A fast-growing Delaware-based issuer of “affinity” credit cards is expected to announce the creation of at least 450 jobs – and as many as 600 – today in Colorado Springs.
It’s the latest in a string of positive job announcements for the state.
Juniper Banks, founded in 2000 and now owned by British banking giant Barclays PLC, provides co-branded cards for more than 40 U.S. companies, financial institutions and nonprofits.
The company’s customers are in the hospitality, automotive and airline industries. In Denver, Juniper has a 2-year-old deal with Frontier Airlines through which it offers Frontier-branded MasterCards.
Although Frontier has put out a “good number” of cards through the program, its program alone isn’t large enough to justify 600 jobs, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.
“It has been a great partnership. We have exceeded our expectations,” he said.
Brian Vogt, head of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade, told state legislators Friday that a company would announce the creation of 600 jobs this week. Vogt declined to say Monday whether Juniper was that employer.
Daniela Reif, a Juniper spokeswoman, confirmed that the company had scheduled a news conference at 11:15 a.m. today at Colorado Springs’ Broadmoor Resort. She declined to say what would be announced.
The expected announcement of call-center jobs is welcome news for Colorado Springs, which has seen a series of layoffs at technology and call-center companies in recent years.
Besides Juniper’s pending announcement, microprocessor maker Intel Corp. announced plans this month to spend up to $190 million to expand its Colorado Springs plant. The upgrade is in addition to a $400 million improvement project announced last year.
Intel employs 900 people in Colorado Springs, with plans to add several hundred more by 2008. The expansion should make Intel one of the city’s 10 largest employers.
Also this month, Northrop Grumman, based in Los Angeles, said it would create an unspecified number of jobs in Colorado Springs after winning a $1 billion Pentagon contract for defense research. Experts said as many as 2,000 jobs could be created as a result.
Statewide, a total of 1,275 jobs have been created in the past month with the help of $2.1 million in tax incentives, Vogt said. Their total payroll will top $91 million, he said.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
