Angie’s List officials announced the customer-review company again plans to expand its Indianapolis headquarters, a move they state will create hundreds of new jobs by 2019.
The expansion, to be completed in part by an incentive plan from the City of Indianapolis and State of Indiana, is expected to begin in 2015 and extend through 2019, broadening the company’s footprint on the city’s east side.
“Today’s announcement reflects our expectation for continued growth and expansion and highlights our commitment to the city of Indianapolis,” said Bill Oesterle, Angie’s List chief executive officer.
“We look forward to growing our thriving campus and continuing to attract talent to Indianapolis.”
However, some, including Advance Indiana, have sharply criticized the company, calling it a “Ponzi scheme” and stated that Angie’s List has failed to turn a consistent profit in nearly two decades of operation.
“The end game has always been to swap out one group of duped investors for another to provide cash infusions to keep the company afloat. Most astute stock investors have figured out that the Angie Hicks/Bill Oesterle business model only makes money for themselves and a few company insiders,” opines the Advance Indiana website, calling the effort a “$25 million taxpayer giveaway.”
Advance Indiana also characterized the deal as evidence of “crony capitalism” Naptown style, arguing that city leaders “plead poverty” when a request for city services is entered.
“Today’s announcement raises serious questions about whether our elected officials should have discretion to award such large public subsidies to private companies. It’s inexcusable for state and city officials to offer such lucrative public subsidies to a company that has to date failed to deliver on the promised job creations that accompanied the incentives offered to it only two years ago,” states the Advance Indiana website.
As part of the incentive plan, Angie’s List officials pledged to achieve certain business and financial targets including its annual investment, number of employees and average wage levels. The company expects to invest more than $10 million in expansion-related capital expenditures in 2015.
