EFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (Nov. 1, 2007) - Governor Mitch Daniels joined executives from business process integration leader Connextions Inc. today to announce the company's plans to locate a new customer support center here, creating more than 750 new jobs.
The Orlando-based firm will invest more than $6 million to establish a secure customer contact center here that will employ customer care professionals, licensed insurance agents, registered nurses and technical support specialists to serve its national client base.
"We're welcoming another great company to Indiana, which has the nation's best business climate and the lowest unemployment rate in the Midwest," said Daniels. "Southeastern Indiana is contributing as much as any region to Indiana's economic comeback. Jeffersonville, in particular, is as hot as a Schimpff's cinnamon square."
Schimpff's Confectionary is a family-owned candy company in Jeffersonville known for its Cinnamon Red Hots, and the governor has been known to keep a jar on his desk.
Nearly 50 companies have decided to locate or expand in Southeastern Indiana in the last three years, including Honda, Cummins, Martinrea International,Hill-Rom and Hitachi Cable Indiana. Specifically in Jeffersonville,American Commercial Lines, Med Venture Technology Corporation, Heartland Payment Systems, Horizon Terra - IDX, Clarke American, SDI-Steel Dynamics,JDC Veneers and Becker Acroma have collectively committed to create more than 2,100 new jobs in the Southeast Indiana city.
Connextions, which operates similar facilities in Florida and North Carolina, will provide integrated business services for a number of well-known healthcare insurance companies from the new Jeffersonville facility beginning later this year. Connextions' technology and customer contact services are designed to help its client companies gain new customers and maintain brand loyalty.
"This new facility is an important milestone in our company's growth plans," said Jack LeFort, Connextions chairman and chief executive. "We are particularly pleased to have found a home in Indiana, where the workforce,the level of state and local cooperation, and the Jeffersonville area's charm and natural beauty combined to make this a very easy decision for us.Connextions looks forward to becoming an adopted corporate Hoosier."
Founded in 1992, Connextions has earned national acclaim for its efforts to elevate the role of traditional customer call centers. By combining software that measures and predicts customer behavior and preferences with highly interactive web and telephone-based systems, the company's 2,000 associates are able to provide services to customers across the country including FederalExpress, Sprint, Mercedes-Benz, Caremark and Kaiser Permanente.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Connextions up to $3.3 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $450,000 in training grants based on the company's hiring plans. The City of Jeffersonville offered the company property tax abatement, and One Southern Indiana assisted in the effort.
"We welcome the economic impact these new jobs will create in Jeffersonville's economy," said Mayor Robert L. Waiz, Jr. "Jeffersonville is growing, and growing strong. We are a place where people want to come and earn a living, while taking advantage of the quality of life here. Job growth like this is another sign of the real progress we're making.
"Connextions' investment is undeniable testimony to what local and state government are achieving collaboratively with the private sector," Waiz said.
About Connextions Inc.
Founded in 1992, with facilities Orlando, FL and Concord, NC, Connextions' nearly 2,000 professionals provide technology-based business solutions for a long list of America's best known corporate and healthcare organizations,including Federal Express, Sprint,Mercedes-Benz, Olympus, SanDisk, Colonial Penn, Golden Rule, Caremark, Assurant Health and The Lance Armstrong Foundation. Connextions Inc. is privately owned, and a member of the New Mountain Capital portfolio of companies. See www.connextions.com
About IEDC
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is the state's premier entity charged with economic development. The IEDC has a 12-member board chaired by Governor Mitch Daniels. Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nathan Feltman is also chief executive officer of the IEDC. For more information about IEDC, visit www.iedc.IN.gov
Media Contacts:
Gordon G. Andrew (Connextions Inc.) - 407.563.4440 or 609.987.0200
Mitch Frazier (IEDC) - 317.232.8873 |
