Liberty Lake lands new company, 400 jobs

Vivint Inc., a fast-growing provider of home automation products including energy management and surveillance, expects to create 400 jobs after opening an office in Liberty Lake this summer. Based in Provo, Utah, privately owned Vivint (pronounced viv-int) said the company’s expansion is part of a broad plan of adding more customers across North America. It’s leasing about 25,000 square feet in the former ISC-Getronics building at 22425 E. Appleway. The company’s decision followed an initial contact from Greater Spokane Incorporated, which identified Vivint as a potential company suited to the work force and business locations available here, said Eric Patrick, a company vice president based in Utah. After visiting Spokane and looking over possible office sites, Patrick said Liberty Lake was selected because of the area’s skilled work force and strong community support. He said Vivint considered 10 states for this expansion. GSI also helped identify incentives that will assist Vivint in the expansion, said Robin Toth, GSI’s vice president for business development. Those include $150,000 from a strategic reserve fund managed by the Washington governor’s office, which will help pay for Vivint’s site selection costs and the cost of relocating up to 15 workers, plus some equipment, to Liberty Lake. That fund has been used before to assist other companies coming to the area, including Caterpillar, Toth said. GSI is now working with the City of Liberty Lake to provide road improvements that will allow additional access to and from the office site. Toth said the goal is finding about $600,000 needed for that road work. Patrick said the company will hire workers on a month-by-month basis over the next year. The first workers will move into the office on July 15. The goal is to hire around 40 workers per month. Two job fairs are schedule June 20 and June 25 at the Vivint Liberty Lake location for applicants to submit resumes. About 95 percent of the 400 jobs will involve phone sales, Patrick said. The sales jobs, at both entry-level and advanced positions, will offer full benefits. Salaries at the lower level will start in the high $20,000 range, while more experienced positions will pay between $30,000 and $40,000. All sales jobs will also have commissions based on performance, said Patrick. GSI estimated the the arrival of Vivint with its new jobs means an annual economic boost to the region of around $62 million.