ST. LOUIS, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Centene
Corporation (NYSE: CNC) today announced that it will establish an
East Coast headquarters in Charlotte,
North Carolina, after completing a comprehensive evaluation
process. The company will begin construction on the new campus in
August and plans to create 6,000 new jobs and invest
$1 billion in the Charlotte community over time.
"Charlotte has great talent,
excellent infrastructure and a real commitment to sustainable
development," said Michael F.
Neidorff, Chairman, President and CEO of Centene. "We
are pleased to expand our partnership with the city of Charlotte, the county of Mecklenburg, and the state of North Carolina. We look forward to many years
of collective growth and innovation."
The company's $1 billion
investment will provide over 1 million square feet of office and
meeting space, a corporate boardroom, a childcare and early
education center, a variety of dining venues, auditorium, fitness
center, and a stand-alone building housing a corporate learning and
development center named Centene Tech University. The campus
buildings will be designed to preserve and take advantage of the
campus' environment with an emphasis on providing open spaces,
natural light, and embracing the site's natural features.
The construction and growth of the facility will happen in
multiple phases. The first phase of construction will be complete
in the second half of 2022 and accommodate approximately 3,000
employees. In anticipation of this phase, the company is committed
to expanding its existing footprint in the Charlotte metro area immediately and will
begin recruiting for roles across multiple areas, such as
information technology, finance, compliance, health economics,
business analytics, human resources, quality and clinical
positions.
The next phase of construction, to begin in 2024, will
accommodate an additional 3,000 employees when complete, allowing
the campus to accommodate a total of 6,000 employees. The company
plans to share additional details about the site's location in the
coming weeks.
"Centene's investment here is great for the Charlotte area and our whole state," Governor
Cooper said. "Centene knows that North
Carolina has a resilient economy, ready workforce, livable
communities and a host of other assets that make our state a
leading destination for forward-thinking businesses."
"Today's announcement is a historic occasion for Charlotte and comes at a most opportune time,"
said Mayor Vi Lyles. "We are excited
to welcome Centene to the Queen
City. Our entire region will benefit from the company's
community-driven mission and commitment to diversity and inclusion
in the workplace."
As part of its agreement with local officials, the company plans
to hire at least 3,200 people over the next 12 years but expects to
hit that goal sooner.
"We believe in professional camaraderie, capacity for
innovation, real-time partnership and development garnered from a
shared physical presence," continued
Neidorff. "Though we will continue to promote flexible
work environments, investing long-term in our workforce and
technological expertise is essential to succeed in a dynamic
healthcare environment. The new space is designed to support and
enable innovation, partnership and ultimately growth."
The new facility will provide an attractive work environment to
prospective employees, with work areas that:
- enhance teamwork and in-person productivity
- leverage extensive technology to enable remote
collaboration for distributed teams
- encourage innovation with dedicated team spaces within the
work neighborhoods
- provide access to private work areas; and
- connect employees throughout the campus to the corporate
network through Wi-Fi access.
The facility will significantly grow Centene's footprint in the
state. Currently, Centene has nearly 600 employees already based in
North Carolina – across locations
in Charlotte, Durham and Wilmington. Centene's corporate headquarters
will remain in St. Louis,
Missouri.
Centene and the Governor's office hosted a press conference
earlier today to discuss the announcement.
About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a
Fortune 50 company, is a leading multi-national healthcare
enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier
lives. The Company takes a local approach – with local brands and
local teams - to provide fully integrated, high-quality, and
cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial
healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured
individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to
nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid
and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans)
as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance
Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in correctional
facilities. The Company also serves several international markets,
and contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to
provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the
whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the
development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can
better serve its members, providers, local communities, and
government partners.
Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important
information about the company, including information that may be
deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about
Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor
relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements, other
than statements of current or historical fact, contained in this
press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the
foregoing, forward-looking statements often use words such as
"believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "intend,"
"seek," "target," "goal," "may," "will," "would," "could,"
"should," "can," "continue" and other similar words or expressions
(and the negative thereof). Centene (the Company, our, or we)
intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the
safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and we are
including this statement for purposes of complying with these
safe-harbor provisions. In particular, these statements include,
without limitation, statements about our future operating or
financial performance, market opportunity, growth strategy,
competition, expected activities in completed and future
acquisitions, including statements about the impact of our recently
completed acquisition (the WellCare Acquisition) of WellCare Health
Plans, Inc. (WellCare), other recent and future acquisitions,
investments, the adequacy of our available cash resources and the
expected benefits and timing of our anticipated new East Coast
headquarters in Charlotte. These
forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect
to future events and are based on numerous assumptions and
assessments made by us in light of our experience and perception of
historical trends, current conditions, business strategies,
operating environments, future developments and other factors we
believe appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are subject
to change because they relate to events and depend on circumstances
that will occur in the future, including economic, regulatory,
competitive and other factors that may cause our or our industry's
actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to
be
materially different from any future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. All forward-looking statements included in this press
release are based on information available to us on the date
hereof. Except as may be otherwise required by law, we undertake no
obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements
included in this press release, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, after the date hereof. You
should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements,
as actual results may differ materially from projections,
estimates, or other forward-looking statements due to a variety of
important factors, variables and events including but not limited
to: the impact of COVID-19 on global markets, economic conditions
and the healthcare industry and our results of operations, which is
unknown; uncertainty as to our expected financial performance
following completion and integration of the WellCare Acquisition;
the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from
the WellCare Acquisition will not be realized, or will not be
realized within the expected time period; the risk that unexpected
costs will be incurred in connection with the integration of the
WellCare Acquisition or that the integration of WellCare will be
more difficult or time consuming than expected; unexpected costs,
charges or expenses resulting from the WellCare Acquisition; the
inability to retain key personnel; disruption from the completion
of the WellCare Acquisition, including potential adverse reactions
or changes to business relationships with customers, employees,
suppliers or regulators, making it more difficult to maintain
business and operational relationships; the risk that we may not be
able to effectively manage our expanded operations; our ability to
accurately predict and effectively manage health benefits and other
operating expenses and reserves; competition; membership and
revenue declines or unexpected trends; changes in healthcare
practices, new technologies, and advances in medicine; increased
healthcare costs; changes in economic, political or market
conditions; changes in federal or state laws or regulations,
including changes with respect to income tax reform or government
healthcare programs as well as changes with respect to the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and
Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, collectively referred
to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and any regulations enacted
thereunder that may result from changing political conditions or
judicial actions, including the ultimate outcome in "Texas v.
United States of America"
regarding the constitutionality of the ACA; rate cuts or other
payment reductions or delays by governmental payors and other risks
and uncertainties affecting our government businesses; our ability
to adequately price products on the Health Insurance Marketplaces
and other commercial and Medicare products; tax matters; disasters
or major epidemics; the outcome of legal and regulatory
proceedings; changes in expected contract start dates; provider,
state, federal and other contract changes and timing of regulatory
approval of contracts; the expiration, suspension, or termination
of our contracts with federal or state governments (including but
not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE or other customers); the
difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of pending or future
litigation or government investigations; challenges to our contract
awards; cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents;
the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from
acquired businesses, including businesses we may acquire in the
future, will not be realized, or will not be realized within the
expected time period; the exertion of management's time and our
resources, and other expenses incurred and business changes
required in connection with complying with the undertakings in
connection with any regulatory, governmental or third party
consents or approvals for acquisitions; disruption caused by
significant completed and pending acquisitions, including, among
others, the WellCare Acquisition, making it more difficult to
maintain business and operational relationships; the risk that
unexpected costs will be incurred in connection with the completion
and/or integration of acquisition transactions; changes in expected
closing dates, estimated purchase price and accretion for
acquisitions; the risk that acquired businesses will not be
integrated successfully; the risk that we may not be able to
effectively manage our operations as they have expanded as a result
of the WellCare Acquisition; restrictions and limitations in
connection with our indebtedness; our ability to maintain or
achieve improvement in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Star ratings and maintain or achieve improvement in
other quality scores in each case that can impact revenue and
future growth; availability of debt and equity financing, on terms
that are favorable to us; inflation; foreign currency fluctuations;
delays in costs associated with development and occupancy of our
new East Coast headquarters in Charlotte; economic conditions in the
Charlotte metropolitan area and
risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports that Centene has
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This list of
important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. We discuss
certain of these matters more fully, as well as certain other
factors that may affect our business operations, financial
condition and results of operations, in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our annual
report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current
reports on Form 8-K. Due to these important factors and risks, we
cannot give assurances with respect to our future performance,
including without limitation our ability to maintain adequate
premium levels or our ability to control our future medical and
selling, general and administrative costs.
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SOURCE Centene Corporation