Company announced June 29th that San Antonio is the location for its new regional operations center.

"Washington Mutual is thrilled to announce today that San Antonio will be the home of our new regional operations center," said Washington Mutual's Chief Administrative Officer Benson Porter. "San Antonio offers a business-friendly environment, a strong workforce, great quality of life, affordable housing for our employees, a central location, and a viable real estate solution to accommodate our growth."

The company will add as many as 4,200 jobs over the next seven years – making this one of the largest job creation announcements in the United States for the first six months of 2005.

Washington Mutual's regional operations center will support various areas of the company's business lines, which include consumer banking and home loans. The center will begin operations later this year with the expansion of the company's Enterprise Contact Center that will support Washington Mutual's expected future growth.

During the June 29th announcement and press conference, Porter recognized the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation for their assistance throughout the site selection process. Porter also thanked officials from the City of San Antonio, Bexar County and the State of Texas for their efforts to bring Washington Mutual to San Antonio. He also pointed to the Texas Enterprise Fund as the catalyst that triggered Washington Mutual's decision to select Texas.

"This is the biggest project the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation and city leadership have ever pursued in terms of the number of jobs," said Ed Kelley, Chairman of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. "Washington Mutual's regional operations center will very likely be among the largest corporate locations in the nation for 2005."