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187 new research, technology jobs coming to area

187 new jobs may be coming to Kettering

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By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 9:09 AM Tuesday, April 27, 2010

KETTERING — Scott Green, executive director of global law firm WilmerHale, said his company chose Miami Valley Research Park for its new business services center in large part because of the Dayton area’s skilled workforce.

And the company wants to meet those workers right away.

WilmerHale will host a job fair 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 1-2, at 1900 Founders Driver in Kettering for professionals in “finance, information services, operations and human resources.”

Green confirmed Monday, April 26, that WilmerHale hopes to open the 3139 Research Blvd. facility by Sept. 1 and employ 187 people, hiring the majority of them locally.

The company expects to have 77 finance employees, more than 30 computer services workers, and a variety of other lawyers, developers and engineers, some for a document review software project.

“We spent a lot of time talking to  (local) employers, reviewing existing positions that were open and the quality of people who were applying for those positions,” Green said. “We just felt this was the perfect place for us. We felt this was where we could compete the best.”

Local officials touted city, county and state cooperation on planning and tax credits as a key to luring WilmerHale here.

“The region as a whole is a winner today,” Kettering Mayor Don Patterson said. “We can begin to look at some of our successes and say, yes, our NCRs and some of these other businesses are behind us, but our best days are ahead of us.”

Cash lured law firm to area

A lot of pieces, financial and otherwise, came together in the past year to convince law firm WilmerHale to locate its new business services center at Miami Valley Research Park.

Jay Westcott, the firm’s assistant managing partner and a Springfield native, said moving support operations from Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., would allow the company to save money and improve performance by consolidating to a single site.

There was also a list of financial incentives, most significantly a $1.46 million job creation tax credit approved Monday, April 26, by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority.

The Montgomery County Commission approved a $250,000 economic development grant April 20, and the city of Kettering and Miami Valley Research Foundation each pledged $500,000 in support.

“You have to invest in the future, and that’s what the state, the county and the city are doing,” Kettering City Manager Mark Schwieterman said. “Long-term, we’re building a community asset ... 200 jobs is a major magnitude, and that (effect) won’t be felt just in Kettering.”

WilmerHale officials said the Dayton area beat out 31 other sites in the eastern U.S. because of people.

“Of all the places we looked, this was the place we were most comfortable, that had a strong labor pool and really a very cooperative group of people who worked with us,” Westcott said.

WilmerHale plans to renovate a building at 3139 Research Blvd. to establish a 35,000-square-foot technical support center. The site was previously home to Deloitte Consulting, which is moving to downtown Dayton.

WilmerHale plans to sign a 10-year lease and open operations by Sept. 1.

The company expects to have an annual payroll of $9.1 million — an average salary of roughly $49,000 for the 187 jobs.

Bruce Pearson, president and CEO of Miami Valley Research Park, said WilmerHale’s move comes on the heels of several other projects at the park, including an expansion at Reynolds and Reynolds and new facilities for Alliant Techsystems and Community Tissue Services. Pearson said there’s been $50 million in capital investment at the park the past two years, with room for more growth. County Commissioner Dan Foley said it was a great sign for Montgomery County that “a worldwide professional firm looked around the country for the best place to consolidate these operations and selected our county.”