GEICO, one of the nation’s largest insurance providers, announced that they are opening a location in the Kansas City area. The new service center will be located in Lenexa and is expected to generate over 500 new jobs. Warren Buffett was asked to share his thoughts about GEICO's decision to open a location in the Kansas City area. “We hire friendly people. You don't train them that way. You train them in skills, but it's of enormous importance”. The successful Omaha native is very familiar with the Midwest and was confident in their decision.
According to their website, GEICO brought in over $25 billion dollars of revenue last year and had over 38,000 employees on their payroll. The Kansas City Star reported the new service center is expected to cost nearly $10 million dollars and may cover a whopping 55,000 sq. ft. It was also reported that Lenexa was a great option thanks to its labor pool, access to major highways and available real estate. This won’t be the only business in our area that is owned by Mr. Buffett. The Nebraska Furniture Mart at the legends opened back in 2003 and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the same company that owns GEICO.
Kansas City has quickly become a popular place for doing business in the Midwest. We currently rank 31st on Forbes list of “Best Places for Business and Careers”. Could this power move from GEICO start a domino effect and attract other large corporations to open a location in the Kansas City area?
