Excella Consulting expands Blacksburg student center

Arlington-based Excella Consulting has opened its expanded student center in Blacksburg.

Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, which took place at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, included members of the local business community, students, faculty, Excella executives and Virginia Tech President Tim Sands.

Excella's internship program, called the Extension Center or XC, started in 2009 as a way to give high-achieving technical students the opportunity to develop skills outside the classroom.

They work on software development projects for Excella's clients through part-time, paid internships. The projects have involved clients such as Marriott International, Motley Fool Asset Management, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and the CloseUp Foundation.

“This is a huge leap forward for a program we are wildly proud of,” Steve Cooper, the founding partner at Excella, said in a statement. “We built this program to create the next generation of technology innovators in Virginia, and this new office will give them the space and resources to do amazing things.”

The new space includes 2,100 square feet office space in the Corporate Research Center that will accommodate six full-time managers and 24 students.

Excella said that, since the program’s inception, more than 60 students have graduated from the XC and have gone on to pursue careers at startups, consultancies and Fortune 500 companies.