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HMO expansion could add 300 jobs By JILL BRISKEY Mail Tribune The state's largest health insurance corporation announced plans to expand its Medford office Tuesday, a decision that will add about 100 local family-wage jobs during the next three years and up to 100 more within six years. The new jobs in the first three years are expected to add $6-7 million to the local economy each year, local officials said. Ganz said the decision to expand in Southern Oregon was based on a number of factors, including the area's stable work force and existing customer and employee base. Ninety people currently work out of Regence's regional Medford office at 14 N. Central Ave. The company plans to buy and remodel the SRC Vision building near Costco, west of Les Schwab Tire Center, for its new office. Ganz estimates that the 82,000-square-foot building at 2067 Commerce Drive will cost $4.6 million. Regence will hire and train 200 people to fill processing and customer service positions during the first three years, a process that will begin this fall. The jobs will be added in Medford as attrition takes place in other Regence offices. Regence expects to create an additional 100 positions sometime during the next six years for a total of about 300 jobs in Medford. The expansion could lead to advancement for its existing local workers in management and employee training, said Cracraft. The new positions may provide much-needed relief for unemployed residents. In November, the Oregon Employment Department announced that the unemployment rate in Jackson County was 5.6 percent, compared to 3.6 percent a year earlier. December figures for the Rogue Valley are expected late this week. State unemployment increased from 7.4 percent in November to 7.5 percent in December, according to OED. Pochert said Regence is expected to pay its new employees up to $12.50 an hour. However, Ganz said on Tuesday that it's too early to say exactly what the new employees will earn. Only an estimated 40 percent of the work force in Jackson and Josephine counties earns more than $12.50 an hour, Pochert added. "We've been very successful at creating jobs. Job numbers look good, but the actual job wage per worker has gone down," Pochert said. "This is a company that in regards to wages, is raising the bar for the rest of the businesses here." Pochert said potential employees don't need a higher education, but added that applicants must have customer service and computer skills. "If you haven't worked for 20 years, if you've been on welfare for a long time, it's not necessarily going to be the best place for you to start out," he said. "It won't be for everybody, but there's some good, long-term opportunities for the right folks." During a ceremony at Medford City Hall on Tuesday, Oregon Economic and Community Development Department Director Bill Scott of Salem presented Ganz with a $125,000 grant for employee training. Mayor Lindsay Berryman also announced that the City Council will expand its urban enterprise zone to include Regence's new office on Commerce Drive. Businesses within the enterprise zone receive a property tax exemption on improvements for three to five years. The enterprise zone is used as an incentive to encourage businesses to rebuild or improve. Medford Urban Renewal Director Don Burt doesn't anticipate any problems in finding a buyer once Regence leaves its office on Central Avenue. "We find that buildings in market condition are selling," Burt said. Burt said the structure, which was remodeled 10 years ago, meets existing building codes. That's usually what prevents a building from selling, he added. "The buildings that are sitting vacant are landlord issues," Burt said. "The landlords are reluctant to bring their buildings up to code." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.