Golden Living to add 200+ jobs to Fort Smith operation

Twenty days after Golden Living announced it would move its headquarter operations to Dallas, the company said it would add at least 200 jobs to what is now known as the company’s Fort Smith Administrative Center.

The jobs, to be added within the next two years, are expected to boost administrative center employment to 875. The jobs will consolidate most of the company’s billing for its various subsidiaries in the 5-story, 318,000-square-foot Fort Smith building.

Golden Living President and CEO Neil Kurtz said the jobs will come from company offices in Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Richmond, Va.

INCENTIVES
A more than $1.5 million incentive package from the Arkansas Governor’s office and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and a smaller incentive from the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce helped secure the jobs. The chamber on Wednesday morning presented Kurtz with a $25,000 check as the “first installment.” Other installments will come as jobs are added, said Chamber President Paul Harvel.

The Governor’s Quick Action Fund contributed $1.5 million toward building additional space to accommodate new employees and purchase of equipment related to the expansion. The package includes “tax back,” which allows a sales and use tax refund on eligible building materials, machinery and equipment associated with the project. Also part of the incentive package is “Advantage Arkansas.” The program offers a 1% income tax credit on payroll for new, full time, permanent employees for 5 years.

Golden Living said the average wage for hourly workers in the new jobs is $18 per hour, or $37,440 annually. The company did not have an average wage for the salaried jobs included 200 job move.

The most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis posts $30,053 as the 2009 average personal income in the Fort Smith metro area. The area income ranked 316 out of 366 metro areas in 2009.

In an interview prior to Wednesday’s announcement, Harvel said the incentive money and responsive work by the AEDC were instrumental in bringing the jobs to Fort Smith.

“This deal was never in the bag.  … I don’t know the other towns competing for the jobs, but they did have alternatives,” said Harvel, who is also a member of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. “They (AEDC staff) really rolled out for this. They really came out big time to make this happen.”

GROWTH INITIATIVES
Kurtz thanked the state and chamber officials for their generosity and support.

“I want the state and city to know that we will reciprocate,” Kurtz said. “We are reinforcing our commitment to doing business here.”

He also said the new job expectation is a minimum.

“We hope to add 200-plus jobs before we’re finished,” he said, adding later in an interview that the company will grow organically and through acquisitions.

On Mar. 10 the company announced three “key initiatives” to ensure “growth and success in the future.” The initiatives are:
• Consolidating top management in a new headquarters building in Plano, Texas (north of Dallas);
• Consolidating administrative/billing jobs in the Fort Smith building that previously served as the corporate headquarters; and,
• Reorganizing the operating structure of its nursing homes.

The management move will pull no more than 15 high-paying jobs out of Fort Smith to the 27,000-square foot Plano office. Kurtz said the Plano office will eventually employ about 125, with personnel also moved to Plano from Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and other regional offices.

Responsibilities that will continue to be managed out of the Fort Smith office include legal, information technology, human relations, finance and printing and mailing services, Kurtz said.

EMPLOYEE SHIFTS
Kurtz also reiterated Wednesday that tax policy differences between Arkansas and Texas was not a factor in the decision to move the corporate headquarters. Texas, unlike Arkansas, has no income or corporate tax, and has no capital gains tax with the exception of capital gains distributions from mutual funds.

Kurtz said the primary reason for moving corporate headquarters to Dallas is because the top execs spend most of their time traveling to the more than 300 Golden LivingCenters in 21 states. The company also provides services to more than 1,000 nursing homes, hospitals and other care facilities in 37 states.

Kurtz expects “very few” Golden Living employees in the regional billing offices to make the move to Fort Smith. To fill those jobs, Kurtz said the company will engage a “very aggressive recruiting” effort. And time is critical because Kurtz said it takes about 6 months to train people on the numerous state and federal protocols related to reimbursement billing.

Arkansas has offered financial support for training, but the value of that incentive will not be known until the training needs are known.

The growth of Golden Living may also force five non-company tenants to find new space.

“Eventually we’re going to need all the space,” Kurtz said.

The tenants now operating from Golden Living’s Fort Smith Administrative Center are Arkansas Federal Medical Care, Cornerstone Benefits, Employee Health Coalition, Belmont Property Management and Traveler’s Insurance.

ABOUT GOLDEN LIVING
The healthcare services company, which has more than 42,000 employees and provides nursing, rehab, hospice and other senior-care services, is owned by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems. San Francisco-based Fillmore Capital Partners (Fillmore Strategic Investors) is the managing agent for the retirement system. As of June 30, 2010, the value of the WSDRS investment in Golden Living (Fillmore Strategic Investors) was $1.121 billion, or 1.83% of all investments owned by the system.

Golden Living subsidiaries include Golden LivingCenters, Aegis Therapies, AseraCare Hospice and Home Health, and 360 Healthcare Staffing. There are more than 300 Golden LivingCenters in 21 states. Golden Living also offers assisted living services at more than 40 locations. In addition, the Golden Innovations companies partner with more than 1,000 nursing homes, hospitals and other health care organizations in 37 states and the District of Columbia. The company has an average of 60,000 patients every day.

The Fort Smith building, completed in the late 1990s as the new corporate headquarters for Beverly Enterprises, sits on a 60-acre campus. Beverly Enterprises moved in May 1990 its corporate headquarters from Pasadena, Calif., to Fort Smith. The first building Beverly occupied in Fort Smith was part of the strip mall in the rear of Central Mall.

In 2005-2006, Fillmore Capital purchased Beverly as a friendly bidder in what began as a hostile takeover play by Alpharetta, Ga.-based Formation Capital. The deal was valued at $2.2 billion, with about $1.8 billion going to shareholders.

On July 1, 2009, the company announced it had sold all of its nursing homes in Arkansas.