The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and Consumer United announced an expansion of the rapidly growing company to the state of Utah.
“Thanks to the work ethic of residents and continued support from lawmakers, great companies like Consumer United choose to expand their operations in Utah,” said Sopia DiCaro, interim executive director of GOED. “Utah’s qualified, well-educated workforce continues to be a huge asset in company recruitment.”
Consumer United is the country’s leading independent online insurance agency. Founded in 2007 by Justin Dangel, Consumer United has now grown to more than 400 employees across multiple locations. The company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the Nation’s Fastest Growing Companies for the last two years.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to expand our business operations to Utah,” said Justin Dangel, CEO of Consumer United. “As we considered locations west of the Mississippi to accommodate our fast growing business and customer base across the country, we found that Utah not only offers an extremely attractive combination of hard working and well-educated workers, but also visionary government leaders that have created an ideal environment for economic development.”
Consumer United has indicated that they will be creating 400 new jobs over the next seven years. The total wages, including medical benefits, in aggregate are expected to exceed 125 percent of the county average wage. The projected new state wages over the life of the agreement are expected to be approximately $121,744,109. Projected new state tax revenues, as a result of corporate, payroll and sales taxes, are estimated to be $5,268,757 over seven years. The new Consumer United facility has the potential to result in an expected capital investment of $900,000.
“Consumer United is a big player in the online insurance industry,” said Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “The creation of this new office will strengthen the industry and help us create the critical mass necessary to attract additional companies.”
As part of a contract with Consumer United, the GOED Board of Directors has approved up to a maximum tax credit of $1,053,751 in the form of a post-performance Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) incentive, which is 20 percent of the new state taxes Consumer United will pay over the seven-year life of the agreement. Each year as Consumer United meets the criteria in its contract with the state, it will earn a portion of the tax credit incentive.
About the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) www.business.utah.gov
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) charter is based on Governor Gary Herbert’s commitment to economic development statewide. Utah’s economic development vision is that Utah will lead the nation as the best performing economy and be recognized as a premier global business destination. The mandate for this office is to provide rich business resources for the creation, growth and recruitment of companies to Utah and to increase tourism and film production in the state. GOED accomplishes this mission through the administration of programs that are based around targeted industries or “economic clusters” that demonstrate the best potential for development. GOED utilizes state resources and private sector contracts to fulfill its mission. For more information please contact: Michael Sullivan, 801-538-8811 or mgsullivan@utah.gov
About Consumer United
Headquartered in Boston, Consumer United is the country’s leading independent online insurance agent. Consumer United combines human expertise with smart technology to match customers with the right coverage at the best price. Since 2007, Consumer United has helped hundreds of thousands of Americans compare rates from top brands and buy the policy that's best for them. For more information, visit www.consumerunited.com or call 1-866-556-6457 to speak with one of our licensed agents.