Premera Blue Cross Plans 135,000-SF Expansion

SPOKANE, WA-Premera Blue Cross is spending $12 million to expand its operations here by 135,000 sf. The company expects to break ground this September and have the facility ready for occupancy by June 2007. The expansion will occur on land Premera already owns at 3900 E. Sprague Avenue. The new three story building will house Premera’s claims processing and inbound customer care operations, among other things. Moreover, it will allow the company to consolidate Premera units onto the Sprague campus from leased space in north Spokane. The project also includes a two-story parking garage.Premera has been conducting its business out of Washington State since 1933. It provides health insurance and related services to more than 1.3 million people in Washington and Alaska. The Spokane expansion is being publicly supported with $700,000 from the Washington State Economic Development Strategic Reserve Account. In rationalizing the public subsidy, Gov, Christine Gregoire says the company had a number of options for locating this work, several of them out of state. With the addition of the new buildings, Premera will have capacity for up to 640 employees at its Sprague Avenue campus. Today, there are approximately 390 Premera associates in Spokane; 265 on the Sprague Avenue campus and 125 in leased space in north Spokane. Once the new buildings are complete at Sprague, Premera will give up its leased space, move the associates there to Sprague, and begin to hire to fill its excess capacity. The Washington State Economic Development Strategic Reserve Account was created by Senate Bill 5370, which was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown. The account is to be used to attract businesses to Washington state and to prevent business closure or relocation. Authorized uses include funding workforce development, public infrastructure, and other assistance provided contractually with an assurance of job creation or retention.