PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. announced that its pharmacy benefit management subsidiary, Prescription Solutions, has selected Overland Park, Kan., to be the location for an additional mail service pharmacy.

Prescription Solutions, with headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., will locate the new operations in a 175,000 square foot portion of the Overland Park International Trade Center. Construction will begin immediately, and the company expects the complex to be operational by the middle of the year.

Jacqueline Kosecoff, executive vice president of the Specialty Companies division for PacifiCare, said Overland Park represents an important milestone in the company’s nationwide expansion plans.

“'We selected Overland Park because the community and surrounding region have many of the necessary attributes we value, including a friendly business climate, an educated and ample work force, and a convenient and suitable building location,” she said.

PacifiCare expects that the new facility will create up to 850 new full-time jobs, with the potential for additional growth in the future.

Kosecoff said that Prescription Solutions' expansion comes in anticipation of increased consumer demand resulting from the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program, which went into effect on Jan. 1.

Farmers, Applebee’s to Site Projects

Numerous other projects are occurring on the Kansas side of the Kansas City, Mo.-Kan., metro area.

Farmers Insurance Group, the nation’s third-largest personal lines property and casualty insurance group, will build a new 130,000 square foot building in Olathe. The project will add more than 100 jobs, bringing the number of workers employed by Farmers Insurance in the Overland Park/Olathe area to 1,600.

New employees will be headquartered in a facility in Olathe separate from the current service center in Overland Park and will be responsible for providing service to Farmers customers and agents in a 12-state area. Farmers expects as many as 400 jobs to be created in the region during the next several years.

The Kansas City metro area competed with Oklahoma City and Phoenix for the project and was selected for the quality of its work force, affordable cost of labor and an incentive package including a forgivable loan, training and tax credits.

Applebee’s, one of the state’s largest employers, has outgrown its current location in Overland Park and will set up a new headquarters operation in nearby Lenexa. Applebee’s plans to break ground on a state-of-the-art restaurant support center in the Southlake Technology Park this year and move more than 500 employees into the facility by late 2007.

The company’s move to Lenexa helps position the city as a premium destination for other major businesses. Applebee’s new headquarters will serve as an important anchor for Renner Boulevard, along the city's premier commercial corridor. Applebee’s presence will help Lenexa’s efforts to develop city center and other retail and restaurant opportunities.

Applebee’s is making an initial investment of about $45 million, which will provide an economic boost that will ripple across the community. The project is expected to generate about $350,000 annually for the city alone in property taxes, following the 10-year incentive period. Applebee’s is expected to add 10 employees in the first year and 83 employees within the next 10 years.

Combined efforts of the city of Lenexa and the state of Kansas ensured the successful retention of this company. Lenexa granted a 90 percent, 10-year tax abatement to Applebee’s. The incentive equals about $12.5 million.

The state of Kansas will contribute more than $14 million to the project and will reimburse Lenexa about $1.5 million for public street improvements. The Kansas City metro area, including Kansas City, Kan., is a major global logistics center. DHL is joining that cluster with the opining of a new facility Kansas City.

DHL, the world’s leading global express delivery and logistics company, will locate a new regional Sort Center, where the company expects to invest $3 million during the next three years. The company will initially hire 130 workers for the facility.

“The new facility in Kansas City will enhance our network operation by enabling us to provide the highest quality service to our growing customer base across the country,” said Fred Beljaars, executive vice president for operations at DHL.

Work Force Leads to Expansions

A solid work ethic has led to two major expansion projects in the Wichita metro area.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) crediting the availability and work ethic of the labor pool in Wichita as the reasons why it will expand its remote encoding center in the metro area.

The move retains 587 positions and adds 1,123 positions to the work force. USPS, who will make a capital investment of $11.9 million, also credited the assistance of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition.

Meanwhile, INFONXX, a leader in information services and an independent provider of directory assistance, announced the location of a new customer service center in Wichita. Based in Bethlehem, Pa., the company is making a capital investment of $7.9 million that will result in nearly 1,000 jobs.

“We chose Wichita after a year-long exhaustive search,” said Margaret Scholl, CEO of INFONXX North America “We found the work ethic a perfect match for our customer-focused and employee-focused philosophies. Additionally, the local government and economic development group have been very supportive of us, from showing us the area to arranging job fairs. We’re looking forward to a long relationship with Wichita.”