GEICO, which employs about 2,700 people at CrossPoint Business Park in Getzville, will add 600 more jobs. Governor Andrew Cuomo and GEICO president and CEO Tony Nicely were among those on hand Tuesday to celebrate the insurance provider's plans to expand.
Company officials say they are already accepting applications for various positions, including claims, sales and service. Nicely says salaries range from "high 30s" to $40,000 or more annually. He told reporters following a ceremony that it was quickly determined that Western New York was the ideal place to place these new jobs.
"We didn't really consider other locations, either because we didn't have the space or vetted out for it," Nicely said. "As we considered other places to grow, we looked around and we said we've got great, great, great associates here in the greater Buffalo area."
Nicely added that, knowing what they have in Western New York, there would be expenses and unknowns that made moving or creating jobs elsewhere risky. He called the work ethic among local employees "above average."
To expand, GEICO is leasing an 86,000-square-foot space at 150 CrossPoint.
The company, which ranks as the top auto insurance provider in New York State and the second-largest in the nation, first opened in CrossPoint in 2005, employing 300 people. Nicely confirmed the package to expand at CrossPoint includes $4 million in incentives from Empire State Development.
Governor Cuomo used the opportunity to tout the Buffalo Billion as a means to restart a long-struggling local economy. He said while government does not create jobs, public dollars can be used like the jumper cables that give a dead battery a new charge.
Following the ceremony, Cuomo answered questions from reporters about critics who question the continued use of public dollars to boost private interests. He replied that all states provide some level of incentives and that New York State legislators have had to wake up and realize that they, too, must compete.
"Frankly, the New York State Legislature should look long and hard in the mirror, about what they did to Upstate New York," Cuomo said.
Nicely says the expanded local workforce will serve its customers in New York State and all of New England. He was asked if there may be more expansion plans in the future.
"We never say never to anything. We learned that a long time ago," he said.
GEICO ranks as the top auto insurer in New York State but not in Western New York. Nicely says his company intends to change that.
Cuomo, during the ceremonial announcement outside GEICO's local headquarters, spoke of the growing belief in Buffalo by business leaders, proven by investments by Elon Musk, Ford Motor Company, Yahoo! and even Terry Pegula.
"I don't care how much you life football. You don't spend one-point-four billion dollars on the Buffalo Bills unless you really believe in Buffalo," said Cuomo about Pegula, who previously bought the Buffalo Sabres and invested in the construction of HarborCenter before he and wife Kim added the Bills to their group of businesses.
