HomeServe acquisition to speed new hiring

Company plans to add 200 Chattanooga workers

HomeServe USA, already with about 320 workers in Chattanooga, expects to speed the hiring of nearly 200 more employees after the company has bought a competitor.

“The new acquisition brings some of the hiring forward,” said Myles Meehan, a spokesman for the company that offers homeowners monthly plans to cover major household repairs.

HomeServe plans to acquire the assets of the home repair services business of Dominion Products and Services. Dominion, based in Richmond, Va., offers service plans similar to HomeServe and is a subsidiary of Dominion Energy, one of the largest energy and utility companies in the U.S.

After the deal is fully completed by December 2018, HomeServe would have expanded to service 3.6 million customers with 5.8 million repair plans, according to the Norwalk, Conn.-based company.

“It gives us the opportunity to add a significant number of customers, policies and new partner relationship,” said Tom Rustin, HomeServe USA’s chief executive, in a statement.

In Chattanooga, HomeServe announced earlier this year that it was adding 192 workers and building a new office building off Lee Highway near Shallowford Road. The company started with just 35 employees in the city in 2010.

The 46,000-square-foot, $5.5 million facility is under construction and expected to be ready at the end of the first quarter of 2018, Meehan said.

He said HomeServe’s current leased location off East Brainerd Road is essentially full.

“We’re boxed in at the present location,” Meehan said.

He said that the Dominion purchase along with internal HomeServe growth will “definitely require additional hiring.”

“The good news is that these types of acquisitions along with organic growth we have is really adding a lot of opportunities in new employee growth,” Meehan said.

The spokesman said it already put on a smaller job fair this month to bring on new employees. Once HomeServe is in its new center, plans are to conduct a larger job hiring event, he said.

“Our business is growing substantially

“The good news is that these types of acquisitions along with organic growth we have is really adding a lot of opportunities in new employee growth.”

— MYLES MEEHAN OF HOMESERVE USA

every year,” Meehan said.

Earlier this year, HomeServe won a tax break from the city for its expansion. The five-year property tax break provided $175,000 worth of incentives to HomeServe, according to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

But the Chamber said new tax receipts generated by the HomeServe project to the city and county are expected to hit $246,000. Also, there will be $132,000 in new school taxes, according to the Chamber.

At the same time, the tax break drew fire from city Industrial Development Board member Jimmy Rogers over allegations HomeServe had misled customers in other states.

Meehan said there was no admission of fault nor any administrative finding of wrongdoing, but that the company had reached “settlement agreements for settlement only.”

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress. com or 423-757-6318.