Fortune 500 company finalizes deal to bring thousands of jobs to Natomas
Health care giant Centene has finalized plans to build a West Coast headquarters in North Natomas expected to house at least 5,000 employees.
A partnership led by development firm Hines closed Thursday, Sept. 13 on a 75-acre piece of land at 4201 E Commerce Way, north of Arena Boulevard and east of Interstate 5. It plans to build a campus for Centene that will include five four-story buildings and a child care center.
Groundbreaking on the project is expected in early October.
“This is an historic period for Sacramento because we are going to site the first Fortune 100 company here, with a minimum of 5,000 jobs,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “I will work hard to build on this success. My mission as Mayor is to do everything I can to diversify this economy and help create more high-wage jobs.
Mayor Steinberg thanked the Greater Sacramento Economic Council and Councilwoman Angelique Ashby for their efforts to recruit Centene and close the deal.
“This is a defining project for North Natomas,” Councilwoman Ashby said. “It is exactly the economic engine we need for Sacramento, and I’m thrilled to host this Fortune 500 company in District 1.”
Centene is by far the largest company to locate in Sacramento since GSEC was founded by a group of CEOs in 2014 as the region’s business recruitment arm. In 2017, the company was ranked number 61 on Fortune’s list of the nation’s largest companies.
“This expansion in Sacramento will bring thousands of high-paying jobs to the region,” said Barry Broome, GSEC’s President and CEO. “Mayor Steinberg and the City of Sacramento have shown unprecedented leadership in making this region a competitive market for high-caliber companies like Centene."
The city has agreed to pay Centene $9,000 per job for the first 1,500 jobs, provided that the average salary of those jobs is at least $64,079. The city’s investment is capped at $13.5 million. Centene’s headquarters is expected to create a total of 16,326 direct and indirect jobs and annual wages topping $1.1 billion.
David Bugatto, whose development firm sold Hines the land for the Centene campus, said the deal represents “a true public-private partnership.”
“It’s not one person that did it; it’s a team of people who did it,” he said. “I spent most of the evening last night sending out thank you notes.”
Based in St. Louis, Centene is a major operator of government-sponsored health care programs. In 2016, Centene acquired Health Net, which employed 3,000 people in the Sacramento area. Those 3,000 jobs are expected to move to the Natomas campus, keeping them in the region.
