James Briggs

james.briggs@indystar.com

Few announcements this exciting have been filled with so much tension.

Salesforce.com Inc. on Friday revealed plans to invest $40 million in Indianapolis, move into the city's tallest building and add 800 new high-paying technology jobs. The cloud computing company is renaming the 48-story Chase Tower for itself.

The massive expansion comes barely a year after Salesforce threatened to disinvest in Indiana because of a law that company executives said would subject customers and employees to discrimination. Salesforce Marketing Cloud CEO Scott McCorkle kept the pressure on state officials during prepared remarks that made it clear his company's expansion is not an endorsement of Indiana's policies on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Flanked by Gov. Mike Pence on his right, McCorkle said Salesforce wouldn't be expanding in Indiana if the 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act hadn't been softened. The General Assembly and Pence last year amended the law to prevent it from overriding local ordinances, such as the one in Indianapolis, that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

"This investment is also possible because of the RFRA fix a year ago and because of the longstanding human rights ordinance in Indianapolis," McCorkle said as Pence looked on. "As a company, we are committed to protecting our employees and customers from discrimination, because equality is a core value at Salesforce."

Afterward, McCorkle called for Indiana to go further than the so-called RFRA fix.

"We are committed to completely eliminating even the perception of discrimination," McCorkle told reporters. "The best way to do that is a statewide nondiscrimination provision in our civil rights code, and we are committed to seeing that through."

When asked whether he wanted to make a point to Pence during the news conference, McCorkle said, "We lead at Salesforce. And we intend to keep leading and making sure all officials understand where we stand."

Salesforce's stance couldn't be much clearer. It has been among the most vocal corporate proponents for LGBT rights in Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and elsewhere. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who has led the public charge on social issues, tweeted Friday that Chase Tower in Indianapolis should actually be known as Equality Tower.

"A tribute to equality for all," he called Chase Tower, where Salesforce will lease about 250,000 square feet.

Pence, though, said his position won't change. The governor referred to his January State of the State address in which he prioritized religious freedom and said he would not support any bill that "interferes with the constitutional rights of our citizens to live out their beliefs in worship, service or work."

"The position that I described in my State of the State address is my position," Pence said Friday. "And if that matter were ever to come before the Indiana General Assembly, were I governor, I would evaluate it in precisely the way I described in the State of the State."

The focus, Pence said, should be on Salesforce's success.

"Today isn’t about the past. It’s really about the future," Pence said. "It’s about the fact that Indiana today, and our capital city today, has attracted the investment of a global company that’s going to create 800 high-wage jobs in the Hoosier state."

But Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett followed McCorkle's lead during his prepared remarks, calling for statewide LGBT protections similar to Indianapolis' ordinance. Afterward, Hogsett said he was "not necessarily" directing his comments toward Pence.

"I think the Indiana General Assembly, frankly, sooner or later — I hope sooner — would see clear to extending protections like the human rights ordinance in Indianapolis throughout the state for all the citizens of our state," Hogsett said. "I think that would be an important step forward to send an even greater message that Indy — not only Indy, but Indiana — welcomes all."

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Salesforce's expansion raises questions about why it is investing in Indiana even though the state lacks the protections executives say are paramount to its principles. The simplest answer might be the most practical one.

"We have to run our business," McCorkle said.

Salesforce in June 2013 reached a deal to acquire ExactTarget for $2.5 billion, giving it a large presence in Indianapolis. Although Salesforce didn't have to expand in Indianapolis, few cities could have accommodated such growth with so little investment.

Mike Semler, a senior executive director for real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, estimated Salesforce is paying in the mid-$20 range per square foot for its Chase Tower lease. A similar deal on the East or West coasts would cost between $70 and $100 per square foot, he said.

"It's a huge savings for Salesforce to expand here versus San Francisco or anywhere else," Semler said.

In addition to business reasons, though, McCorkle said he thinks Salesforce can eventually influence Indiana's LGBT policies.

"The RFRA fix was a fix, and our presence here as active investing members of this community gives us a great platform to continue this fight to ensure there's no discrimination of our employees or anyone of the entire state," McCorkle said.

Steve Sanders, a professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington who specializes in legal issues relating to sexuality, said pressing for a new law while expanding in Indianapolis might have been Salesforce's best chance to create change.

"It probably would not have been realistic for Salesforce to hold out and say, 'We're not going to expand unless there is such a law,'" Sanders said. "It probably doesn't make a company look good to say, 'We will expand if the legislature does X.' It starts to make the company look like a bully or it's trying to throw around its weight in a way that is unreasonable."

If there's a downside for Salesforce, Sanders said, it's that the company's growth provides evidence that Indiana's LGBT policies aren't hurting the economy.

"It probably insulates the governor, insulates Republicans to a certain extent," he said.

Salesforce, though, showed Friday it doesn't intend to let anyone feel comfortable with the status quo — including Pence, whom McCorkle praised as a "leader who truly understands the potential for the business community here in Indiana."

"I think we're seeing society, government officials (and) corporations really begin to understand that this fight for equality is important," McCorkle said. "I am excited about what I see ... as changing perceptions here. So we will keep our view front and center and keep the fight going."

Salesforce to rename Chase Tower, hire 800

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.