Boca Raton is betting big on quantum. The City Commission has signed off on up to $500,000 in local incentives to recruit a quantum computing company, now identified as D-Wave, which plans to move its U.S. headquarters and a major R&D operation to the city and park a D-Wave Advantage2 system at Florida Atlantic University. City officials say the deal hinges on the company creating about 100 high-paying jobs over the next five years, part of a broader push to build a quantum technology cluster in Palm Beach County.
What The City Approved
According to City of Boca Raton agenda materials, the measure was filed under the code name Project Vernon and authorizes an economic development incentive package totaling $500,000. It also directs staff to negotiate an Economic Development Agreement with the company.
The proposal requires D-Wave to deliver 100 net new jobs inside city limits over a five-year retention period, with an average annual wage of at least $125,000. The agenda notes that funds are available in the city’s economic development account. The incentive move was reported by the South Florida Business Journal.
D-Wave Picks BRiC For Its U.S. Headquarters
In a Jan. 27 company news release, D-Wave said it will shift its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto to the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, better known locally as BRiC, and establish a U.S. R&D facility on the same campus. The relocation is expected to wrap up before the end of 2026.
CEO Alan Baratz said Florida’s growing tech ecosystem made the state an ideal choice, and the company framed the move as a way to create a bicoastal footprint for system redundancy and development. The announcement names BRiC as the planned headquarters site and links the relocation to a strategy of expanding D-Wave’s research and commercial operations in the United States.
FAU To Host A $20 Million Advantage2 System
As reported by Florida Atlantic University, FAU has signed a $20 million agreement to purchase and install a D-Wave Advantage2 annealing quantum computer on its Boca Raton campus. The system is slated to support research, teaching and collaborations with industry partners.
FAU President Adam Hasner called the partnership a major step for the university’s research profile and said it will create hands-on student training and paid internships. The university’s release also notes that state and city incentives were coordinated to help grow a local quantum workforce pipeline tied to the deployment of the new system.
Local Reaction And The Economic Angle
Economic development officials argue that landing an anchor tenant like D-Wave could pull in suppliers, startups and government contracts that pay well above the regional average and help build a real cluster of advanced computing activity in Boca Raton.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Boca Raton beat out competing offers from Tennessee and North Carolina. At the same time, local reporting by the Boca Daily News found some residents at the council meeting pushing for tighter oversight and clearer language around the incentives.
City officials point to separate workforce investments, including recent grants to Palm Beach State College, as part of a broader effort to make sure those new quantum jobs can be filled by locally trained talent rather than imported wholesale.
What Happens Next
City staff will now hammer out the final Economic Development Agreement and bring it back to the commission for approval once negotiations are complete. The agenda packet shows the $500,000 already allocated in the city’s economic development account.
D-Wave says it expects to complete the headquarters transition by the end of 2026. For more on the business side of the deal, see the South Florida Business Journal coverage and the city documents linked above.
