NewQuest: Why this French e-commerce company opened its first U.S. office in Philadelphia

NewQuest, a five-year-old French web agency, has offices in Chambery, France and Australia, but it wanted a third office in the United States.

The company, which specializes in e-commerce, recently made the cross-Atlantic move — to Philadelphia. But why would a small French web company set its North American headquarters in Philadelphia?

Jerome Cathaud, who is heading up NewQuest’s Philadelphia expansion, had a long list of reasons.

In addition to being able to cover a third time zone — “NewQuest never sleeps,” he boasted, with some hyperbole — its often ballyhooed strategic location between New York City and D.C., and the lower cost of living compared to other large cities, Cathaud says NewQuest likes the dynamic culture in Philadelphia.

“We want to be a part of it and give more exposure to the City of Brotherly Love, which truly deserves it,” said Cathaud, 25, who was born and raised in Lyon, France. “The strong cultural background, the City by itself is very ‘human size’ and you can walk everywhere. For a European company it’s great.”

NewQuest’s core competency is developing e-commerce web sites, says Cathaud, who started the job about two months ago. He says part of the challenge to getting started in Philly will be connecting to local clients.

“I look forward to creating long term relationships with other respected agencies in the region, and obviously hiring people here to start building up a badass NewQuest team,” said Cathaud.

Building that team, says Cathaud, will start with hiring two employees in the upcoming year. Right now, the Center City branch at 15th and Walnut houses three employees, a developer and designer from France working here temporarily, as well as Cathaud.

The company will also offer what Cathaud calls a professional exchange program, which, like a student exchange program, will mean staff members from France will have the opportunity to work here and vice versa. The company did not receive any tax breaks or other government incentives to move to Philadelphia.

Cathaud, himself, was already a Philadelphia convert. The designer moved here three years ago from France to finish his studies at Temple University and now resides in Graduate Hospital.

Cathaud says he is looking forward to integrating NewQuest into his new home market.

“The main challenge is obviously to get the name out there and show what we are capable of doing for our base of customers,” said Cathaud. “Once this is finished, I’m very confident that things will move very fast for NewQuest.”