Area Development
Telecommunications firm Time Warner has announced it will make a $5 million capital investment in a new service center in Tampa, FL. The project is expected to add at least 500 new jobs to the regional economy.

Time Warner chose Tampa over 59 other locales, including those in New York, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. In the next few weeks, a decision will be made about the exact location for the operations set to house mostly HR and IT employees.

According to CFO John Martin, the company expects to open the center by the end of 2012 with about 100 associates, and eventually hire up to 500 Floridians for jobs over a five-year period. About 50 additional jobs will be added to the workforce from outside the state. The average salary is said to be "north" of $50,000.

Time Warner will receive $3 million in state and local incentives for the project.