Area Development
American Express is asking for $6 million in incentives from North Carolina's Guilford County Board of Commissioners to build a $400 million data service center that would create 150 jobs. The company is requesting incentives for job creation and water, sewer, and road improvements. The potential project will not receive state incentives because it will create too few jobs to qualify.

"If it happens, it's going to be a great day for Guilford County," Melvin "Skip" Alston, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, told the Greensboro News-Record. "It is something that will help us get back on the road to recovery."

American Express will also ask for incentives from the city, but that amount has not been released. The project could grow into a $1 billion investment over 20 years. If the company chooses Guilford County for the site, it could begin construction within 60 to 90 days. It already has a call center in the area that opened in 1985 and employs 2,000 people.

American Express has been searching for a site for the past few months, and is also considering an offer from Des Moines, Iowa.