Columbus , Ohio – April 2, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Mark Barbash, Interim Director of the Ohio Department of Development, today joined representatives from Aetna and local officials to announce the company’s expansion at its facility in the Village of New Albany. The expansion is expected to bring approximately 210 – 250 new jobs in the community.
“We are committed to working with the business community to foster an economic climate in Ohio that encourages new opportunities and investments. Aetna’s announcement demonstrates that even in these challenging times, targeted investments are resulting in new, quality jobs right here in Central Ohio,” Strickland said. “Our biennial budget calls for the expansion or creation of several job-creating tax credits, including a broadening of the Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit that is helping businesses like Aetna to grow in Ohio.”
Aetna has been awarded a job creation tax credit in support of the company’s expansion in the Village of New Albany, part of a parcel of incentives offered by the State of Ohio and the Village of New Albany totaling up to $3.5 million. Aetna will hire for positions ranging from care management nurses and health concierges to project managers and support staff. The new positions will be posted over a several month period. Interested individuals are encouraged to visit Aetna’s Web site to see new jobs as they are posted: www.aetna.com/working.
“Central Ohio has an excellent pool of qualified labor. Aetna already has over 1,000 highly qualified and dedicated employees at our New Albany facility and felt confident we would find more of the same if we chose to expand in New Albany,” said Mark Bertolini, Aetna’s president. “We extend our thanks to the state and village for providing tax incentives and grants totaling up to $3.5 million to expand our operations in New Albany.”
As part of the company’s expansion project, Aetna will make use of existing space in its approximately 162,000-square-foot facility in New Albany to house the new employees. The company expects improvements to the facility to begin next month and be completed in July. Aetna began operations in New Albany in 1998 and has had a Columbus-area facility providing customer service since 1960. The company began selling health insurance in Ohio in 1899.
“The insurance industry in Ohio boasts annualized revenues in excess of $20 billion, contributing billions of dollars to our gross state product and providing good jobs for Ohioans,” Barbash said. “Aetna’s decision to expand in New Albany capitalizes on Ohio’s efforts to nurture an environment where business pursuits balance with outstanding qualities of life, rendering a highly skilled workforce and attracting a diversity of companies primed for long-term growth and sustainability.”
