 |
CareSource Breaks Ground for Corporate Headquarters
DAYTON, Ohio, June 7, 2007 – Officials from CareSource, a leading public-sector managed-care company based in Dayton, broke ground today on the company’s new $55 million corporate headquarters at the corner of Main Street and Monument Avenue in downtown Dayton.
The company made history with the turn of a shovel at a ceremony attended by Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and the Honorable Jon Husted, Speaker of the Ohio House, as well as local business and government leaders. The new building will be located on the site of the former Steele High School, an historic Dayton landmark where Poet Laureate Paul Laurence Dunbar graduated and Orville and Wilbur Wright’s sister Katherine taught.
“Today, we are writing a new page in Dayton’s history books,” said Pamela B. Morris, president and CEO of CareSource. “We are honored to build on this site that is so rich in our community’s heritage.”
CareSource has been part of the downtown Dayton business community since its inception in 1989. Today, with more than 538,000 members, the Ohio plan is the largest Medicaid HMO in the state.
“We are building for CareSource's future,” Morris said. "A building, though, is just steel and structure. Our employees are the heartbeat of our company."
The City of Dayton and the Downtown Dayton Partnership, in conjunction with the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority, have been working with CareSource for nearly two years to resolve the company’s long-term space needs. After reviewing all available options, both existing space and new construction, the company committed to the new construction as the best option to accommodate its future business needs.
The company has seen significant growth over the past two years, increasing its employee base by 19 percent in the past year alone. Today, CareSource employs more than 700 people with more than 600 of those employees located in downtown Dayton. The new building will support the company’s anticipated growth to as many as 1,200 employees over the next few years.
The Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority will build the new CareSource corporate headquarters at Main Street and Monument Avenue in downtown Dayton. The company will lease the building from the Port Authority.
The City of Dayton and Port Authority are building an adjacent public parking garage to be owned and operated by the Port Authority. The parking garage will be used by CareSource employees and will be open to the public for RiverScape events, theater parking and other public uses.
The new headquarters and the City’s commitment for a new public parking garage bring a total of nearly $75 million of new investment into downtown Dayton.
“We are very excited about breaking ground for this new gateway to downtown Dayton," said City of Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin. "CareSource’s continued growth is very important to our city."
The new building will provide the company with more than 300,000 square feet of space. Designed to reflect the company’s culture and support the needs of the company’s employees, the $55 million, 9-story facility features:
- Flexible floor plans that house departments in one location and enhance teamwork across the organization through a “neighborhood” design format.
- Larger floor plates
- An expanded Learning & Development program housed in the state-of-the-art CareSource University that will be the “Welcome” mat of the company. This new learning environment will allow the company to attract and retain the highest quality of employees.
- The CareSource Café, a relaxed onsite employee dining experience featuring healthy food stations and an outdoor seating area.
- A Fitness Center to provide wellbeing options for employees.
Michael Greitzer, co-chair of the Downtown Dayton Partnership, thanked the company for its commitment to downtown Dayton and commended all the community partners in working together to make this project possible for downtown Dayton. "Today demonstrates the true spirit of Dayton -- community collaboration and commitment."
Ron Parker, executive director of the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority, stated, "We are proud to be a partner in this important community initiative."
Occupancy is planned for Fall 2008. The new building was designed by BHDP Architecture, Cincinnati, and is being constructed by Messer Construction Company.
About CareSource
The CareSource family of companies provides a full spectrum of services for the administration of public-sector health care programs, serving nearly 590,000 Medicaid consumers in Ohio and Michigan. Among these services are general administration, including claims processing, case and medical management, provider relations, decision support informatics, quality improvement, and regulatory compliance; member services, including a member call center and 24-hour nurse advice line; and financial consultation and turnaround. For more information, visit www.caresource-ohio.com.
###
|