GEICO to add 300 jobs
0 Comments | Buffalo News, Aug 20, 2009 | by Jonathan D. Epstein
Gov. David A. Paterson and executives from GEICO Corp. on Wednesday confirmed that the giant auto insurer will bring at least 300 more new jobs to Western New York and invest $2.4 million over three years as it expands its Amherst service center.
The Washington, D.C.-based insurance carrier, the third-largest in the country and largest in the state, is opening a second location for its GEICO Insurance Agency subsidiary, which sells, services and underwrites other personal insurance for consumers, on behalf of other insurers.
The agency, run by John Zinno, former head of the Amherst service center, is currently based in Fredericksburg, Va., where it employs more than 830. But it has outgrown that location, and will use the extra space at Geico’s 251,000-square-foot facility in CrossPoint Business Park to accommodate future growth.
The new jobs will represent a 20 percent increase from the 1,500 currently employed there. “We are pleased that is happening and that one of the most identifiable brands in the nation is investing in Western New York,” Paterson said during a press conference, with GEICO’s well-known gecko mascot in the room.
In exchange, the site has been designated as a “regionally significant” project under the Empire Zone program, and GEICO will receive $1.5 million in tax credits over the next five years through the towns of Tonawanda and Amherst.
It will also get a sales tax exemption from the Amherst Industrial Development Agency for equipment purchases and 1.6 megawatts of low-cost hydropower from the New York Power Authority through 2013, valued at $1.75 million in savings. The Workforce Investment Boards in Erie and Niagara counties also will provide workforce training assistance.
Paterson and GEICO officials said the company would begin taking job applications immediately. The company is taking applications online at www.geico.jobs. “The first hiring is at high noon. We’re not wasting any time,” the governor said.
Plans call for the company to create the 300 jobs over three years here, and eventually to build up further. Officials said the agency operation could employ as many as 1,000 over 10 years, bringing total employment for GEICO locally to about 2,500.
That was the ultimate goal GEICO cited when it first announced plans in December 2003 to set up shop in Western New York. And that’s been stated as the capacity of the existing building. However, that was also before the financial crisis and recession.
The facility, known as the Northeast Operations Center, now handles sales, service, underwriting and claims for GEICO auto insurance customers in New Jersey and New England. It also serves as a backup for the company’s Long Island facility in serving New York state consumers. It’s been headed by regional vice president Steve Cunningham since Zinno, an assistant vice president who launched it five years ago, left for Virginia in 2006.
The second floor, while finished, is mostly vacant. “Look at all the empty space
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Dec 17, 2009
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