Tech insurance company to open 800-job office in Las Vegas

A company that insures cell phones and other tech devices is expected to announce plans to open a service call center in Las Vegas that would provide up to 800 jobs within five years.

Representatives of Nashville, Tenn.-based Asurion LLC would initially provide 500 jobs when it opens in the next few months in 90,000 square feet of the Montecito Point office complex near U.S. Highway 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway in northwest Las Vegas.

Asurion made a presentation to the Governor’s Office of Economic Development requesting tax incentives in January and recently determined that it would expand in Las Vegas.

“It was Nevada’s location and business-friendly environment that first drew our attention, but it will be incentives that close the gap between prospective locations,” Paul Fassbender, Asurion’s director of public policy and economic development write in a letter to Steve Hill, the state’s economic development director. “This project will require the hiring of 500 full-time employees at an average wage of $15.63 in our first year of operations.”

Fassbender said the company’s growth demands a presence in multiple time zones.

Founded in 1994 by Stanford University graduates, Asurion is now a global leader in technology protection with 280 million customers.

The company works to provide rapid replacement of lost, stolen, damaged or malfunctioning digital devices and products. Fassbender said the company encourages community involvement and volunteerism among its employees.

“Future expansion in Nevada will be based on the operating success and level of assistance provided,” Fassbender said in his letter.

The company’s application projected having 500 jobs onsite within 12 months and 700 to 800 within three to five years.

The application said the company would hire 378 agents and technicians with wages averaging $14.54 an hour. Other positions include supervisors and coaches, managers and analysts with salaries topping off at $80,000 a year.

Asurion’s benefits package includes health, dental and vision insurance and a matched 401(k) retirement savings plan.

The board of directors of the Office of Economic Development took up Asurion’s request in January. While the average wage offered prospective workers is below the state average, Asurion qualified for economic incentives based on the number of jobs created and investment in capital improvements. In addition to the 500 initial jobs that would be created, the company plans to invest $4.4 million in equipment, well above the statutory requirement of 50 jobs and a $1 million investment.

Capital investment will include computers, software, cabling, a security system and the installation of a backup power generator.

Based on a one-year 2 percent sales tax abatement, a four-year 50 percent modified business tax deferral and a 10-year 50 percent property tax deferral, incentives would total $680,875 for Asurion.

The state’s analysis concluded that over 10 years, the company’s presence would produce $5.2 million in direct local and state sales taxes and $17.2 million in tax revenue indirectly from Asurion’s suppliers and contractors.

The prospect of an additional $22.5 million in tax revenue was enough to convince the board to approve the incentives.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow him on Twitter @RickVelotta.