Radian6 to hire 300 in Saint John, Fredericton

Radian6, a social media monitoring company, plans to create 300 new full-time jobs in Fredericton and Saint John.

The provincial government will provide a $3.8-million payroll rebate to help thecompanyexpand its workforce, said Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud. He made the announcement in the legislative assembly Wednesday.

The money will come from Invest NB, a provincial Crown agency intended to promote economic growth.

Robichaud expects theexpenditurewillcontribute about $8.5 million to the provinces gross domestic product annually.

"Information and communications technology is one of our priority sectors because we recognize it is poised to meet the challenges of the future and offers tremendous growth potential," he said in a statement.

"Radian6 and Salesforce.com have become household names in New Brunswick."

Radian6, founded in 2006, wasacquired bySalesforce.com in March 2011 for $326 million.

At that time, the company had about 300 employees, including some in U.S. cities, such as New York, Boston, and Chicago.

Radian6tracks what's being said about products on social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Its clients include global giants, such asDell, General Electric, Pepsi and Molson.