SquareTrade®, a highly rated protection plan trusted by millions of customers, is expanding and opening its second U.S. location in Orlando. The office already has 120 full-time employees and will reach a total of 180 employees by the end of the year. SquareTrade has also made a $546,000 capital investment to the region.
Since 1999, SquareTrade has protected mobile devices, laptops, tablets and other consumer electronics and applications from drops, spills and the mishaps of its customers’ everyday lives. Employees in the Orlando office represent SquareTrade’s Customer Experience team, which is devoted to delivering top-notch customer service.
“After an extensive six-month search, we chose Orlando for our next office location because of the city’s growing tech community, its business-friendly environment and the quality of the workforce,” said Ahmed Khaishgi, CEO of SquareTrade. “As a Silicon Valley company, it was important for us to find a location that had a similar caliber of tech talent. We’re committed to growing our presence in Orlando over the next several years.”
The expansion was made possible through partnerships between Enterprise Florida, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Orange County, the Orlando Economic Development Commission, CareerSource Florida and Valencia College.
“Nurturing our customer-services sector is important for long-term economic diversification and sustained job creation,” said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. “We are thrilled that SquareTrade has chosen to expand and locate their operations in Orange County. We continue to focus on bringing high-wage, high-value jobs to our community in order to diversify our economy, and this is another great example.”
“Business services firms come to our region for our deep, rich and diverse talent pool and low cost business environment and we’re very happy to welcome SquareTrade to Orlando,” said Orlando EDC Executive Vice President Holly Wiedman.
CareerSource Florida offers performance-based grants for employee training to new or expanding businesses through the FloridaFlex program, formerly known as Quick Response Training.
“CareerSource Florida welcomes SquareTrade to Florida, where our talented workforce and ideal business climate promote growth and prosperity,” said CareerSource Florida President and CEO Chris Hart IV. “We are pleased to help support SquareTrade’s expansion through training opportunities that will boost employees’ skills and enhance the company’s competitiveness.”