancouver Trust, Mike True said, “This is a very exciting partnership for the Trust, and a welcome addition to the Historic Site. The presence of RealWear in the West Barracks will create new vitality for downtown Vancouver. Bringing new technology-based business into a freshly renovated historic building is a perfect way to sustain and honor our community’s history, while looking toward the future.”
RealWear is building the world’s first voice-powered, hands-free and fully rugged head-mounted tablet solution for connected industrial workers, the HMT-1. The move is in response to early significant industry demand for the device. It is the company’s first major North American expansion, and will serve key corporate functions in anticipation of the general availability launch of the HMT-1 in July 2017.
“We selected Vancouver for its vibrant, growing business environment, talent pool, economic advantages, and quality of life offerings for our employees. The superb facilities at the Fort Vancouver National Site, and the enthusiasm and dedication of the people we met from the City of Vancouver, the Fort Vancouver National Trust, and the CREDC only made our decision easier,” said Andy Lowery, CEO, RealWear. “We are thrilled to be in Vancouver and expect that our expansion will provide us the support and flexibility we need to grow our company rapidly and efficiently.”
Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt said, “We are thrilled that RealWear has chosen Vancouver as its Pacific Northwest home, and look forward to the addition of this company to our burgeoning network of tech companies. This move shows once again that our city is a great place for companies to do business and I know they will enjoy the many amenities and high quality of life that Vancouver offers.”
RealWear’s expansion comes as the company has built increasing momentum of its own in 2017. Awarded “Best Enterprise Solution” at Wearable Technology Show 2017 in London, England, the RealWear HMT-1 has received global acclaim for its innovation. More than 60 major industrial enterprises, channel partners, integrators and software solution partners including American Airlines, Boeing, Canon, and Hewlett Packard Enterprises have signed on as Pioneer Partners and are already using the HMT-1 in real-world scenarios.
“We are excited to welcome RealWear to Clark County, where they will be a great addition to the IPZ community in Vancouver and Camas,” said Mike Bomar, President of the CREDC. “The software as well as computer and electronics industries are growing clusters in the region and RealWear’s decision to locate its first major expansion here will be a great boost to add to the momentum we’ve been building in these sectors.”
About the Trust
The Fort Vancouver National Trust holds the master lease for the West Barracks, which enables the Trust to manage property operations, renovations and development of the historic buildings owned by the City of Vancouver. The mission of the Trust is to inspire civic pride and economic vitality through education, preservation, and celebration of our community’s history.
About RealWear
RealWear is a Silicon Valley company building the world’s first voice-powered, hands-free and fully rugged head-mounted tablet solution for connected industrial workers. Our team of seasoned executives and human factors experts hails from the ultra-rugged smartphone, smart glasses micro display and industrial augmented reality spaces. Together, we are engineering wearable hardware, software, cloud and AI solutions for enterprises in heavy industry. For more information, visit realwear.com.