Veronica Garabelli// June 9, 2015//
Elephant Auto Insurance is planning a $2 million expansion of its U.S. headquarters in Henrico County that’s slated to bring 1,173 jobs to the area, according to Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office.
Elephant, a subsidiary of U.K.-based Admiral Group plc, located its U.S. headquarters in Henrico in 2009 and recently moved to larger headquarters in Henrico's Deep Run 1 office building.
According to Louisa Scadden, a company spokeswoman, Elephant employs almost 400 local employees.
Admiral is the third-largest auto insurer in the United Kingdom. It serves more than 4 million customers worldwide.
“We chose Richmond for our U.S. headquarters because of simple cost-benefit economics,” Elephant’s CEO, Kevin Chidwick, said in a statement, citing the city’s strong workforce, low cost of living, and support from the region’s public leaders.
The Virginia Jobs Investment Program will provide funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities.
McAuliffe made the announcement after meeting with officials from Admiral in Cardiff, Wales during his European marketing mission.
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