Wells Fargo to launch $87M expansion in Roanoke County

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo will spend $87 million to modernize and expand its Roanoke County customer support center, adding 1,100 jobs in a deal that will make the bank the county’s largest employer.

The deal is also the largest project employment announcement in the county’s history, as well as its largest commercial office investment, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a news release announcing the deal Tuesday.  Wells Fargo already employs 1,650 people at the county’s customer service center. With the addition of 1,100 workers, the bank will surpass the county’s public school system, which employs between 2,000 and 2,500 people, Megan Baker, the county’s economic development director, told Virginia Business in an email.

“Wells Fargo’s historic investment and new job creation has far-reaching benefits for Roanoke County, the region and the commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Virginia has established a strong foothold in the fast-growing financial services industry, and we have developed an innovative framework to focus on nurturing and expanding opportunities in this high-growth sector.”

Wells Fargo is the nation’s fourth largest U.S. bank, with about $1.9 trillion in total assets. The bank generated $82.86 billion in revenue for 2022, reporting $13.2 billion in net income and $7 billion in operating losses.

John W. Delaney, Wells Fargo’s head of consumer operations, said in a statement that investments in the Roanoke space will include expanded amenities in food and health as well as expanded collaboration spaces and technology upgrades. The company will be eligible for a custom major employment and investment performance grant of $15 million, subject to approval by the General Assembly. Additional details about the terns of that grant were not immediately available Tuesday.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Roanoke County, the Roanoke Regional Partnership, and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission to secure the project for Virginia. VEDP will support Wells Fargo’s job creation through either the Virginia Jobs Investment Program or the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program.