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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Credit Karma Plans Charlotte, North Carolina, High-Tech Engineering Hub

05/30/2021
Credit Karma, a personal finance technology company, will invest more than $13 million to expand its operations complex with a new high-tech engineering hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company expects to add 600 new jobs in Mecklenburg County.

Credit Karma currently employees 189 people at its Charlotte office located in Ballantyne. The engineering hub will bring the company’s total headcount in Charlotte to more than 900 employees.

“Credit Karma has been in Charlotte for four years and with the significant incentives provided by the state of North Carolina and from the city of Charlotte, we are doubling down on the market and making this our East Coast headquarters. The intersection of technical talent and having so many financial companies concentrated in one market makes Charlotte's talent pool unrivaled for the roles Credit Karma is recruiting for as we accelerate on building products to deliver on our mission of championing financial progress for all,” said Credit Karma Founder and CEO Kenneth Lin.

“We are thrilled to have Credit Karma establish their East Coast headquarters in our state,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “North Carolina is the ideal place for technology companies to do business, thanks to our tech-savvy talent, resilient economy and great quality of life.”

Credit Karma’s expansion in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Over the 12-year life of the grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by more than $2.6 billion.

Using a formula that takes into account the tax revenues generated by the 600 new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $20,306,250 spread over 12 years. Payments for all JDIGs only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets. By law, JDIG projects result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grant’s reimbursement payments to a given company.

Because Credit Karma is expanding in Mecklenburg County, classified by the state’s economic tier system as Tier 3, the company’s JDIG agreement will result in the allocation of as much as $6.7 million into the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account. The Utility Account helps rural communities finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business and new jobs. When new jobs are created in a Tier 3 county such as Mecklenburg, the new tax revenue generated through JDIG grants helps more economically distressed communities elsewhere in the state.

“North Carolina has one of the fastest growing tech hubs in the nation,” said Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Credit Karma’s expansion affirms that North Carolina’s burgeoning fintech ecosystem, with our highly-skilled and diverse workforce and world-class research institutions, is the platform for innovative companies to develop advanced technologies.”

In addition to the N.C. Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, other key partners in the project include the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Central Piedmont Community College, Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte, and the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.

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