Atlanta a Key Talent and Business Market for Square's Payments Business

Atlanta loves technology.

And for tech companies, Atlanta is good business.

It explains why Square Inc., the San Francisco-based payments company that opened an office in Atlantic Station six months ago, is prepping for growth.

The company, which launched its Atlanta presence by hiring eight former Google Inc. engineers, expects to have a staff of 35 infrastructure engineers and customer support staff by the end of the year.

Square seeks to streamline point of sale transactions via a small, square-shaped card reader that attaches to smart phones and tablets to accept payments.

Atlanta, Square officials said, is one of the fastest growing markets for  the company and is in the top 10. Some 60,000 merchants — ranging from individual one-man operations to coffee shops and other retailers — comprise Square's Atlanta market. They processed roughly $250 million in payments through Square.

"It's a top 10 city in terms of activations," Square spokeswoman Lindsay Wiese told Midtown Patch. "More people in Atlanta are adopting Square than anywhere else."

The reason behind that fast adoption in Atlanta is because there is a strong, healthy small business community here and because the city is a tech hub.

Indeed, that was another factor in picking Atlanta for a satellite office, Chris Gorman, who heads the company's office experience and seeks to ensure satellite offices reflect the company culture through its design and floor plan.

After the Google hires, it was "very apparent right away that this market would be a great place to find amazing talent with Georgia Tech and the other universities in this area and start up our office and develop a presence on the East Coast," Gorman said.

Atlantic Station was a particular draw not only because it's a new development but because it keeps the company comnnected to its customers.

"At the core of it is that it's really important for us to be surrounded by things that inspire the work that we do," Gorman said. "Beyond the offices Atlantic Station is a marketplace. There's a variety of different merchants out there so it's an awesome opportunity for us to stay very connected to our core purpose, which is to make commerce easy."