Evansville - Indiana Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman joined American General Financial Services (AGFS) executives Monday to announce the company's planned $35 million investment to improve its downtown campus and construct a new 135,000 sq. ft. office building. The company's Evansville-based corporate headquarters which currently employs approximately 1,400 people will hire an additional 150 new employees.
"American General Financial Services is a home-grown Hoosier company that is expanding opportunities for Hoosiers in Evansville and throughout the state. This is another in a good string of new jobs announcements for Indiana that will help bring about our economic comeback," said Governor Mitch Daniels.
"We are working night and day to create an environment in Indiana that encourages companies to locate and expand in Indiana," remarked Lt. Governor Skillman. "I am pleased to see American General Financial Services recognize the value Indiana offers for businesses and solidify its commitment to Evansville and the entire state."
Founded in Evansville in 1920, AGFS is a subsidiary of American International Group and provides direct consumer and home equity loans, retail sales financing and other credit-related products to over 2 million customers. The company operates 1,500 branches in 45 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
"We are pleased to continue our long-standing commitment to Evansville with this expansion. This new building will allow us to consolidate and upgrade our current facilities throughout the city," said Frederick W. "Rick" Geissinger, AGFS Chairman and CEO. "We certainly appreciate the assistance we have received from the city of Evansville and the state of Indiana in making this project a reality."
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and the city of Evansville worked together to provide an incentive package that will assist the company. The IEDC offered incentives including up to $450,000 in training grants and approximately $2.25 million in tax credits based on job creation and capital investment. The city of Evansville will help AGFS with the project via land acquisition and infrastructure improvements, including streets, sidewalks, and water/sewer line extensions in the immediate area.
Since January, the IEDC has landed more than 100 competitive deals and has secured commitments for more than 13,600 new jobs and $3.3 billion in private capital investments. Deals recently finalized by the IEDC include the following: a new Nestle combined production distribution facility in Anderson (300 new jobs, $359 million capital investment); Honda selected Indiana for its newest North American automotive assembly plant (2,000 new jobs, $550 million capital investment); Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis chose Indiana for their newest major expansion (600 new jobs, $145 million capital investment); American Commercial Lines will expand its corporate headquarters and Jeffboat division in Jeffersonville (1,100 new jobs, $17.5 million capital investment); Pfizer chose its Terre Haute facility to produce their newly-patented form of inhaled insulin (450 new jobs, $170 million capital investment).
