The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board approved a large financial assistance award for a technology and consulting firm to boost its employment in the state’s capital city by more than 1,000 jobs.
Des Moines assistant city manager Matt Anderson says Cognizant Technology Solutions plans to construct two new office buildings on the southwest edge of downtown Des Moines.
“It’s kind of a quiet company,” Anderson says. “A lot of people don’t know Cognizant, but they have over 200,000 employees worldwide. They’ve been in Des Moines for some time with about 400 employees and obviously they’ve had some success here.”
The IEDA Board voted to provide Cognizant with an $812,000 forgivable loan. The City of Des Moines is still negotiating its incentive package for the New Jersey based company.
“It’s early to say, but it’ll probably be in about the $1 million range for this project,” Anderson says. The company’s investment in the two new office buildings in Des Moines is estimated between $20-to-25 million. Anderson says Cognizant expects to add 1,014 workers in downtown Des Moines over the next five years.
“We’ve had a lot of investment in downtown with Principal, Kum & Go, and Wellmark building new buildings and rehabbing buildings, but we haven’t had a large job addition like this since the last Nationwide building was built,” Anderson says. Information provided by the IEDA states Cognizant is one of the largest recruiters of science, technology, engineering and math workers in the country.
The company’s expansion in Des Moines will make it one of the metro area’s top 20 largest employers.