State incentives help bring 100 insurance jobs to County
St. Louis American
November 4, 2010
Last week Gov. Jay Nixon announced that Liberty Mutual Group and its national subsidiary Safeco Insurance will create 100 new jobs in St. Louis County and invest $3 million into the local economy.
Nixon's administration awarded Liberty Mutual $1.6 million in incentives through the Missouri Quality Jobs Program. Under this program, a business must commit to create a certain number of jobs that pay wages above the county average and offer health care benefits for employees. In exchange, the business is eligible to retain a portion of the withholdings taxes that would be paid to the State for those new jobs.
The State's incentive package also includes $545,000 through the New Jobs Training Program.
Liberty Mutual and Safeco will create 100 new full-time jobs over the next two years; these jobs will pay an average salary of $52,000 per year. Safeco already employs 340 workers in the St. Louis region. In addition, the company will make a significant investment in a 55,000-square-foot, leased facility near Fenton.
Safeco and Liberty Mutual wrote $462 million in premiums in 2009.
