A company’s recent relocation to Blendon Township is the latest example of the value of the voter-approved joint economic development zone between Blendon Township and the City of Westerville.
In November 2012, Blendon Township residents voted to establish the Blendon-Westerville Joint Economic Development Zone (JEDZ), the latest in a long series of collaborative initiatives between the City of Westerville and neighboring Blendon Township. As part of the agreement, the City of Westerville two percent income tax is applied to commercial and industrial entities located in the JEDZ. Income tax revenue is dedicated to capital improvements within the zone, and the remaining dollars are shared by Blendon Township and the City of Westerville, which provides economic development services to the Township.
The company, Teleperformance, is a leader in outsourced multichannel customer experience management. After outgrowing and relocating from a smaller facility in Columbus, the company dedicated its new Blendon Township contact center in October. The relocation of operations to Blendon Township will retain 200 jobs in the region, and the company plans to create an additional 240 jobs by 2018.
“Working with Westerville and its economic development division helped to connect the dots and bring key players to the table to discuss what Teleperformance needed and what we could provide,” said Blendon Township Administrator Bryan Rhoads. “By pooling our resources, we were well positioned to approach Teleperformance and assist it in its efforts to relocate to a space that better suited its needs.”
Westerville and Blendon also collaborated with representatives from Franklin County, which facilitated the zoning process required to expand the parking lot adjacent to the new facility. The expanded parking lot feature was instrumental in attracting Teleperformance to the Township, as it is necessary to accommodate the expected 240 additional jobs that will be created over the next five years.
“The state has urged local communities to develop innovative strategies to combine services to support local priorities and initiatives,” said Westerville Economic Development Administrator Jason Bechtold. “The Westerville-Blendon JEDZ is a prime example of how local communities can work together to proactively support development to the benefit of our residents and the region.”
“We are all very excited about the new Teleperformance office in Blendon Township. The opportunity to move to a great facility in a wonderful community with such a strong workforce was one we simply could not pass up,” said Miranda Collard, Teleperformance president of U.S. operational delivery.
For more information on this program, visit www.business.westerville.org.
By the Numbers
240
Number of online service requests submitted via the City of Westerville website since January 2013 (as of late November 2013). To start a service request, visit www.westerville.org and select “Service Request” on the right side of the page.
