Incentive to help HeathEquity add 500 employees at expanded headquarters

By Brice Wallace

HealthEquity Inc. will add up to 500 employees over the next seven years at a new building adjacent to its current Draper headquarters.

The company made the announcement last week after being approved for a tax credit incentive by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) board.

The publicly traded company, founded in 2002, is the nation’s largest independent health savings account (HSA) custodian. It delivers health savings account (HSA), 401(k) and other health and retirement solutions in partnership with over 40,000 employers and 124 health plans and administrators. It is the custodian for $6.9 billion in assets for 3.5 million HSA members nationwide.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

HealthEquity has been based in Draper since shortly after its founding. In 2015, the GOED board approved a tax credit incentive of up to $569,917 for the company to add 200 jobs over six years at its headquarters.

“We’re in the fortunate situation where that expansion has gone so well that they have reached capacity at their current location and are looking at expanding yet again,” Thomas Wadsworth, GOED’s business development and corporate incentives manager, told the board.

“We have a great incentive today of Utah company and the good news is, we’re helping a Utah company decide to stay in Utah for their expansion,” said Mel Lavitt, chairman of the board’s incentives committee. “Among everything we do, this is certainly one of the most important things we do, is continue to help our Utah companies grow in Utah.”

The new incentive, a tax credit of up to about $2 million, is tied to the creation of the new jobs, expected to pay an average of about $70,800 annually. The $30 million project is expected to generate wages over the seven-year period of $160.7 million, and new state tax revenues during that period are expected to top $10 million.

Ted Bloomberg, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the company has signed a lease for a four-story, 120,000-square-foot building to house the expansion.

Wadsworth praised the mix of jobs that the expansion entails. Board chairman Jerry Oldroyd hailed the company’s training and workforce development, which he said increases the intellectual capital of the state.

Oldroyd also complimented the company for its willingness to put operations in rural Utah. The company earlier this month hired 30 people for its Price operations, bringing the employee count there to 80.

“I think that’s exemplary. That truly is,” Oldroyd said. “That’s what we would like to see more companies do to help rural Utah. I have nothing but admiration for what they’ve done.”

“HealthEquity’s best asset is our team members,” Jon Kessler, HealthEquity president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “By partnering with GOED, we have expanded employment opportunities in Carbon County and attracted the Wasatch Front’s top talent to create our unique and extraordinary 'purple' culture.”

HealthEquity is “a community-focused organization that provides opportunities for rural and urban communities in Utah,” said Val Hale, GOED’s executive director. “Not only do they provide employment opportunities along the Wasatch Front, but they have also opened their doors in Price, Utah. We look forward to further watching the impact this company has on the communities they serve and call home.”{/mprestriction}