DEERFIELD, IL-The state of Illinois has agreed to provide locally based Walgreen Co. with a $47-million tax incentive package in return for a promise of 500 new jobs and a $75 million office investment in the Chicago area. The drugstore giant just released July figures that show a decrease in sales, a dip traced to the firm’s break last year with prescription manager Express Scripts, though the two companies announced a reconciliation two weeks ago.
The company has agreed to create the new corporate jobs over three years, and will expand and renovate more than two dozen offices throughout Chicago. The agreement does not include positions or real estate pertaining to the firm’s 592 Walgreens drugstores in Illinois.
The company’s corporate workforce is housed in 27 different office buildings in Deerfield, Northbrook, Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire, Bannockburn, Mt. Prospect, Northlake and Chicago, including its e-commerce staff at the Sullivan Center downtown. Walgreen Co. plans to retrofit disparate offices and make it easier for workers to travel between buildings.
The incentive package, to be administered by the state, includes Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credits, which are based on jobs and distributed over 10 years, High Impact Business credits and training grants through the Employer Training Investment Program. “Walgreens has deep roots in Illinois, and is an important part of the region’s flourishing healthcare hub,” said Gov. Pat Quinn in a statement today. “This expansion will create good paying jobs, attract additional investment to the area and help fuel our economic recovery.”
The company, which started in Chicago in 1901 and now has 8,371 locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam, has had some difficulties ever since its contentious break with Express Scripts, a firm that handles prescription management for large groups such as the US military. Walgreens reported losses since, including a 3.7% decrease in sales this past July. Express Scripts prescriptions in July 2011 had comprised 12.7% of Walgreens total prescription sales. However, it appears the two have finally made up. The firms two weeks ago announced a multi-year pharmacy network agreement that will start up again Sept. 15.
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