Consulting Firm Moving To Spokane California Company Seeking Friendlier Business Climate
A small California pension consulting company in search of a friendlier business climate is relocating its corporate headquarters to Spokane.
ERISA QDRO Corp. (EQC), of Santa Monica, Calif., expects to complete its move here by October.
The company has five employees, three of whom will relocate to Spokane. The company also plans to maintain an office in Merced, Calif., and plans to open an East Coast office, perhaps in Henderson, N.C.
The firm expects to hire locally as it expands its client base.
Even though the company is small, it fits the profile of companies the Spokane Area Economic Development Council is attempting to recruit here. The EDC is focusing on small, high-paying companies because they are providing most of the jobs and growth in the U.S. economy.
“EQC will make a great addition to Spokane,” Ken Olson, the EDC’s interim president, said in a news release. “The company is committed to becoming involved in this community, and has great potential for growth.
“We’re targeting companies for recruitment that bring living-wage jobs to the area, and EQC pays a wage that places it well above the Spokane average.”
Mary Hansen, EQC’s president, said she decided to leave California because cities there are scrambling to entice large companies to relocate there as Southern California attempts to replace its disappearing aerospace industry.
“And they are asking the existing smaller and midsized companies to foot the bills for that,” Hansen said.
EQC deals in a highly specialized area of pension consulting. It specializes in preparing and reviewing domestic relations orders as they relate to pension plans.
Hansen explained that when a divorce takes place, the division of the benefit under a pension plan is a “very sticky and litigious area.” The division must meet federal, state and local guidelines, as well as satisfying the requirements of the individual pension plan.
“That’s all we do,” Hansen said. “We are the first company, and as far as I know, the only company run by plan administrators that does this.” Growth potential is large, she said.
“We haven’t even touched the market in Washington and Oregon,” Hansen said.
, DataTimes