Synchrony Financial withdraws incentive request

Synchrony Financial, which was tentatively approved in October for a financial incentive package to create 400 jobs in Charlotte, has told the city that it is no longer seeking any subsidies.

Synchrony had told the city it would expand with 125 high-paying management jobs and 275 lower-wage call center positions.

The company is a spinoff from General Electric Co. and already has a presence in Charlotte, with 313 jobs. It had been considering an expansion to the Ballantyne area, according to people familiar with the discussion. The original proposal did not include a corporate headquarters relocation.

The 125 management jobs would have had an average salary of $135,000, according to a city memo released Wednesday. The call center jobs would have averaged $26,500.

But the company told the city in late December that it was no longer seeking local and state incentives, according to people familiar with the city and the company’s relationship.

Pat Mumford, who heads the city’s Neighborhood and Business Services unit, confirmed that a third-party representative for Synchrony told the city that the company was withdrawing its request for the incentive package.

Mumford said the city followed up and asked the representative whether the company still intended to expand.

“They didn’t know,” Mumford said.

The city is allowed to keep economic development negotiations private until there is a resolution. Usually that is when the City Council approves an incentive package in open session.

A Synchrony Financial representative on Wednesday would not comment on the request for incentives. The company did say it hopes to keep adding jobs in Charlotte.

The city usually offers companies property tax rebates over a period of time in exchange for a capital investment and new jobs created.

The Synchrony proposal called for the city and county combined to give the company just under $500,000 over five years. The state would have contributed an additional $250,000.

This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Synchrony Financial withdraws incentive request."