Prime Option Services already has enjoyed success in Utah, and the future looks even brighter, according to Bill Martin, the company's president and chief operating officer.
The company has 600 employees in three facilities in Sandy and Draper that will be consolidated when a 450,000-square-foot building is completed in the new Lake Park Corporate Center in West Valley City.Martin told members of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah during their quarterly meeting in the Salt Lake Hilton that the new building is pumping $75 million into the local economy, counting construction workers.
"We can't wait to get the new building finished, and I guarantee you we'll move in," he said in an obvious dig at the recent announcement that Micron Technology Inc. won't be moving into its partially finished buildings in Lehi for several years.
The company will be the first in the new business park located west of the Bangerter Highway between 2400 and 2900 South.
Prime Option, which moved to Sandy in 1990, is a service provider for several different credit cards. Prime Option's parent company is Dean Witter, Discover & Co., which employs a total of 3,000 in Utah.
Martin said Prime Option's payroll in Utah is about $50 million annually, despite Utah's reputation of low wages. Martin said there are 45 people at Prime Option in Utah who earn between $30,000 and $80,000 annually, and 20 more jobs in that category will be added in 1996.
The company also employs customer service representatives and has a variety of other jobs, but nobody at Prime Option is at minimum wage, Martin said.
Martin said Prime Option spent $21 million through local businesses in 1995, and that figure should increase dramatically this year.
In looking to relocate its operations, Martin said criteria used to decide among the 11 finalists were wage scales, a right-to-work state, the percentage of unemployment, crime rate, business climate, communications and banking laws.
Sandy met the criteria for locating the operation there, and other criteria were met by West Valley City when the consolidated facility was proposed.