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Direct General adding 1,500+ jobs in Baton Rouge Processing Center

by JACK LYNE, Site Selection Executive Editor of Interactive Publishing

BATON ROUGE, La. - Fast-growing insurance holding company Direct General Corp. says that it will add as many as 1,550 jobs in expanding its Baton Rouge, La., policy-processing center.

Direct General Chairman and CEO William Adair gathered Friday with state and local officials at the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce for a press announcement, hurriedly convened to get the news out before the long July 4th holiday weekend.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based company is moving to a bigger building to accommodate its far larger local work force, Adair said. Currently, Direct General has 439 employees in a 90,000-sq.-ft. (8,100-sq.-m.) Baton Rouge facility that it leases. The company laid out its hiring timetable in its application for a grant from the Louisiana Economic Development Corp. (LEDC). Direct General said that it plans to add 500 jobs in its first year at the new site, adding 519 positions in its second year and 531 more in its third.