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| Countrywide Financial Corp.’s continued expansion in the Lone Star State will create hundreds of new jobs in North Texas.
The Calabasas, Calif.-based mortgage behemoth recently purchased a 292,000 square-foot building in Fort Worth, Texas, that has manageable capacity for 1,500 people, Countrywide spokesman Rick Simon told MortgageDaily.com. Countrywide has yet to determine how many of the occupants will be new hires versus transferees from other Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex offices, as some company functions may be transferred from another facility and some current employees may live closer to the new building, But Countrywide plans on replacing the jobs of any transferees, Simon said. The largest portion of the Fort Worth building’s employees will administer loans. Consumer markets division employees will also fill up a good portion, the spokesman added, noting that division is headquartered in nearby Plano. The 1,500 additional jobs are tied to the 7,500 jobs Countrywide promised to bring to Texas by 2011 upon receiving a $20 million grant from the state in December 2004. So far, it is ahead of the pace expected in fulfilling such promise. Simon said 3,000 new employees were in place by year-end 2005 — double the amount necessary for the first year to comply with the state. Throughout 2005, Countrywide expanded in Richardson, Plano and other Fort Worth areas. Outside of the Lone Star State, it has mainly extended in Arizona and Florida. The recent Fort Worth purchase is “entirely for expansion of the company,” Simon said. Countrywide will begin occupying the building early in the third quarter and have it at full capacity by mid-2007, but possibly sooner, he added. |
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Coco Salazar is an assistant editor and staff writer for MortgageDaily.com.e-mail: MortgageWriter@aol.com |
