Marsh Advantage America, a division of the insurance giant Marsh Inc., plans to open a third-party administrative service center downtown next month that eventually could employ 100 people, which would double the companys employment here.


Mike Reilly, a Marsh senior vice president here, says the company has hired and has been training about 12 people since January to launch the new center, which will process claims for self-insured employers here and throughout the companys 11-state West region. The company said last August that it was considering opening such a center.


The center is expected to employ 20 people by July and could employ as many as 100 by June 2002, he says. Marsh already employs another 100 people in its regional headquarters and retail operation here.


Marsh has leased about 3,000 square feet of floor space for the center on the third floor of the Washington Mutual Financial Center, at 601 W. Main, Reilly says. The companys regional headquarters and a retail operation occupy 21,000 square feet of space on the 13th and 14th floors of that building, he says.


When the center opens June 1, it will be responsible for managing and processing claims for customers cafeteria plans, and for consolidating insurance-premium billings for its clients, Reilly says. Eventually, the center also will administer payment of medical and dental plan claims primarily for customers in the West region, he says.


Marsh already operates a third-party administrative service center in the Midwest, but until now it hasnt had such a center for the West region, which includes 15 offices, Reilly says.