InQuest Technologies said today it will relocate its headquarters from Southboro, Mass., to Providence in September with the help of a state loan to assist the company’s expansion.

InQuest, a developer of a platform for delivering Web-based enterprise business applications, will move about 20 employees to its new offices at 300 West Exchange St. in the fall and said it plans to hire another 30 workers.

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation has approved a $750,000 loan from its Small Business Loan Fund to help expand InQuest’s operations in Rhode Island.

“InQuest Technologies is excited to make the move to Rhode Island and take advantage of the area’s strong talent pool, highly regarded academic institutions and vibrant information technology and digital media community,” Michael Colapietro, co-founder and chief executive officer of InQuest, said in a statement.

“The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation was a supportive and committed partner in our planning process and we are grateful for the warm welcome our company has received.,” he said.

Last spring, the EDC accelerated its new-business attraction effort with a regional campaign to identify expansion and relocation opportunities within the financial-services, information-technology and digital-media and health and life-sciences sectors. Plans for the campaign were announced in the EDC’s 2008 Economic Growth Plan.

“InQuest Technologies’ relocation to Rhode Island is a great win for our state. This is exactly the kind of activity Rhode Island needs to stimulate growth and create more high-wage jobs for our citizens,” said EDC Executive Director Saul Kaplan. “Rhode Island has a great foundation to build upon in the information-technology and digital-media sector and InQuest will make a great addition to this growing sector of our economy.”

The American Electronics Association’s 2008 Cybercities report ranked the Providence metropolitan area as one of the nation’s top cities in several areas measuring the technology industry, according to the EDC. The Providence area ranked number two for proportional change in high-tech wages, reflecting a 15-percent increase from 2001 to 2006. The region was number six on a dollar basis for high-tech wages.

InQuest offers professional services geared toward business solutions such as project management, implementation and training services. InQuest already has a number of customers in Rhode Island, including the U.S. Navy, Verizon and National Grid.