Bob Selander, president, MasterCard International, talks about the significance of the high-tech GTO campus that will be built at the WingHaven community in O'Fallon, Missouri.
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MasterCard Builds New High-Tech Center
by Bob Moore
© 1999, Saint Louis Front Page
(O'FALLON, AUG 31, 1999) - State and city officials joined MasterCard executives in groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Global Technology and Operations (GTO) headquarters at the 1,100-acre Winghaven community.
The campus, bordered by Highway 40 on the west, will include a four-wing, brick office building covering approximately 385,000 square feet; a 75,000-square foot data and command center housing mainframes, servers and network equipment; a 60,000-square foot energy center with enough equipment to support a small city of 15,000; and a 12-acre lake.
Bob Selander, president, MasterCard International, spoke about the significance of the high-tech campus after Jerry McElhatton, president, MasterCard International GTO, unveiled the architect rendering by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum. "Our technology allows us to bring the convenience of payment cards to new countries so they can participate more fully in an economy that is increasingly card and electronic data," said Selander.
He noted that the technology allows consumers to "travel just about anywhere across the globe and use their MasterCard for meals, housing, travel and shopping. Or conversely allow you to sell your own merchandise and accept payment safely and securely," Selander said. MasterCard has 23,000 member financial institutions, serving consumers in 220 countries and territories.
He pointed out that MasterCard's technology allows processing of over 22 million authorization transactions a day and settling upwards of 1.5 billion dollars in transactions. "This technology allows the transaction to travel from one side of the world and back together in a matter of seconds. That is why the Global and Technology Center campus will be the technological nerve center for future growth and innovation in MasterCard global network," explained Selander.
According to Jerry McElhatton, the idea of a campus was to facilitate their need to expand in one location and yet have separate high-rise office buildings.
He noted that a number of MasterCard employees have bought homes in the surrounding area. "We were interested in having a business campus close to a city center where there is healthcare, recreation, daycare center, hotels and all the amenities that a town center would bring us," said McElhatton.
Celebrating the groundbreaking, MasterCard donated 300 CPU's to the Wentzville School District. "We believe in sharing our technology resources to improve education programs and stimulate kids to grow intellectually through interactive learning," said McElhatton.
Established in St. Louis in 1971, GTO currently employees more than 1,500 people. According to RCGA, the total economic impact on the O'Fallon area from the new campus totals: 4,400 jobs, $306 million in annual business revenues, $162 million in personal incomes, and $18 million in annual state and local taxes.
HOK will serve as the primary architect on the GTO facility with McEagle Development of St. Louis as the overall developer and Paric Corporation as the construction manager. The campus, located next to the 6,987-acre August A. Busch Conservation Area, is expected to be completed by 2001.
WingHaven Groundbreaking (L. to R.): Dr. Ron Berrey, Superintendent of Schools, Wentzville R-IV School District; Patrick Banger, a representative from the O'Fallon Mayor's office; Dick Fleming, president and CEO, St. Louis Regional Commerce & Growth Association (RCGA); Paul McKee, Jr., McEagle Development; Norm Tice, chairman emeritus, MasterCard International; Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan; Jerry McElhatton, president, MasterCard International GTO; Bob Selander, president, MasterCard International; Joe Ortwerth, Superintendent of St. Charles County; and Chris Thom, senior executive vice president, MasterCard International.
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