EDITORIAL: GEICO’s plan for a dramatic expansion here sends a message about Buffalo to other businesses
It would be a mistake, one that Tuesday's announcement of new hiring underscores.
GEICO, the insurance company that, like
When the company arrived, it pledged to produce 650 jobs by 2006 and 1,800 by 2012. Wary Buffalonians, stung by too many unmet employment projections, might have been skeptical, but the company did even better than it had pledged, putting 830 workers on the payroll by 2005 and 2,400 by 2012 -- one-third more than it had promised.
Now, GEICO is planning to bring an additional 600 jobs to
It's a significant expansion however you look at it. The immediate growth is 21 percent, and the company expects the new hiring to be done within a year. It's also a remarkable rate of growth overall, considering that GEICO has increased from zero employees in 2004 to about 3,400 by next year. It's an important factor in the local economy.
But if GEICO is one of
It's also a development in which residents of this area can take heart. While GEICO has made use of public incentives, it came here on its own. The decision didn't require a "Buffalo Billion" or "StartUp-NY" to put this area on its radar.
One of the reasons GEICO looked at
That workforce is an ace for
To accommodate its growth, the company plans to lease a second building in
GEICO is not only
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