Defense agency keeps growing in downtown Cleveland -- to 2,011 jobs by 2011 October 16, 2008
Defense agency keeps growing in downtown Cleveland -- to 2,011 jobs by 2011
Posted by Stephen Koff/Plain Dealer Washington Bureau Chief October 15, 2008 18:12PM
Categories: Breaking News, Business Impact, Open, Real Time News
Cleveland's federal payroll center, which in 2005 had nearly 1,200 white-collar jobs, will expand its Cleveland workforce to 2,011 employees by the year 2011, official are expected to announce Thursday.
The announcement is a stark reversal from 2005, when civic and political leaders feared that DFAS, which handles payroll, pension and benefits processing for the Pentagon, would leave Cleveland. The Pentagon was examining ways to consolidate some of its military bases and offices across the country, and initial projections showed the Cleveland civilian center to be too expensive.
Efforts led by U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, Republican of Bainbridge Township, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership convinced the government that its projections were faulty. In fact, while the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided to shutter DFAS offices in several other states, it promised expansion in Cleveland.
That expansion has been jeopardized at times because of federal budget shortfalls. But the worries appear to be over, based on the expected announcement involving Mayor Frank Jackson, Congress members including LaTourette, and leaders of the Greater Cleveland Partnership.
As of June, DFAS said it had added another 600 workers, many from other states due to consolidation, to its offices at the Federal Office Building at East Ninth Street and Lakeside Avenue and other building nearby. The accountants and payroll clerks started at an average salary of about $40,000.
Their ranks will grow again within three years, with a decision to move Marine Corps payroll-processing jobs from Kansas City to Cleveland. The exact number of employees to be announced today was not available, although in June officials spoke of an eventual addition of 200.
An official announcement has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in Cleveland.
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