Three companies will create 1,135 jobs through GOED tax incentives

By Brice Wallace

Three companies have announced expansions that are expected to create a total of 1,135 jobs in Utah over the next few years.

LendingClub Corp., Bullfrog Spas and Essence Global made the announcements after being approved for tax credit incentives by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) board at its November meeting.

That meeting also featured an incentive for Merit Medical Systems Inc. tied to the creation of up to 1,010 high-paying jobs over 15 years, as reported in last week’s edition of The Enterprise. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}

LendingClub will create up to 860 jobs in operational roles over the next 10 years in a $17.85 million project at Thanksgiving Station in Lehi. It was approved for a tax credit of up to $4.48 million over 10 years. The new jobs are projected to pay an average of $67,000 a year.

“The jobs are high-paying,” said Thomas Wadsworth, GOED’s business development and corporate incentives manager. “They’re in this sweet spot of the [industry] clusters that we have here in Utah, between our financial services and our IT clusters that we have here.”

The Lehi project will be the company’s first major expansion outside of its headquarters in San Francisco, where the company has 2,000 employees.

Launched in 2006, the publicly traded company aims to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding. Its online credit marketplace connects borrowers and investors to deliver more efficient and affordable access to credit, and the company claims to be the top provider of unsecured personal loans in the U.S. All loans are made by federally regulated issuing bank partners. LendingClub filed for an IPO in 2014 after receiving significant venture capital funding.

“As we continue our growth and increase our focus on operating efficiency and resiliency, it is clearly time for us to expand beyond our San Francisco headquarters,” Scott Sanborn, LendingClub CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Having a second site in the great state of Utah, with access to the region’s tremendous talent pool, will help improve the service we offer to our members while ensuring business continuity.”

“LendingClub is passionate about helping people become more financially healthy, and I think that’s something that should be important to all of us as American citizens today. I think we’ve got a financial health crisis in America today,” Steve Allocca, LendingClub president, told the GOED board.

Most Americans, he said, don’t have even $400 saved to cover an emergency expense. “I think one of the big reasons for that is that we as Americans simply have too much high-interest-rate credit card debt that prevents us from saving more money.”

The project is expected to result in new wages of up to $543.9 million over 10 years and new state tax revenues of more than $22.5 million during that period.

“Utah’s financial-tech industry continues to grow, and having a leader like LendingClub enter our market will continue to strengthen the industry,” said Val Hale, GOED executive director. “They have ambitious plans and will benefit from the growing technical talent and great work culture in the state.”

Bullfrog Spas LLC, based in Bluffdale, will add up to 150 jobs as it expands its headquarters in Salt Lake County, tied to a tax credit incentive of up to $334,633 over five years. The company also will add 200 manufacturing jobs not tied to the incentive.

Founded in 1996, Bullfrog Spas designs, manufactures and markets hot tubs and outdoor spas. It distributes, licenses and retails products in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Brazil and Europe.

“They have approximately 220 employees currently at their facility here in Utah,” Wadsworth said. “They have another facility in Arizona that has some existing space that they were looking at expansion into, and we wanted to make sure we kept them here in Utah and Salt Lake County.”

The $20 million headquarters expansion is expected to result in new total wages of nearly $35.8 million and new state tax revenues of $2.2 million during that time. The average wage is expected to be $79,000.

“As we expand our global distribution, we’re proud to continue to manufacture 100 percent of our products in Utah,” Jerry Pasley, CEO, said in a prepared statement. “We believe in the sustainability of the Utah manufacturing environment and we’re grateful for programs like the Governor’s Office of Economic Development that help organizations like ours to grow even deeper roots in a community that we love and are pleased to call home.”

“Bullfrog Spas is a locally grown company that has quickly become one of the largest manufacturers for hot tubs globally and has a presence in 22 countries,” Hale said. “They are committed to the community and impact Utah’s manufacturing industry.”

“More hot tubs in Utah? Of course, we’re thrilled Bullfrog Spas is expanding here,” Theresa Foxley, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, said in a prepared statement. “On a serious note, Bullfrog is an impressive innovator in its product category, and its commitment to keeping jobs in the U.S. is commendable. We’re glad they’re continuing to call Utah home.”

Ben Hart, GOED’s deputy director, said the competition from Arizona for the project “is actually fiercer than what people would think. Even to keep some of our companies here and to make sure they are expanding in the state of Utah, we’re just seeing an increased level of aggression from some of our surrounding states.

“So, when we talk about the importance of incentives and staying competitive and making sure that we keep our great home-grown brands here, this is just a great example of why we need to stay aggressive and to keep our foot on the pedal.”

“Some critics say, ‘Why do we need an incentive? They’re going to stay here anyway,’” said Mel Lavitt, chairman of the GOED board’s incentives committee. “And sometimes they’re right … but most of the time it probably isn’t, and we can’t afford to play Russian roulette.”

Essense Global, a digital advertising services agency and part of GroupM, will open a regional office in Salt Lake City, creating up to 125 jobs in the $3.1 million project.

Founded in 2005 and based in New York City, Essence has more than 1,600 employees worldwide. Its clients include Google, Google, Flipkart, Nando’s and the Financial Times.

“Salt Lake City and Essence share a similar commitment to culture and innovation — two qualities that are significant to who we are as an agency,” Steve Williams, CEO of North America for Essence, said in a prepared statement. “We’re excited to offer current and prospective employees the opportunity to contribute to a flourishing tech community while maintaining a positive quality of life.”

The project is expected to result in new total wages of $22.4 million over five years and new state tax revenues of $1.9 million during that time. The average wage is projected at $61,000 a year. The GOED-approved tax credit incentive is up to $191,688.

“Essence is a globally connected company with nationally known clients,” Hale said. “Their culture will be a nice addition to our Silicon Slopes community and Salt Lake City. We welcome them in opening their 19th global office in our great state.”

“Essence Global has grown dramatically over the past few years, and we’re excited the company has added Utah to its impressive list of locations,” Foxley said. “There’s a lot of innovation going on at the intersection of marketing and tech, and we look forward to seeing Essence’s contributions in that space firsthand.”

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said Essence has “such an elite global footprint and focus on culture.”

“Our economic development team has worked with Essence alongside our local partners since this opportunity was first brought to our attention, and I am confident that Essence will continue to see the unparalleled customer service and economic advantage of being in Utah’s capital city,” Biskupski said.{/mprestriction}