CINCINNATI — Great American Life Insurance Co. will create 150 new jobs with an $8 million expansion that fills empty space in the GE Global Operations Center at the Banks, the company announced Monday.
Ohio contributed $3.4 million in development incentives to encourage the project. The city of Cincinnati is expected to chip in a forgivable loan and local tax credits.
“The fact that Great American Life is choosing to remain in and expand in Cincinnati further strengthens Ohio’s leadership in the financial services sector,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a press release. “Ohio’s ingenuity and global competitiveness are paving the way for companies like Great American Life to write the next chapter in their success stories.”
Great American Life is the former annuities subsidiary of American Financial Group Inc., which sold the company for $3.5 billion last year to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
The GE Global Operations Center was the most heavily subsidized economic development deal in Cincinnati’s history when it opened in 2016, with projections that General Electric Co. would grow employment there to more than 2,000. But GE never achieved the terms of its tax-credit agreement to create 1,800 jobs. The building held 1,134 GE employees as of last November.
Great American Life is planning to relocate a majority of its 633 local employees to the Banks and a smaller secondary office at 312 Elm Street. State records show Ohio competed against Kentucky and Massachusetts for the project, which includes the establishment of an “Annuity Center of Excellence.”
The new jobs will pay an average of $85,000 a year, according to state records. The retained jobs pay an average of $121,000 per year.
“Great American Life has a strong history in Ohio and the City of Cincinnati,” company President Mark Muething said in the release. “We appreciate the partnership with the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, the City of Cincinnati and REDI Cincinnati as we continue to grow our business in The Queen City.”
