After GE, Xerox HQ in Norwalk now an open question

The headquarters of Xerox at 45 Glover Avenue in Norwalk. In a June 30 statement to Hearst, the company indicated it has made no determination on where it will site its headquarters following the spinoff of Conduent as an independent company, with Xerox having having major document technology operations at its historic base of Rochester, N.Y. and nearby Webster. less The headquarters of Xerox at 45 Glover Avenue in Norwalk. In a June 30 statement to Hearst, the company indicated it has made no determination on where it will site its headquarters following the spinoff of ... more Photo: Alexander Soule / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Alexander Soule / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close After GE, Xerox HQ in Norwalk now an open question 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Roughly one year ago, General Electric dropped a bombshell on Connecticut with its decision to search elsewhere for a new headquarters, ultimately choosing Boston for its concentration of technology talent.

Heading into the holiday weekend, is Xerox readying to set off its own fireworks by ending its run in Fairfield County?

Incoming Xerox CEO Jeff Jacobson was noncommittal when asked this week about whether the technology giant would move its headquarters to Rochester, N.Y., in an interview with the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

On Friday, a Xerox spokesman said the company has made no determination on its future headquarters after it splits into two entities this year. The document technology giant has been based since 2008 at 45 Glover Ave. in Norwalk, adjacent to the GE Capital building where GE (NYSE: GE) is moving as many as 500 people from its present Fairfield headquarters.

Xerox made its name synonymous with document reproduction in Rochester before moving its headquarters to Stamford in the late 1960s on grounds it would be able to more easily recruit senior executives while maintaining a sprawling technology campus in Webster, N.Y., just east of the city.

Xerox moved its headquarters to Norwalk in 2008, relocating 325 employees at the time and maintaining a workforce since hovering around 300 people.

A spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy expressed “hope they grow their businesses here in Connecticut” without indicating whether the state has reached out with any offer of incentives for Xerox to stay put. The state struck out in its offer of incentives for GE to remain in Fairfield.

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling could not be reached Friday and the company’s Stamford-based landlord Building & Land Technology declined comment on Xerox’s lease.

Posturing by Xerox for perks from Connecticut, or preparation for a return to its roots in Upstate New York? Any move would be at odds with Jacobson’s history locally — after becoming CEO of the digital offset printer manufacturer Presstek in 2008, Jacobson established a headquarters office in Greenwich rather than relocate to Hudson, N.H., where the company had been based.

When Jacobson negotiated a deal to have a private equity firm buy out Presstek and left to join Xerox, the company redesignated Hudson as its main office. Xerox’s political action committee lists Jacobson’s residence as being in Purchase, N.Y. He is a director of the The Business Council of New York State, whose board has multiple members leading companies based outside New York.

On Friday, Ashok Vemuri joined Xerox, ultimately to lead the company’s planned spinoff of its business process operations as Conduent as CEO. Xerox unveiled its first detailed plan of the new entity Thursday afternoon while leaving unanswered many key questions — most notably where Vemuri will have his own corner office leading a global workforce numbering some 96,000 people.

In its first filing Thursday to the Securities & Exchange Commission issued from Xerox headquarters at 45 Glover Ave., Conduent indicated it will hit the ground with nearly 530 facilities totaling 12.5 million square feet of space in the United States, primarily in Vemuri’s home state of New Jersey as well as Kentucky and California; and abroad in Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, the Philippines, India and Romania.

Conduent chose New York as its state of incorporation, while leaving blank a statement on the location of its main executive offices. Vemuri previously was CEO of iGate, a Bridgewater, N.J., company acquired by Capgemini; and before that led the Americas operations of Infosys.

The Xerox operations Conduent is slated to inherit $6.7 billion in revenue in 2015, providing transactional processing of business process such as Medicaid documentation; electronic toll billing; and issuing prepaid debit cards loaded with payments for Social Security and other federal programs.

— Robert Koch contributed to this report; includes prior reporting by Chris Bosak.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; @casoulman