News | 5 min read
Credit startup Petal to open service and operations center in Chesterfield
May 13, 2019
Gov. Northam announces over 80 new jobs
RICHMOND — Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Petal, a new kind of credit card company built to help people financially succeed, will make an investment of over $300,000 to establish a new service and operations center in Chesterfield County. Virginia successfully competed with Austin, Salt Lake City, and New York City — where Petal is headquartered — for the project, which will create more than 80 new jobs over the next three years.
“Petal is an innovative startup with a truly unique business model, and we are delighted that this growing company has chosen Chesterfield County as the site of its new state-of-the-art operations center,” said Gov. Northam. “With its proximity to nearly 30 higher education institutions, this region will train and supply the next generation of skilled professionals, ensuring the company has access to a wealth of top talent for years to come. We welcome Petal to Virginia, and look forward to their success in Chesterfield County.”
Petal wants to make safe and affordable credit accessible to everyone, even if they have no credit score or prior experience with credit. The company uses cutting-edge technology to help create the most advanced, intuitive, and user-friendly credit cards on the planet, designed from the ground up to help people financially succeed. The first Petal product, the Petal Visa credit card, launched in 2018. The card, along with Petal’s mobile app, makes it easy for people to build credit, track spending, and manage money responsibly. Petal helps measure objective components of each individual’s creditworthiness that aren’t typically considered in a credit approval decision, like how much an individual actually makes, saves, and spends over time, and the bills they pay each month. This approach allows Petal to offer lower interest rates and higher lines of credit without charging fees, even if those consumers don’t (yet) have a credit score.
“Major business services companies from around the world continue to choose Virginia for its low operating costs and skilled workforce, and we are thrilled to welcome Petal to the Greater Richmond Region’s corporate roster,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball. “The new operations center in Chesterfield County will serve as the voice of the company’s new and nontraditional financial product, which aims to make credit safer and more accessible. We remain committed to partnering with dynamic startups as they seek growth and opportunity in Virginia, and are confident that Petal will thrive in its new location.”
Petal’s Chesterfield County office will act as its service and operations center, serving a critical role as Petal’s front line to the many customers who are looking to build credit responsibly. Employees will manage Petal’s customer support, credit operations and operational quality assurance functions, serving as the company’s voice with customers. Petal is now actively hiring in the Richmond area. To date, Petal has raised more than $80 million in equity and debt financing from venture capitalists, financial institutions, and investment banks. This funding will help fuel Petal’s expansion in Chesterfield County.“We’re excited to open a world-class operations center in partnership with Gov. Northam and the state of Virginia,” said Jason Gross, Petal’s Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. “People don’t normally associate credit cards with a high-quality customer experience, and that’s one more way we plan to reinvent credit. We look forward to having smart, ambitious people in the Richmond area join our team to make our mission of honest, simple and accessible credit a reality.”
“The new operations center will become the operational hub for Petal’s experience execution team—specifically, the team focused on customer support, credit application processing, collections, and fraud,” said Tom Greco, Vice President of Customer Operations, who will be leading Petal’s Richmond office. “We are excited to take advantage of Richmond’s abundant talent market and the wealth of banking experience in the area.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with Chesterfield County to secure the project for Virginia. VEDP will support Petal’s job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP). VJIP provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs or experiencing technological change in order to support employee training activities. As a business incentive supporting economic development, VJIP reduces the human resource costs of new and expanding companies. VJIP is state-funded, demonstrating Virginia’s commitment to enhancing job opportunities for citizens.“We are so pleased that Petal has chosen Chesterfield County for their new service and operations center,” said Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors Chair Leslie Haley. “On behalf of the Board of Supervisors, I welcome Petal to our community and appreciate the creation of jobs for our residents.”
Chesterfield County Economic Development worked with the company and VEDP to locate Petal in Chesterfield County. “Tom Greco is a great example of a public-school graduate coming home to operate a business,” said Tina Shreve, Senior Project Manager, Chesterfield County Economic Development. “He recognized the quality of life in Chesterfield and the talent-pool that exists here.”
“We are excited for Petal’s new investment in Chesterfield, which will bring at least 80 new jobs to our community,” said Sen. Glen Sturtevant. “These important opportunities grow our local economy while providing innovative access and education on building credit responsibly.”
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