A Roanoke-based company will expand its operations, promising to create 115 new jobs. Atlantic Credit and Finance will move from its present location at Orange Avenue and King Street to a downtown building. Officials say in all, that will mean close to 360 more jobs coming to the city’s downtown.Atlantic Credit and Finance is described as “a leading servicer of unsecured consumer-distressed assets”.
News release: Atlantic Credit and Finance (ACF), a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, will invest $4 million to expand its operations, creating 115 new jobs in downtown Roanoke. The company, a leading servicer of unsecured, consumer-distressed assets, currently located at 3353 Orange Ave., will be moving to a new 50,000-square-foot office at 111 Franklin Road. With 244 retained jobs plus the new hires, 359 people will be added to growing downtown employment.
Established in 1996 and headquartered in Roanoke, ACF is part of the greater Roanoke Region’s successful finance, insurance and real estate industry cluster, which employs more than 10,000 people at 1,500 firms and is expected to grow 10.96 percent by 2022, according to the Virginia Employment Commission and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Atlantic Credit and Finance has been a major employer and valuable member of the Roanoke corporate community for more than 20 years, and we’re excited the company has decided to reinvest and grow in the City of Roanoke,” said Mayor Sherman Lea Sr.
Atlantic Credit and Finance will occupy two floors of 111 Franklin Road, raising the building’s occupancy to 88 percent. The new jobs will earn an average annual salary of $43,000. Virginia competed with Minnesota and Michigan for the company’s expansion. “The vibrancy of downtown Roanoke will help us recruit employees who want to be in the middle of all that a downtown location has to offer,” said Shawn Thomas, Encore’s vice president of operations. “It’s significant that a Roanoke-based company has the confidence in our region to expand,” added Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership. “This is further validation that we are competitive for jobs, talent, and investment.” “Our vibrant downtown will be getting yet another boost with over 350 jobs to benefit existing businesses,” said Damon Williams, chairman of the Roanoke Economic Development Authority.
The City of Roanoke, Roanoke Economic Development Authority, Roanoke Regional Partnership, and Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked to secure the project for Roanoke. The company will receive a $250,000 Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund grant. The company is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. It also will receive a local grant from the Roanoke Economic Development Authority and City of Roanoke.
Construction will begin immediately and the company expects to be in its new offices in 2018 with plans to hire the 115 new employees over the next two years.
