GEICO to Grow Operations in Tucson

GEICO plans to hire 700 new associates over the next several years after its expected to occupy the new 200,000-square-foot building in late 2019.

From left, Craig Porter, The Renaissance Companies president; Michelle Trindade, GEICO’s Tucson regional vice president; Don Bourn, Bourn Companies founder and CEO; Shirley Scott, Tucson city council member; Mayor Jonathan Rothschild; Bill Roberts, GEICO president and CEO; Vice Mayor Richard Fimbres; Shane Wheeler; GEICO claims officer; and John Alutto, GEICO underwriting officer. Photo Credit: Business Wire

TUCSON, AZ— Insurance provider GEICO used the groundbreaking of its new regional office here on Friday in The Bridges to announce plans to grow its workforce here.

Chevy Chase, MD-based GEICO plans to hire 700 new associates over the next several years after its expected to occupy the new 200,000-square-foot building in late 2019. Tucson is now home to more than 1,500 GEICO associates who manage insurance operations for 1.4 million customers in seven western states including: Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Bourn Companies will handle all construction related to the new site, which consists of a three-story building on 20 acres of land. Amenities for GEICO associates at the new site will include modern open workspaces, an onsite cafeteria, fitness center, credit union and 20,000-square-feet of patios and outdoor space.

GEICO president and CEO Bill Roberts and regional VP Michelle Trindade were joined by Tucson mayor Jonathan Rothschild, vice mayor Richard Fimbres, Bourn Companies’ CEO Don Bourn, representatives from Tucson City Council, Pima County and local business and community leaders at the event.

“I am confident that this new location at The Bridges will give us the resources we need to thrive in Tucson for many years to come,” said Roberts. “More importantly, we’ll have room to add new associates once we settle into our new home.”

“We’ve been working with GEICO for a long time to find just the right location for their new regional headquarters to keep GEICO in Tucson, and we think we hit the mark with The Bridges,” said Don Bourn, founder and CEO of Bourn Companies. “With its central location, abundance of amenities and dynamic mix of uses, The Bridges is poised to be one of the most desirable employment hubs in Tucson.”

In January, the Bourn Companies reported it was purchasing, rezoning and developing approximately 115 acres at The Bridges and GEICO will be the first corporate employer to locate in the development.

This 115-acre Bourn development will comprise a new corporate employment center, a variety of multifamily residential units and a new community park. The development is integrated within the larger 350-acre The Bridges mixed-use project, which also includes the UA Tech Park at The Bridges and Tucson Retail’s regional shopping center home to Costco, Walmart, Century Theatre, Tucson’s only Dave and Busters and a variety of retail and dining establishments.

Additional project partners include Sun Corridor, Inc., Renaissance Companies, the Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County and the City of Tucson.

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and is the second-largest private passenger auto insurance company in the United States. Earlier this month, GEICO opened its new building in Lenexa, KA and began accepting applications for its second group of customer service positions.

The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building this past June, which was attended by local and state government officials as well as GEICO chairman Tony Nicely, and Warren Buffet, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, among others.