Switzerland (4) -- Analyses-- April-June 2006

The “Center of Excellence”

1.05.2006

The “Center of Excellence” houses support staff for the company’s investment banking division, including operations and information technology personnel. While wages will vary by job function the average annual compensation for the new positions is projected to be at least $86,000, plus benefits. This is more than Wake County’s average salary of $34,268, plus benefits. Construction on the expansion of the facility is scheduled to begin this summer and new employee hiring will begin at the end of 2006. This is Credit Suisse’s first expansion in Research Triangle Park. The investment banking division of Credit Suisse is headquartered in New York City and serves an international customer base in the areas of sales and trading, mergers and acquisitions and investment research. The 150-year-old financial institution is based in Zurich, Switzerland and is active in over 50 countries with and has more than 40,000 employees. “Since beginning operations in Research Triangle Park in 2005, we have assembled a dynamic workforce here that truly works as a team,” said Tom Sanzone, chief information officer for Credit Suisse. “The Triangle has provided us with excellent training for our employees, proving this area to be an ideal place for Credit Suisse to do business and support our international client base.” This is the second Job Development Investment Grant that Credit Suisse has received and the 39th recipient to be announced since Easley started the program in 2002. Under the terms of the 10-year agreement, unanimously approved by the state Economic Investment Committee, the N.C. Department of Commerce estimates the project will:
• Generate a cumulative gross product value of about $1 billion;
• Produce a positive, cumulative net state revenue impact of $28.6 million;
• Contribute nearly $4.2 million to the state’s Industrial Development Fund for infrastructure improvements in rural North Carolina. This contribution is required of grant recipients that locate in a Tier 5 urban county such as Wake County.
For each year in which the company meets the required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equal to 70 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs. If the company creates the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for 10 years, the agreement could yield as much as $12.7 million in maximum benefits to the company. The Job Development Investment Grants are awarded only to new and expanding business and industrial projects whose benefits exceed their costs to the state and which would not be undertaken in North Carolina without the grant. Since the first grant was awarded in 2003, the program has been responsible for creating more than 13,000 jobs and $2.3 billion in investment to North Carolina. Other partners who assisted with this project include the N.C. Department of Commerce, the N.C. Community College System, the N.C. Employment Security Commission, Wake County and the Research Triangle Foundation.

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