Citibank’s first new building in Sioux Falls in nearly 40 years is open for business.
Some of the approximately 1,300 employees who will work in the four-story, 150,000-square-foot building already have moved in and have discovered a modern workspace where there are no individual offices and no assigned seats.
“In many ways what goes on here is a bit of a microcosm of our company, because so many disciplines are represented here, and part of that is the people and the access to talent we get here,” said CEO Michael Corbat, who came to Sioux Falls to speak at the building’s ribbon cutting Thursday.
“Location. Competitive labor force. All those pieces really come together. Obviously we think that it’s a terrific place to come to work and do business.”
The approach is part of a broader company initiative, Citi Works, which aims to promote “an open and collaborative approach to a more flexible culture,” said Craig Hansen, who became site president for Sioux Falls late last year.
“There are some open and collaborative tables, some informal collaborative areas where employees can go sit on a couch and have a meeting, or a one-on-one with a manager. If I’m working on a project I can work at a dedicated table, and the team can sit there a day or two or week and still have access to our computers but be right next to each other to collaborate.”
A ribbon cutting ceremony Sept. 5 included Corbat, Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden and the state’s entire congressional delegation.
Corbat described Citi’s decision to come to South Dakota in the 1980s as a “strategy-altering move” for the company.
“The birth of national banking happened right here,” he said.
Citi’s arrival in South Dakota “was nothing short of a transformative event in our state’s economy,” Sen. John Thune added. “We’re grateful for that. It’s exciting to see the next chapter being written.”
The new building is located in The Edges office park in southwest Sioux Falls, at 5800 S. Corporate Place. The finishes and layout are similar to other Citi offices, including the New York corporate headquarters, Corbat said.
“We really modeled this after .. our own standards we’ve created,” he said. “When we think of the worker of today and tomorrow, what do they want they want? Open and collaborative work spaces. We’re taking the walls down. If you came to our office in New York, it’s very open like this.”
It represents Citi’s first move away from the campus in northeast Sioux Falls it has occupied since coming to the state in 1981.
“We’ve had a long legacy here at Citi, and within South Dakota,” said Hansen, who has spent 30 years with the company. “Building this new building is just another commitment to that legacy, and it revitalizes not only the physical presence but the culture presence and the spirit of the employees.”
Two floors of employees have moved into the new building, and the rest are scheduled to move by the end of September. Citi brought the entire team over during construction to ease anxiousness about the move, Hansen said.
Now that some are working there, “it’s really been a boost,” he said. “A lot of employees are loving they can accidentally run into people they would have to email anyway, so you get these collisions that really take the place of an email.”
Some of the space is divided into “neighborhoods” based on functions. The Sioux Falls site supports 22 Citi functions, including credit and technology, finance, treasury, I.T. and customer service. Hansen’s role also includes work in I.T.
“The managers sit right on the floor amongst the other employees, and we have touch down rooms, which are small collaborative rooms that can house one to five people,” Hansen added. “You can reserve these rooms (so) it’s not like managers can’t get confidential (space).”
To improve the employee experience, about 80 percent of desks are adjustable from a sitting to a standing position, and the building itself is designed to bring in light.
“There isn’t a spot in the building that doesn’t have natural light from outside,” Hansen said. “The architects have done a fantastic job allowing this natural light to come in. Employees are not stuck in a dark cube where they can’t see outside.”
Other employee amenities include a fitness center “that’s decked out with all the latest equipment,” a full cafeteria and a Citi branch bank, Hansen said.
The building is built to a LEED gold specification which is “something we’re really proud of, because we lessen our impact to the environment,” he said. “So all the practices in terms of the way we built the building and the materials used have the least amount of environmental impact. And there’s things like automated lighting systems, so the as the brightness on one side of the building gets brighter, the lights automatically dim.”
In addition to the 1,300 that can be accommodate by the building, there are about 300 Citi employees based in Sioux Falls who work remotely, Hansen said. All desks are equipped with video conferencing capability.
The new building has some capacity for additional staff, as “our business units are always flexing, and there’s optimization between the sites we have in the U.S., so we’re always moving a few here and there,” he said. “There are opportunities to add.”
Jobs in Sioux Falls will continue to evolve, Corbat agreed, calling the city “a true American success story.”
“It’s a function of what are the best things to be here and grow here,” he said. “Today, we’ve got a very broad set of things being done here (including)cyber and data and finance. And credit cards are still part of what we do, but as banking continues to evolve we will continue to evolve with it.”
The company’s presence in Sioux Falls was and continues to be key in keeping young professionals in the community, added Sen. Mike Rounds.
“Sioux Falls has proven that you not only can keep a small town feel, but you can be a great home for a corporate neighbor,” he said.
Citi will have fully vacated its remaining presence on the campus by Dec. 15, Hansen said. That frees up about 150,000 square feet of space, and the owner plans to lease it, he said.
Avera and Daktronics already lease space on the property, which includes three buildings.
“The investment back in Sioux Falls just shows that we continue to look forward to a longstanding relationship here in South Dakota,” Hansen said. He added the company’s commitment to support nonprofits through contributions and volunteerism– employees and families provided nearly 18,000 volunteer hours last year – will continue.
“We will continue to be a strong part of the community, giving back to nonprofits and others in the community we support continue to be key to our mission.”
That philanthropic support will continue, Corbat agreed.
“We take our citizenship seriously,” he said. “We are the country’s biggest financier of low to moderate income housing, and we’ve tried to bring that here and to other places in South Dakota. I want people to know we’re appreciative. We don’t take the work lightly, and we want to be good corporate citizens.”
