Health care alliance Premier Inc. to create 300 more NC jobs, move HQ to Charlotte

Health care company to bring 300 jobs in Charlotte

RALEIGH, N.C. — Premier Inc., a health care purchasing and data company, announced Wednesday it’s moving its headquarters from California to Charlotte while increasing its work in North Carolina’s largest city by 300 jobs.

A state economic incentives panel approved an agreement with Premier that could pay the company $4.1 million over the next nine years if it creates the jobs over the next five, keeps them through 2018 and meets investment targets.

Premier, with 750 of its 1,250 workers already based out of Charlotte, will shift its headquarters from San Diego to Charlotte in part because many executive team members and its three divisions already are there, company spokesman Alven Weil said.

The new jobs will be created due to the company’s growth and aren’t being transferred to Charlotte from San Diego, Weil said.

Premier is owned by more than 200 not-for-profit hospitals and health care systems that share clinical information and leverage purchasing on everything from syringes to imaging equipment to reduce costs. The alliance works with more than 2,200 hospitals and 63,000 health care providers.

The company will expand by leasing space in a Charlotte corporate park. Premier’s predecessor firm, called SunHealth, was established in 1969 in Charlotte by hospital associations in North and South Carolina, the company said.

“Considering our existing presence and past history in the area, it is a natural fit for Premier to be headquartered in Charlotte,” Premier president and chief executive officer Susan DeVore said in a news release.

Jobs generated from Premier’s $17.7 million investment in Charlotte will pay on average $69,400 per year, not including benefits, Gov. Beverly Perdue’s office said. The Mecklenburg County average salary is $49,400.

Premier is in line to receive a Job Development Investment Grant that generates an amount equal to 60 percent of state personal income withholding taxes derived from the new jobs. The company could receive less if it fails to generate 90 percent of the projected jobs.

On the Net:

Premier Inc.: www.premierinc.com/