Aurora is in the running to receive 660 jobs from a consolidation of call-center operations by Broomfield-based Corporate Express, according to a report presented under the codename “Project Zephyr” to the Arapahoe County commissioners.
Corporate Express needs an 82,000-square-foot building to house its call center and has its eye on a vacant building in Aurora’s city center, according to the report, which the Aurora Economic Development Corp. prepared for the meeting.
The company would need to spend $7.7 million to upgrade and furnish the building, with another yearly investment of $750,000. The 660 positions would generate a $19.8 million payroll, paying on average $30,400 per job, plus benefits.
Although the report doesn’t name Corporate Express directly, the description of $4.5 billion in North American sales in 2004 matches what the Broomfield provider of office and computer products and services reported last year. Corporate Express is owned by the Dutch corporation Buhrmann.
In seeking the call center, Aurora faces stiff competition from Kansas, which offered $4 million in incentives, according to the report.
The Aurora EDC asked Arapahoe County to provide $69,715 in waivers of personal property taxes over the next four years; Aurora to waive up to $203,000 in sales and use taxes over five years; and the state of Colorado to provide $400,000 in job-training grants.
“The company will add a credible, recognizable corporate presence to the city center area,” Aurora EDC said in its report.
Calls to Corporate Express were not returned before deadline Friday. Wendy Mitchell, president of the Aurora EDC, declined comment.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
