By Monica Chen

mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636

DURHAM -- After weeks of being elusive about its plans in the Triangle, Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry, confirmed it is opening a research and development office in "the Raleigh, North Carolina area" on Wednesday.

"Raleigh is a great fit for RIM given its highly skilled work force and proximity to many excellent academic institutions," Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for RIM, wrote in an e-mail.

The company has already begun hiring in the area and is continuing to interview prospective employees, she added.

Requests for further information, including where and when the company will open and how many employees they're planning on hiring, were not answered.

Casey Steinbacher, president of the Great Durham Chamber of Commerce, also said she was not aware of details on the plans.

Neither the Durham chamber nor its counterpart in Wake County has been in discussions with RIM, but wherever the company locates, it will be a great addition to the area, Steinbacher said.

"As a result of the layoffs we've had here recently, Sony Ericsson, etc., there are an abundance of people who are able to meet their needs," she added.

On its Web site, RIM has listed possible job openings in various R&D divisions in North Carolina, including camera development, audio and acoustics for the Blackberry, accessories integration and operating systems.

Local media outlets have reported in recent weeks that RIM had held a job fair in RTP and sent e-mails to prospective employees on the hiring process.

When asked for a comment earlier this month, the company had issued a broad statement.

"RIM recruits employees from across the United States and around the world in support of its global growth plans," Conway wrote in an e-mail. "The decision to conduct the recent career fair in Raleigh was an easy choice given the experienced talent as well as new graduates from the colleges and universities in the area."

The global company based in Waterloo, Ontario, reported $3.92 billion in revenues for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 recently, up 41 percent from a year ago on the strength of a record shipment of more than 10 million BlackBerry smartphones.