Consumer United Targets Utah for its Proposed Expansion

Pete CodellaNews, Tax Credits

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and Consumer United announced today 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.