Columbia company that provides mortgage loans to veterans to expand significantly and create 300 new jobs, Gov. Nixon announces

Gov. Jay Nixon announced today that VA Mortgage Center.com, a company that specializes in providing home financing to military veterans, will significantly expand its operations in Columbia, creating 300 new jobs over the next five years while further investing into the local economy.
The Governor made the announcement today at VA Mortgage Center.com's main facility in Columbia, where it currently houses about 400 of its 500 employees. The company's planned expansion is aimed at increasing its offerings; hiring more employees; and consolidating its three Columbia facilities into a single headquarters in Columbia.
"This investment in job creation is a significant step forward for Boone County and all of central Missouri," Gov. Nixon said. "VA Mortgage Center.com has been wildly successful since its founding nine years ago, helping to ensure that our nation's military veterans who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and security to affordable home loans. This company's plans to create 300 new jobs while investing significantly into the local economy are great news for our state, and are just the latest sign that our economy is clearly headed in the right direction."
Founded in 2002, VA Mortgage Center.com offers affordable home loans to veterans and active duty service members and military families across the United States. Since its founding, VA Mortgage Center.com has helped more than 500,000 military families, making available more than $1 billion in home financing in the last year alone. Since May 2008, VA Mortgage Center.com has grown from 136 employees to 505 currently, an increase of 268 percent in just three years.
To help VA Mortgage Center.com move ahead with its plans, the state of Missouri authorized an economic incentive package worth $6.1 million to the company, which can be redeemed by the company over the next five years provided it meets the requirements of each incentive program.
Two weeks ago, the Missouri Department of Economic Development announced that the state's unemployment rate for the month of April dropped to its lowest figure in two years, down to 8.9 percent. The state added nearly 27,000 new jobs in the months of March and April combined. Missouri's international exports are also up 18 percent thus far in 2011, after increasing by an impressive 35 percent during 2010.