The 1,500 Dublin employees work in office space that Verizon leases. Next year, they’ll move four miles down the road to Hilliard into company-owned facilities. While Dublin will take a slight revenue hit, a Hilliard official says Central Ohio is still a winner because Verizon could have moved operations anywhere.

In its announcement Verizon also said it plans to add up to 500 new positions over the next three years. Laura Merritt is a Verizon spokeswoman:

“What we’re excited about particularly with this move is that we will now have the ability to expand because we have the room to grow so that will enable us to add more positions because we actually have the room to do so,” Merritt says.

Hilliard’s economic development director David Meeks says the move does not involve job poaching. Meeks says there will be no incentives from the city for the existing jobs. There will be, however, tax breaks for the projected 500 new positions.

“Hilliard has offered a 50 percent payroll incentive on the payroll taxes on the new jobs. We’re not incentivizing the movement of the jobs but focusing on the new job creation,” Meeks says.

Besides relocating its customer service call center, Verizon will move its marketing, IT, human resources and financial services departments.