Jive Communications’ Message is Clear: Utah is the Place to do Business

Pete CodellaNews

Jive Communications and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) announced today the expansion of Jive’s Utah County operations. This expansion is directly correlated with increased product demand and employee growth.

“The success Jive is experiencing speaks to the solidity and efficiency with which the company has been run over the past eight years,” said Spencer P. Eccles, executive director for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “As a state, we look forward to the new jobs and economic growth that the expansion will bring to Utah County.”

Founded in 2006, Jive Communications provides enterprise-grade Hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Unified Communications to businesses and institutions. Jive leverages partnerships with global leaders in telecommunications services and hardware such as Cisco, Level 3, Verizon, Panasonic and Polycom. Jive Communications delivers best-in-class hosted communications via Jive Cloud, its hosted services platform.

“We’re proud to be a Utah-based company,” said John Pope, Jive’s CEO. “The state has a wealth of technical and business professionals, and we’re able to hire world-class talent here at home.”

Jive Communications has grown by more than 100 percent annually for the last three years.

To keep up with its rapid growth, Jive has been boosting its labor force. The company added more than 100 employees just this last year. Hiring will continue on this positive trajectory with the expansion. More than 570 jobs will be created in the next five years. Each of these incented jobs will include health and retirement benefits and a salary that is at least 125 percent of the Utah County average wage.

“EDCUtah is pleased to see the expansion of Jive Communications in Utah County,” said Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “The information technology sector in the state will be greatly enhanced by Jive’s commitment to grow their operations here.”

Over the next five years, Jive Communications will pay at least $6,255,476 in new state taxes and $130,946,265 in new state wages. Capital investment for this expansion will be approximately $6.4 million.

As part of a contract with Jive Communications, the GOED Board of Directors has approved a maximum cap tax credit of $938,321 in the form of a post-performance Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) incentive, which is 15 percent of the net taxes Jive Communications will pay over the five-year life of the agreement. Each year as Jive Communications meets the criteria in its contract with the state, it will earn a portion of the tax credit incentive.