By Maria Altman/Rebecca Thiele, St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis, MO – A global IT company is promising to bring 300 new jobs in St. Louis.
The Unisys Corporation announced Thursday plans to build a technology center in St. Louis that will develop applications for Mac computers, and Apple's iPhone and iPad.
The center will employ about 300 people, making an average of $55,000 a year. Unisys Vice President Ted Davies said the company is expanding.
"We have a long term relationship with USDA as well as clients at Scott Air Force Base," Davies said. "We have a team on the ground already and we are continuing to grow, we've won some new work recently with the Department of Agriculture. So we plan to add 75 more jobs by the end of this year and growing to 300 by the end of 2012."
The company received $4.5 million in state tax incentives credits and an additional $1 million to help recruit and train employees. Governor Jay Nixon said the state expects to see a return on its investment quickly.
"The first job they add with Quality Jobs incentives, we will see a benefit off that right at the start," Nixon said.
The governor said employees are already working at a temporary site and plan to move to a permanent location later this year.