Health company The Centene Corp., brings jobs to Great Falls – will eventually employ more than 250 workers

The Centene Corp., which manages Medicare and other health care programs for five states, will establish a processing center in Great Falls that will eventually employ more than 250 workers, its top executive said Sunday.

Michael Neidorff, the company’s chairman and chief executive, will visit Great Falls today to announce the deal formally. A ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in the Great Falls Civic Center.

By JAMES E. LARCOMBE

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040816/localnews/1055482.html

Centene is headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. It operates a number of processing centers across the country similar to the one it will locate in Great Falls. The company has 20 to 30 offices across the United States.

Centene will locate the operation in a series of buildings to be built along 26th Street South. Initial hiring will begin soon and the company plans to open in temporary quarters with 40 to 80 workers in November. It will eventually occupy about 50,000 square-feet in the buildings.

"Wherever we locate, we have the goal of being one of the better employers in a community," Neidorff said in a phone interview Sunday.

The company hopes to be using at least one or two new buildings by July 2005.

"Over the next five years or hopefully less, we would expect to be at more than 250 jobs," Neidorff said.

At that job number, Centene would be the seventh largest private employer in Great Falls.

Pay levels for the jobs are expected to start at about $10 per hour.

"That’s entry-level starting wage and then it goes up," said John Kramer, president of the Great Falls Development Authority. Centene also offers a strong benefit package, he noted.

According to the Centene’s Web site, benefits include medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, employee assistance programs, a 401(k) savings plan and tuition assistance. A number of the benefits are offered to part-time workers.

Neidorff said Centene’s Great Falls facility probably will include an on-site child care facility.

"It’s really a children’s learning center," he said, noting the center is aimed at helping workers juggle work and family demands.

Exact details on pay levels, job descriptions and hiring procedures weren’t available Sunday.

"I know they are going to be hiring some key people right away and training them in St. Louis for three to four months," said Kramer. "Our people will be exposed to some of the higher level positions."

First payoff

Reaction to the good employment news was very positive Sunday.

"I’m very excited about this," said Owen Robinson, chairman of the development authority board of directors, noting the Centene deal represents the first significant dividend for GFDA investors.

"We went out and raised a lot of money ($2.5 million) to develop just this kind of thing," Robinson said. "Now, the moment has come and it’s really exciting."

Centene should have little problem finding workers in the Great Falls area, said Marla Schreder, manager of the Great Falls Job Service Workforce Center.

"My understanding is that they are a good company and they have a very competitive pay and benefit package," Schreder said. "We think there plenty of people who have the skills and abilities they are looking for."

Kramer noted that he and development authority staffers have been working with Centene for nearly a year. The company’s good reputation and solid finances make it especially attractive.

"It’s just a good feeling," he said of landing the employer. "It’s going to affect 250 families. That’s what makes you feel good."

Good fit

Kramer and other Great Falls folks visited Centene’s headquarters in St. Louis and a processing center in nearby Farmington, Mo., in February. The entourage was impressed with the company’s facilities and the attitude of its people.

"We talked to a lot of their people," Kramer said. "You could sense their people loved Centene and what they were doing."

Neidorff and other Centene officials made an overnight visit to Great Falls in April.

"I sensed they wanted a relationship with a community that would work with them on their growth strategy," said Kramer.

The GFDA honcho credited his staff, the city of Great Falls and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity for assisting in working to land Centene.

Efforts to contact Mayor Randy Gray and John Lawton, the city manager, were unsuccessful Sunday.

Neidorff said apparent broad community support and the GFDA’s persistent pursuit drove the decision to come to Great Falls.

"I think the development authority did a great job in showing a lot of initiative," he said. "We were just very impressed with the community. It just seemed like a comfortable fit for our company. It seems like the community has the same values we do."

The Great Falls jobs will represent an expansion for Centene, not a shift of jobs from another processing center.

Growing nationwide

"This is part of our growth and expansion as a company," said Neidorff. "We are an expanding nationwide company at this point."

The Centene leader said the company expects to have revenue of nearly $950 million this year, up from $759 million last year.

"We are growing exponentially but on a very solid basis," he said. "It’s profitable growth."

The Great Falls operation will provide Centene with geographic diversity in its processing centers. That’s important for a company that is expanding its services to new states, Neidorff said, noting that simply being part of "a different power grid" than other operations is valuable in an business that relies heavily on technology.

The were other communities being considered for the center, but the Centene CEO declined to name names.

"I’d rather not say," Neidorff said. "We do these things quietly and we don’t want to create any hard feelings because of our decision."

The company said it plans to invest at least $7 million in its Great Falls center. While details were not available Sunday, the company and development authority have reached Neidorff called a "mutually beneficial" financial agreement.

Part of the deal calls for the GFDA to construct the buildings and lease them back to Centene. Kramer said he will seek to tap programs offered by the Montana Board of Investments to finance the construction work. The authority and Centene have agreed on a 20-year lease.

Neidorff said the deal also involves some assistance from the state for worker training programs.

Building, construction

Centene is working with the GFDA to complete the purchase of 25 acres on the west side of 26th Street South. Kramer says the GFDA has an option to purchase the land from John Sheffels and Rod Spencer of Great Falls and a third owner, Bob Dean, a former Great Falls dentist who now lives elsewhere.

The parcel sits roughly halfway between the County Youth Services Center at 1600 26th St. S. and the Golf World driving range at 2324 26th St. S.

Kramer said Centene officials looked at several buildings during their April visit.

"There were no existing buildings that we have that met all their requirements," he said. "We showed them everything we had in downtown and everywhere."

Neidorff said Centene has begun working with an architectural firm that it has used for other buildings, in part to ensure a design consistency with other centers.

"I’m pretty sure they will have a local architectural or engineering firm involved soon," said Kramer, who noted he also supplied the company with a list of local construction firms. "They are going to make it a big priority to buy locally."

Centene will temporarily locate in an existing building to facilitate hiring and training, Neidorff said. Where that temporary facility will be is uncertain at this point.

"We haven’t nailed it down yet," said Kramer. "We are looking at three or four different locations."

Larcombe can be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (406) 791-1463 or (800) 438-6600.