When SAP first landed in America in 1989, the newly intercontinental company based in West Germany – with an acronym that stands for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing – set up shop in tiny Lester, near the Philadelphia International Airport.

SAP’s location on Stevens Drive was close in proximity to one of its newest customers, Delaware-based Dow Chemicals.

Fast forward almost 30 years to today, and SAP remains in Delaware County, where its advantages of being in a global hub still resonate.

“Our ecosystem is made of our customers, and that’s around the world,” Managing Director of the East Division Dave Spencer said in a Technical.ly Philly article.

Beyond the access to international destinations, the 2,500-employee, $100 million headquarters built in Newtown Square in 1998 “is equidistant to both New York City and Washington, D.C. It’s easily accessible to our employees in cities such as Baltimore and Pittsburgh,” the article cited the company as stating.

Throughout its history, SAP had a corporate campus for a time in Wayne and was almost lured to the Navy Yard, but it settled in Newtown Square, “thanks to long-term tax implications, fast-tracked construction permitting and its largely suburban-based staff.”

“We wanted to put down real roots here,” Spencer said. “It’s part of our company lore.”

Read more about the story behind SAP and its Newtown Square headquarters on Technical.ly Philly here, and check out previous DELCO Today coverage of the company here.