New Cigna Jobs!!!

[Dwayne Wilder]

Cigna Announcement

Cigna Insurance Corporation will add more than 100 jobs to its claims/call center in Denison over the next three to four months, according to company spokesman Keri Lillis.

“We are grateful for all the community support,” said Lillis, the local customer service senior manager. “We are happy to share this Cigna growth.”

In the lobby of the southwest regional call center Thursday morning, a crowd of about 75 people assembled to hear the announcement. Local elected and business leaders were on hand as well as several Cigna employees. In addition to Lillis, Denison Mayor Jared Johnson, Lamont Thomas, of Cigna, and Grayson County Judge Drue Bynum spoke.

“This is the fifth big announcement that Team Denison has had in the past few months,” said Johnson. “It goes to show what we can do when we work as a team.”

According to Johnson, Cigna has been the ‘catalyst’ for development at the US75/FM691 corner. It has taken a forward thinking and development minded community and company to get things going there. Cigna was the first structure built on the site.

“In 2006, this was just a thick patch of woods adjacent to a pasture; and that was our southern ‘gateway’ into Denison,” recalled Johnson. “We as a city knew we wanted to keep Cigna in Grayson County and people like landowner Tom Johnson (who owned the site at the time) worked to make it happen.”

He also noted that the 140,000 square foot facility has a payroll of about $35 million annually; and has grown from 750 jobs to 1100 in 2012.

Johnson also praised the Denison City Council, the Denison Development Alliance and entities such as Workforce Solutions Texoma for their work in getting infrastructure to the site and helping Cigna fill the job positions.

“They all, plus Judge Drue Bynum and the county, have helped make something special happen at this corridor,” concluded Johnson.

Thomas, the local sales manager for north Texas and southern Oklahoma, thanked both the city of Denison and Grayson County for their support.

“And as a bonus, we got a group of passionate individuals who have helped us work with clients over the years,” said Thomas. “In fact, in our call and claim center reports, Denison is at the top of the list.”

Bynum noted the investment that the county and city put into the site and the company. He compared the $2 million investment to the $35 million payroll that Cigna generates for the county each year; and noted it was why county government invest in businesses.
“People wonder how we are going to spend taxpayer dollars,” said Bynum. “This investment shows that we want to do it right. We want to help and with these new jobs, Cigna will now become the largest employer in the county.”

Lillis noted that prospective job applicants could go to the company’s Web site, Cigna.com, to apply for the new job postings.