Insurer Centene changes course on East Coast HQ in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. said Thursday it no longer plans to create an East Coast campus in Charlotte, North Carolina, a project first announced in 2020 and already under construction.

The St. Louis-based managed care company said it was pulling back because of the number of its employees who now prefer working from home or in a hybrid situation, a company spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer.

The project had initially been expected to create more than 3,200 jobs by 2032. When announced, Gov. Roy Cooper had described the planned expansion as the state’s largest single jobs announcement by number in nearly two decades.

The city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County no longer plan to follow through on incentives that had been promised in conjunction with the project, spokespeople told the newspaper.

The news of Centene's plans was first reported by the Charlotte Business Journal.