ServiceMaster recently announced that it has chosen to relocate its world headquarters to Memphis, Tenn. The Fortune 500 company’s headquarters is currently based in Downer’s Grove, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, with all of its divisions based in Memphis. The headquarter relocation will create approximately 500 new jobs in Memphis with an annual median wage of $67,300.

ServiceMaster will be the fourth Fortune 500 headquarters to locate in Memphis. It is the second Fortune 500 company to relocate its world headquarters to Memphis in just over a year – International Paper announced its relocation in August 2005. In addition to ServiceMaster and International Paper, ThyssenKrupp, Nucor Steel, Liquid Container and Riviana Foods, Inc. have all recently chosen to locate in Memphis.

“We are committed to building even closer working relationships between our functional and operational teams. It makes sense to have those teams housed at our Memphis campus, where we have the largest investment and concentration of employees and operations,” said J. Patrick Spainhour, chairman and CEO. “Memphis is a thriving and business-friendly city that will offer us ample opportunity to grow the company. We look forward to expanding our role as a leading corporate citizen in the community.”

Memphis is home to the world’s busiest air cargo airport and serves more metro markets overnight by truck than any other city in the central U.S. Memphis also is served by five of the U.S.’s 6 long-haul Class I rail systems and is the fourth largest inland port in the U.S. Memphis also offers an affordable lifestyle with the cost of living nine percent below the national average

ServiceMaster was founded in 1929 by Marion E. Wade as a moth-proofing company. It was incorporated in 1947 and listed as a public company in 1962. The company’s three largest divisions, ServiceMaster, TruGreen ChemLawn and Terminix, each reported revenues of over $1 billion dollars in 2005.

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