HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Elephant Auto Insurance will expand its U.S. headquarters located off Gaskins Road in the West End of Henrico County. The $2 million expansion will create 1,173 new jobs, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday. He made the announcement after meeting with Elephant Auto Insurance's parent company, Admiral Group, during his European marketing mission.
"It was a pleasure to meet with Admiral Group COO David Stevens during my European marketing mission to strengthen the company’s corporate partnership with Virginia and announce this investment in Henrico County," Governor McAuliffe said in a statement. "We are excited that Elephant has chosen to expand in our great Commonwealth."
Elephant CEO Kevin Chidwick said they chose Richmond for a U.S. headquarters because of simple cost-benefit economics.
"The labor force here is excellent – well educated, friendly, hard-working, honest, analytical and creative," Chidwick said in a statement. "The talent pool is plentiful across our many functional business areas, including customer service, claims handling, IT, accounting, marketing, sales, compliance, and insurance operations as well as call center operations."
He also cited the region’s "reasonable cost of living" as a factor in recruiting and retaining talent.
Henrico County Board of Supervisors Chairman Frank Thornton said since its arrival in 2009, Elephant Auto Insurance has grown into one of Henrico's major employers.
"We appreciate the commitment to Henrico County as Elephant has expanded its U.S. footprint, added new jobs and relocated to larger offices in Henrico County," Thornton said "Elephant exemplifies what it means to be a good corporate citizen, and we are proud the company calls Henrico County home."
Elephant Auto Insurance occupies some of the office space vacated when Circuit City went out of business.
