Rocket Mortgage will receive a tax subsidy worth up to $9.6 million to add hundreds of full-time jobs to Cleveland.
The 600-plus new jobs will be added over the course of a year. Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted on Monday said the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved an expansion project for tax credit assistance for Rocket Mortgage, whose parent company made over $6.6 billion in profits through the first three quarters of 2020.
Husted said Rocket chose Cleveland and its tax incentive package over that of Phoenix and Detroit.
The expansion, through Quicken Loans LLC, will add an additional $47.3 million in new annual payroll, the state of Ohio said this week. Rocket will receive a 2.211% state tax incentive tied to job creation over 10 years. The credit will also help Rocket retain 721 employees already working there who make a combined $94 million a year (approximately $130,000 per job a year).
“Rocket Mortgage is continuing to invest and create jobs in Cleveland,” Husted said in a statement. “Coming out of the pandemic, companies are making decisions to expand, and it’s great to see they are choosing Ohio.”
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The tax incentive is through Cleveland’s “Job Creation Incentive Grant,” which will provide $75,000 to the company in 2021 and will amount to nearly $1 million over the next five years.
“Among the many lessons we have learned over the course of the past year, one of the most important is that the state of ‘working in the office’ has forever changed,” the company said in a prepared statement. “We learned that we can successfully work from anywhere, which makes this partnership with Cleveland, and our commitment to adding high-paying jobs to its workforce, even more significant.”
Rocket Mortgage is also in talks with JobsOhio, the state’s private development arm, for an additional incentive package, though details have yet to be released.
Easily the biggest mortgage lender in America, Rocket had a phenomenal 2020. The company originated about $323 billion in mortgages last year, nearly double that of the second-largest originator, United Wholesale Mortgage, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.
Like many lenders, Rocket hired a small army of workers in 2020 to overcome the well-documented capacity issues that dogged many originators in 2020.
As is the case in its hometown of Detroit, Rocket Mortgage is a part of the economic fabric in Cleveland’s downtown. Housed under Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s Rocket family of companies, the tax credit will also help expand the company’s financial technology division.
Officials are also betting the new employees – especially the ones that will live downtown, close to the company campus – will be spending money downtown.
The Greater Cleveland Partnership said the expansion means Rocket will be nearly doubling the size of its Cleveland workforce.
“Through this partnership, we are reinforcing our commitment to the state and to offering good-paying jobs to Clevelanders,” said Mike Malloy, Rocket’s head of human resources. “As we continue to grow our workforce, we look forward to adding to the more than 700 team members who already call this state home.”
