Fintech startup Investor Cash Management moves headquarters, possibly 400 jobs to Wilmington

Investor Cash Management will spend up to $15 million on building its new headquarters and customer service center in Wilmington.

A jogger can be seen in the distance running in Wilmington

A nearly empty Wilmington street is pictured on Thursday March 26, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (Saquan Stimpson for WHYY)

Nearly 400 new jobs could be coming to Wilmington over the next three years as Investor Cash Management moves its headquarters to the city and plans a major hiring spree.

The company currently employs just 30 people, but with its new HQ and customer service center opening in Wilmington, ICM founder and CEO Fred P. Phillips IV says he plans to grow its workforce tenfold.

Phillips said the Chicago-based company looked at locations in Florida, Texas, and Connecticut, but decided Delaware was the right destination.

“We have no doubt whatsoever — intending no disrespect to others — that this is the right place for us,” he said. “We’re just, again, exceptionally grateful for the efforts on our behalf.”

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Fred Phillips stands at a podium with ICM banners on either side
Investor Cash Management founder and CEO Fred Phillips announces the Chicago-based company’s plan to relocate to Wilmington. (Mark Eichmann/WHYY)

The company received a $3.8 million grant from the state’s Council on Development Finance and another $461,000 from the Delaware Strategic Fund. That grant money is partially dependent on creating a certain number of jobs. ICM will spend up to $15 million on constructing its new facility in Wilmington.

The company links cash management accounts to investments for customers, combining the functions of traditional banking and investing through a digital platform. ICM has already been working in Delaware since September, through a partnership with Delaware State University to offer services to students, faculty, and staff.

Wilmington has long been a hub for the financial services industry, and Gov. John Carney credited the talent pool in the area as one of the reasons ICM picked Delaware.

“Nearly 50% of the decision for a company to locate in a place has to do with whether they can find the talent that you need to be successful,” Carney said. “You can count on us to be that partner in cultivating that. We have a lot of it here already, and we’ve used a lot of the federal funding that we’ve had made available over the last two years, and into the future, to stand up training programs.”

Jobs being added at the new site include tech positions like coders and programmers, as well as sales, marketing, customer service, administration, finance, and managerial positions.

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