The facility, situated at 1705 N. Plano Rd., will house Taqua'sresearch and development and customer service divisions for itsOpen Compact Exchange next-generation Class 5 access switch. Fortwo years, the firm has been operating out of a smaller facilityalso in Richardson.Company officials say the move will support asoftware development expansion and beef up its staff. Taquacurrently employs 220 in Richardson and its corporate headquartersin Hyannis, MA, but is planning to hire another 180 in the nextyear. By this year's end, the firm plans to add 75 moreprofessionals in a doubling of its Richardson staff.

"The wealth of telecommunications and engineering talentavailable in the Telecom Corridor will accelerate Taqua's effortsto further enhance the OCX and develop future generations of Class5 access switching technologies," says Don Pratt, Taqua's CFO. TheOCX is its flagship product. Taqua's chief technical officer, BillPennington, says the Telecom Corridor's synergy has "been a crucialcontributing factor" in the firm's success.

Earlier this year, Taqua undertook a project to expand corporatecampus, breaking ground on an operations and manufacturingfacility. That structure is slated to deliver in December. Formedtwo years ago, Taqua has raised more than $83 million in venturecapital funding.