Silicon Valley Bank expanding its Cottonwood Heights operation

By Brice Wallace 

A bank already with a Utah presence will expand and add up to 116 jobs over the next three years.

SVB Financial Group’s expansion in Cottonwood Heights will be aided by a tax credit of up to $346,714 that was approved by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) board at its February meeting.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

SVB Financial Group, based in Santa Clara, California, is a financial services and bank holding company for Silicon Valley Bank that offers banking and financial products. The company focuses on certain industries: hardware and infrastructure, software and Internet, life science and healthcare, energy and resource innovation, private equity and venture capital, and premium wine. SVB also provides private banking services for high-net worth individuals. The company has helped fund more than 30,000 startups and has over $68 billion in assets.

SVB has 29 offices in the U.S. and operates worldwide. It opened its first Utah location in 2005 and has about 120 full-time employees in Cottonwood Heights. It supports Utah-based technology and life science companies as well as global operations for the company.

The new project includes an expansion of its private banking division. Utah faced competition from other Silicon Valley Bank locations in the U.S., including Tempe, Arizona.

“We’re pleased to expand our presence in Utah with the support of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development,” Phil Cox, chief operations officer of Silicon Valley Bank, said in a prepared statement. “At SVB, we have the opportunity to grow and collectively make an impact on the world by supporting the innovative clients and communities SVB serves. We look forward to welcoming local talent primarily to our global operations; private bank; and wealth advisory, risk and IT teams.”

Tom Wadsworth, GOED associate managing director, noted that SVB received an economic development tax incentive financing (EDTIF) incentive in 2005, becoming the first company to do so following the creation of the EDTIF program.

“The project that we have before us is one we’ve been working on with the company and with their site selection team for a number of years now,” Wadsworth told the GOED board. “They’re going to be expanding their global operations team that they have here, as well as some private banking positions. It’s extremely exciting for Utah. We’ve had a number of opportunities in the past to compete and we haven’t necessarily been able to land those projects, but we’re excited that we’re able to land this one here.”

The $4.8 million project is expected to generate nearly $32 million in wages over three years and state tax revenue of over $2.3 million during that period. The new jobs are expected to pay an average of $138,000.

“We’re really excited about what this means, not only for financial services in the state, for technology companies in the state, but for Cottonwood Heights as well,” Wadsworth said. He noted that the project “checks all the boxes” GOED considers, including a significant number of high-paying jobs, local community support and competition from other locations. “So this one is right in our wheelhouse,” he said.

Brent Dewsnup, senior director of operations for the company, said the Cottonwood Heights operations include a business relationship team, credit solutions team, technology groups, a global operations group, and teams focused on product development, plus the company’s head of cybersecurity. The company’s growth focus is on a group to support the private banking portion of thebusiness.

“They’ve long been a great corporate partner for us and we’re excited to continue that relationship,” Mike Johnson, community and economic development director for Cottonwood Heights, told the GOED board. “They’ve done work with other businesses within Cottonwood Heights in financing and helping those businesses grow. Sometimes they grow and get too big and they move out, and we’re glad to see that isn’t the case here [with SVB] and they’re reinvesting in our city and continuing that strong partnership that we’ve enjoyed for years.”

Jerry Oldroyd, chairman of the GOED board, said the project “is a real opportunity” for Utah, benefiting both the technology and financial services communities. “They’ve been important to both elements in Utah,” Oldroyd said, “but that expansion just reinforces the strength of our technology and financial services industry.”

“The expansion of Silicon Valley Bank in Cottonwood Heights will create many high-paying jobs well above the average county wage,” Val Hale, GOED’s executive director, said in a prepared statement. “The company will also support many Utah-based technology and life science companies. We are excited to have a Silicon Slopes location of Silicon Valley Bank in Utah and wish them success as they continue to grow.”

“Utah employs more than 82,100 people in financial services and has experienced employment growth of 20.8 percent in the financial services industry over the last five years,” said Theresa A. Foxley, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “This is comparable to our fast-growing tech industry. Silicon Valley Bank straddles both sectors, and we’re gratified they are expanding here to capitalize on the ‘Utah opportunity.’”{/mprestriction}