Company emphasizing robotic processes to open Feb. 1 in Las Vegas

It’s no secret that Nevada is working to brand itself as the state for emerging technologies, with its support for companies like Tesla, Faraday Future and Hyperloop One.

Now a company focused on robotic process automation, starting with the automation of back-office operations such as accounting, is slated to open its 4,000 square-foot Center of Excellence and Innovation on Feb. 1 in Las Vegas.

Stixis Technologies’ Center of Excellence and Innovation will serve global clients and cater to software robotics and other innovative technologies. The company anticipates hiring 136 full-time employees at an average wage of $35 in its first two years of operations and expanding to more than 400 employees with an average hourly wage of $38 within the next five years of operations.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development board on Thursday approved $453,576 in tax abatements for Stixis. The company is estimated to generate about $41.5 million in new tax revenue over 10 years.

In its tax abatement application, the company said that it will have lower operating costs in Southern Nevada than in any other U.S. city that it studied. Stixis President and CEO Rayudu Dhananjaya also said Las Vegas was No. 1 on its list because of the city’s hospitality and entertainment culture, appealing for hosting clients, with the city’s airport hub, allowing clients and company consultants to easily travel domestically and abroad.

Stixis provides a range of business services from project management to quality testing and has offices in Bangalore, India; Johannesburg; and Louisiana. Southern Nevada will be its second U.S. headquarters but its first headquarters for their robotics consulting and development operation.

Dhananjaya said his team is already hiring back-office workers that it will train to become high-skilled consultants within the company.

“We are very impressed with the workforce talent that we have in the Southern Nevada region,” he said. “We’ve been talking to the College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State College and UNLV, and we’d like to utilize those education institutions to prepare our workforce.”

GOED also approved a grant to help Stixis fund their workforce training. The maximum aggregate amount paid under the grant over the course of three and a half years is $1.75 million.

“Our unique up-skilling and training strategy, coupled by our recognized thought leadership, will enable the company to hire and train local Southern Nevadans to provide advanced technology services to the global clients in some of the leading disruptive platforms,” said Stixis Technologies Partner and Chief Innovation Officer Bhavyesh Virani in a statement.

In other action Thursday, the board approved about $119,551 in tax abatements for an existing company in Reno called Pacific Cheese Co. Inc.

Pacific Cheese Company is a processor and distributor of natural cheese and cheese products and has been operating out of Reno since 2004. The company has about 102 full-time employees and plans to add about 33 workers at an average wage of $23.18. The tax abatement investment is estimated to generate about $4,805,488 in new tax revenue over 10 years.

Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @JournalistNikki on Twitter.